The Incorporation of Weymouth

The Incorporation of Weymouth. Wessagusset Historic Woodlot. , In 1635, Joseph Hull led a group of 106 settlers, on the Marygould, to Massachusetts Bay. Many of them originated in the West Country village of Batcombe in Somerset. They were humble farmers, shepherds and artisans. Arriving in June at Dorchester, they were granted permission by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony to incorporate as a new village at Wessagusset. They called the new town Weymouth, probably for their port of origin. The new arrivals, including the Bicknell, Holbrook, Kingman, Lovell, Poole, Porter, Reed and Whitmarsh families, joined the earlier settlers and stayed in the town for generations. More West Country migrants arrived over the next five years, among them the French, King, Nash, Richards, Torrey and White families. The Bates, Humphrey, Hunt and other families originated in Wendover, near London. , The West Country origin of Weymouth's first English settlers made the Town a unique village in Massachusetts Bay Colony, whose inhabitants mostly came from the east of England. Minister Hull left Weymouth after about a year. Weymouth called a new minister, Robert Lenthall, to their church, but Massachusetts Bay disapproved of him, and by 1639 forced his ouster. The new minister, Samuel Newman, was too orthodox for the Town and he left with many South Shore residents to found the new village of Rehoboth. , Weymouth's residence divided the Town's lands among themselves in a relatively egalitarian spirit. A 1643 record of land holdings made by Reverend Samuel Newman shows that most familied received acreage for farming, timber, pasturage and marshland. The may by Dave Finney (2019), based on the Newman Land Record, shows the different fields in which land was distributed.