Frequently Asked Questions: Look up the mostly commonly asked questions among fellow descendants and researchers who visit thomas-hastings.org.
The Elizabeth: Among the resources that we can use to fill-in the knowledgebase on Thomas Hastings’ English origins is the manifest of The Elizabeth. The vessel left Ipswich, Suffolk, in April 1634, with Thomas Hastings and his first wife Susan(na). As with most Great Migration immigrants, he undoubtedly was connected by social, geographic or family ties to some of his fellow travelers. As we learn more about them, we may learn more about the origins of Thomas Hastings.
An Analysis of East Anglian migrational patterns (Spreadsheet): This spreadsheet is a work in progress that includes but goes beyond simply the villages of origin for passengers on the Elizabeth. It expands the focus to any Eastern Association (East Anglia plus Lincolnshire) village departed from in 1633 or 1634, towns or villages considered to be “hotbeds” of Puritanism, villages where Hastings have been listed in the records, before or after the Great Migration or any village departed from at anytime between 1629-1640 that provided immigrants to Watertown.
[Tags/Key Words (partial list): Ashill, Attleborough, Bacton, Bilsby, Blundeston, Bradwell, Brampton, Brome, Buckden, Bungay, Bury St. Edmunds, Butley, Cambridgeshire, Corton, Dalham, Denham, Eaton Hastings, Elsing, Essex, Gipping, Gislingham, Gissing, Gorelston, Great Dalby, Gressenhall, Hardingham, Harefield, Haverhill, Hingham, Holkam, Huntingdonshire, Huttoft, Ipswich, Kedington, Leamington Hastings, Lincolnshire, Little Easton, Little Raveley, Little Stoneham, Long Stratton, Lowestoft, Norfolk, North Walsham, Orford, Oxenforth, Pinchbeck, Sileby, Spalding, Stenton, Stisted, Suffolk, Tendering, Thelnetham, Tuddenham, Walsham-le-Willows, Warham, West Raynham, Wellesbourne Hastings, Weybridge Forest, Wighton, Winfarthing, Withersdale, Witton, Woolpit, Yardley Hastings, Yaxham]
How to find and visit the first American home of Thomas Hastings (Map): The various parcels owned by TH in Watertown, and those parts of Watertown now within Belmont, can be easily found.
Ancestry of Thomas Hastings : There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the origins of TH while his public activities in Watertown are quite well documented. One of the most enticing suppositions is that he descends from the Earls of Huntingdon. We explore this theory and many others in this article.
[Tags/Key Words: 1634, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, Attleborough, Bacton, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridgeshire, Cottenham, Earl, East Anglia, Elizabeth, Essex, Eversden, Huntingdon, Johnson, Lavenham, Leicestershire, Lord, Norfolk, Peerage, Pembroke, Rattlesden, Rayham, Suffolk, Walsham, Witton]
A Record of the Public Life of Thomas Hastings (pdf): Extracted from Watertown records and other sources.
[Tags/Key Words: 1634, 1635, 1636, 1640, 1671, 1673, 1675, Barron, Beers, Bond, Barstow, Belmont, Boston, Bright, Browne, Cambridge, Charlestown, Cheney, Committee of Colony Assessment, Concord, Coolidge, Daniel Russell, Dedham, Deerfield, General Court, Hadley, Howe, Increase Mather, John Leverett, King Philip’s War, Lincoln, Moderator, Morse, Northampton, Northfield, Old Connecticut Path, Roxbury, Samuel Willard, Saltonstall, Sherman, Selectman, Squakeag, Stearns, Sudbury, Thomas Danforth, Town Clerk, Woodward]
The Will of Thomas Hastings (pdf file)
[Tags/Key Words: 1685, Bond, Cambridge, Daniel Gookin, Deerfield, Henry Bright, John Bright, John Page, John Wincoll, Margaret, Martyn Townsend, Rev. Sherman, Thomas Danforth, Thomas Tarbull, Watertown, William Hagar]
The Second Generation from Thomas the Immigrant (aka “Our Lines”): We have included our own lines of descent from Thomas Hastings and we include others to contribute their lineages as well. It is our hope that this will promote increased information sharing while adding to the body of knowledge and strengthening familial ties.