Robert Keayne

Robert Keayne (1595 – March 23, 1656) was a prominent public figure in 17th-century Boston, Massachusetts. He co-founded the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts and served as speaker of the House of the Massachusetts General Court. Keayne was a prosperous London merchant who joined his fellow Puritans in Boston where he built a fortune. He was accused of unfair business practices, and brought before the legislature, the Massachusetts General Court. It found Keayne guilty, fined him, and compelled him to confess his “sins.” He proclaimed his innocence, and justified his actions in elaborate detail in his will. It bequeathed £2500 to Boston, to upgrade the infrastructure with an aqueduct, relieve the city's poor, and fund the First Town-House, a grand public meeting place. He attached a condition to the effect that the bequest would become void if there were any legal actions against his estate; there were none.

Keayne was born in Windsor, England in 1595. His father, John Keayne, worked as a butcher. While living in London, Keayne held membership in the Honourable Artillery Company and the Merchant Taylor's Company. He also kept notes in his private journal of sermons preached 1627-1628 by John Cotton, John Wilson, Hugh Peters, and John Davenport.

In 1617 Keayne married Anne Mansfield; they had a son, Benjamin Keayne, in 1619.

Keayne and his family arrived in Boston from London in 1635 on the ship Defence. In Boston, he worked as a tailor, and kept a shop on State Street, "living in apartments overhead, as was the custom in those times."

He belonged to the First Church congregation, and kept notes in his private journal of sermons preached by John Wilson, Thomas Cobbet, and John Cotton, who had moved to Boston in 1633.

...
Wikipedia