Elizabeth Fones
| Elizabeth Fones | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 January 1610 Groton Manor, Suffolk, England |
| Died | c. 1673 Newtown, Queens County, New York |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Early settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony |
| Spouse(s) | Henry Winthrop Lt. Robert Feake William Hallett |
| Children | Martha Johanna Winthrop Elizabeth Feake Hannah Feake John Feake Robert Feake Sarah Feake William Hallett Samuel Hallett |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Fones Anne Winthrop |
Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett (21 January 1610 – c. 1673) was an early settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony where her father-in-law (and uncle) John Winthrop served as Governor. Her subsequent behaviour would scandalize the Puritan colony.
An historical novel of her life, The Winthrop Woman, was written by Anya Seton.
A 2012 biography of Fones, by Missy Wolfe, is Insubordinate Spirit: A True Story of Life and Loss in Earliest America, 1610-1665.
Elizabeth Fones was born at Groton Manor, Suffolk, England on 21 January 1610 to Thomas Fones, a London apothecary, and his wife, Anne Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, a staunch puritan and the eventual Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
As a young girl, Fones worked at her father's shop in London. To the dismay of her family, she entered a whirlwind courtship with her first cousin Henry Winthrop, a son of Governor John Winthrop; they were married on 25 April 1629, at the Church of St. Sepulchre at New Gate, London. A year later, her husband sailed alone for the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the ship Talbot, leaving his young bride behind in England on account of her pregnancy. The baby, a daughter named Martha Johanna Winthrop, was born on 9 May 1630 at Groton Manor. Shortly after his arrival in Massachusetts, Henry was killed in a drowning accident on 2 July 1630 when he went swimming in the North River after visiting an Indian village near Salem.
Fones sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her infant daughter Martha aboard the Lyon, arriving on 2 November 1631. Her father-in-law, uncle and guardian, John Winthrop, served as Governor of the Colony.
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