We do not have information concerning the birth, parentage or death of William Lane. We know his first wife was named Mary, and she died in Boston, MA 22 May 1656, and his second wife was Mary Brewer, daughter of Thomas Brewer. They married in Boston 21 August 1656.

William Lane was a resident of Boston by 1651. He was a cordwainer or shoemaker by trade. There is one tradition that says he came from Scotland and another that he was a kinsman of William Lane of Dorchester who came to America in 1635 from Norfolk, England with his adult family.

William and his first wife Mary Lane had three children, all born probably in Boston:

• Samuel, b. 23 Nov. 1651; m. Mrs. Sarah (Foote) Dickinson, daughter of John Foote.
• John, b. 5 Feb. 1653.
• Mary, b. 15 May 1656.

William and his second wife Mary (Brewer) Lane had five children, all born probably in Boston:

Sarah, b. 15 June 1657.

William, Jr., b. 1 Oct. 1659; m. Sarah Webster, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Brewer) Webster.

Elizabeth, b. 3 Feb. 1661.

Thomas, b. 8 March 1663.

Ebenezer, b. 17 March 1666.

William Lane, Jr. was a tailor by trade and his and Sarah's names appear, in 1681, on a list of members of the Second church in Boston. We do not know when they left Boston, but believe that it was after the birth of their first child. Sarah was William's first cousin and this family lived in Hampton, NH, near Sarah's father, where they built their house on a ten acre grant from the town.

William, Jr. and his wife Sarah (Webster) Lane had seven children:

• John, b. 17 Feb. 1685; m. Mary Libbey, daughter of Anthony Libbey.
• Sarah, b. 6 Nov. 1688; m. William Berry, son of William Berry.
• Elizabeth, b. 12 July 1691; m. Elias Critchett.
• Abigail, b. 9 Dec. 1693; m. William Vittum.
• Joshua, b. 6 June 1696; m. Bathsheba Robie, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Page) Robie.
• Samuel, b. 4 Aug. 1698; m. Elizabeth Blake, daughter of Philemon Blake.
• Thomas, b. 8 June 1701; m. Elizabeth Bryant.

Joshua and Bathsheba united with the church in Hampton, NH 10 March 1718, where Joshua was chosen Deacon which office he held until his death. James P. Lane, in Joshua Lane Memorial, written in 1835, in the flowery language of the day, tells of the virtue of this family. He was "highly esteemed in the community, and exerted a wide and salutary influence. His death was a sudden and unexpected event. A heavy thunderstorm had nearly passed over, when, on stepping to the front door of the house, he was instantly killed by lightning. This was about six o'clock in the afternoon, 14, June 1766."

Joshua and his wife Bathsheba (Robie) Lane had sixteen children, all born in Hampton, NH:

• Samuel, b. 6 Oct. 1718; m. (1) Mary James, daughter of Benjamin James; m. (2) Mrs. Rachel (Parsons) Colcord.
• Mary, b. 7 Feb. 1720; m. (1) Jabez James, son of Benjamin James; m. (2) Jonathan Shaw, son of Roger Shaw.
• Joshua, b. 16 March 1721; d. 30 May 1723.
• William, b. 1 Jan. 1723; m. Rachel Ward, daughter of Thomas Ward.
• Twins:
  • Josiah, b. 8 July 1724; d. 22 July 1729.
  • Joshua, b. 8 July 1724; m. Ruth Batchelder, daughter of Samuel Batchelder.
• John, b. 14 Feb. 1726; m. 1) Hannah Dow, daughter of Samuel Dow; m. (2) Hannah Tuck, daughter of Edward Tuck.
• Sarah, b. 3 Dec. 1727; m. Jonathan Weare, son of John Weare.
• Bathsheba, b. 5 June 1729; d. 5 Sept. 1757; unmarried.
• Isaiah, b. 12 Dec. 1730; m. Sarah Perkins, daughter of Moses Perkins.
• Jeremiah, b. 10 March 1732; m. Mary Sanborn, daughter of Joseph Sanborn.
• Ebenezer, b. 28 Sept. 1733; m. Huldah Fogg, daughter of Samuel Fogg.
• Abigail, b. 13 Nov. 1734; m. Thomas Berry.
• Elizabeth, b. 25 May 1736; m. John Robie, son of Thomas Robie.
• Josiah, b. 19 May 1738; m. Betty Perkins, daughter of Moses Perkins.
• Anna, b. 24 March 1741; m. Joseph Johnson, Jr., son of Joseph Johnson.