Thomas Mayhew

Governor Thomas Mayhew, the Elder (March 31, 1593 – March 25, 1682) established the first English settlement of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and adjacent islands in 1642. He is one of the editors of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published in British North America. His assistant Peter Foulger was the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.

Thomas Mayhew was born in Tisbury, in the county of Wiltshire in England. He married Anna (also called Hanna and Abigail) Parkhurst, born about 1600, in Hampshire, England, daughter of Matthew Parkhurst. In 1621 they had a son, Thomas, the Younger, baptised in Hanna's home town of Southampton. Two years later they had another child, Robert Mayhew, baptized in Tisbury.

The family left England in 1631/2 during the Great Migration of Puritans that brought 20,000 settlers to Massachusetts in thirteen years. Through the agency of Matthew Cradock of London, Mayhew had been appointed to manage properties in Medford, Massachusetts, and to engage in trade and shipbuilding. In or about 1633, Mayhew's wife Anna died, and about 1634 he returned to England for a business meeting with Cradock. While in England, he married Jane Gallion (1602–1666), and brought her back to New England with him. Their daughter Hannah was born in 1635, and three more daughters, Mary (1639), Martha (1642), and Bethiah, followed. Martha is the world-famous singer and song-writer Taylor Swift's 7th Great-Grandmother.

In 1641, Thomas secured Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, the Elizabeth Islands, and other islands as a proprietary colony from Sir Ferdinando Gorges and the Earl of Sterling. This enabled him to transfer his business operations there. With the help of his son Thomas, a settlement was established and farming and whaling enterprises were begun.

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