William Shewell, or Sewall, lived in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, and was the mayor of Coventry. He married, about 1540, Matilde Horne, and they had two children, both born in England:

• William, m. Ann Wagstaff, and both are buried in St. Michael's Church, Coventry, and a brass plate with an inscription to the latter, in which the family name appears as Sewaell, was still there in 1904. One of my notes states that William and Ann had no male heirs.
• Henry, b. in 1544; died in England 16 April 1628; m. in England in 1575, Margaret Grazebrook, or Gresbrook.

Henry Sewall was mayor of Coventry, England in 1589 and 1606, and was an alderman and a linen draper and acquired a great estate. Henry's will, dated 1 September 1624 and proved in June 1628, bequeaths to his wife, Margaret, all his lands and tenements in the City and County. After his death, certain of these lands and tenements are to be the property of his eldest son, Henry. "And I doe bequeath and devise unto my sonne, Henry, upon trust and confidence and as he will answer it before the Lord at the Day of Judgement that he doe with all humility acknowledge his former offense against his mother, before my overseers, in her content, and afterwards to continue obedient." He gave certain lands to his younger son, Richard; to his daughter, Ann, wife of Anthony Poore; and to his younger daughter, Margaret, wife of Abraham Randall. Margaret (Grazebrook) Sewall's will, dated 7 May 1628, was proved 13 June 1632. In it, she bequeaths lands, which were apparently held in her own right, in Wyhterly County, Leicester, and at Ansley, County of Warwick. She mentions all of her children but cuts off the eldest son with 18 pence in money saying, "And I do forgive unto Henry Sewall, my eldest son, his offense wherein and whereby he hath at sundry times offended me, beseeching Almighty God to give him a heart to deal conscientiously with his brother and sisters, as he would be done unto." This will seems to imply that Henry had made the apology prescribed by his father and had thus received his father's bequest before his mother's death.

Henry and his wife Margaret (Grazebrook) Sewall had four children, all born in England:

• Henry, bpt. 8 April 1576; buried in Rowley, MA, "first month 1656" (Rowley Records); m. (1) in England, Anne Hunt; m. (2) in England Ellen (Mosley) Nugent.
• Anne, m. Anthony Poore.
• Margaret, m. Abraham Randall.
• Richard, b. ca. 1597; d. 1648; m. Mary Dugdale.

This Henry seemed to be in trouble as was indicated by the wills of his parents. He lived in Manchester, England, probably from his first marriage until he came to New England in 1635 with his second wife, Ellen, and settled first in Newbury and then in Rowley. My notes indicate that history recorded him as being dissatisfied with everybody and everything, as being separarted from his wife, and as causing a disturbance in the church of Ipswich before moving to Newbury and, finally, to Rowley where he died at more than 80 years old. His grandson, Chief Justice Sewall, wrote of him, "Out of dislike of the English hierarchy he sent over to New England his only son in the year 1634, with (neat?) cattle and provisions suitable for the New Plantation. During the latter part of his life he is said to have been slightly deranged." This last mention is evidently the reason of his being two or three times presented by the Grand Jury for various offenses and serves to explain his early difficulties with his mother, Margaret. In any case, it does seem that he did not adjust easily and did cause a lot of trouble wherever he stayed.

Henry and his wife Anne (Hunt) Sewall had one child:

• Henry, Jr., b. in Manchester, England, 1614, bpt. 25 June 1615; d. in Newbury, MA, 16 May 1700; m. Jane Dummer.

Henry, Jr. came to America at age 20 in 1634 aboard the Ellen and Dorcas or Elizabeth and Dorcas under the command of Capt. Watts. He was outfitted by his father with cattle and provisions suitable to get a good start in the new Plantation. This was a year before his father and his step-mother came to America. He wintered in Ipswich and went with the early settlers to Newbury the next year. He was a freeman 17 May 1637, and became a prominent citizen of Newbury. When Henry married, his father gave him 500 acres of land in Coventry, England, and in 1647 he and his wife returned to England with her parents and resided a short time at Warwick, next at Tumworth, 4 miles from Bishop Stoke, in Hants, where their first two children were born. They moved to Baddesly, in the same shire, about 4 miles from Rumsey, where their next three children were born. One of my notes states that he was a minister at Baddesly, but there is no evidence that he practiced his ministry in America. He made two visits to New England to look after his father. The second time, he stayed in America sending for his family the following year. His wife and his five children landed at Boston, July 1661, after six weeks passage on the Prudent Mary commanded by Capt. Woodgreen. The family joined him in Newbury where their last three children were born. Henry was deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1661, 1663, 1668, and 1670.

Henry, Jr. and his wife Jane (Dummer) Sewall had eight children:

• Hannah, b. at Bishop Stoke, England, 10 May 1649; d. in Newbury, MA 12 Nov. 1699; m. Jacob Toppan of Newbury.
• Samuel, b. at Bishop Stoke, England, 28 March 1652; d. in America, 1 Jan. 1730; m. (1) 28 Feb. 1676 Hannah Hull, who died 19 Oct. 1717, daughter of John Hull, the mintmaster. Samuel m. (2) 29 Oct. 1719 Abigail Tilley, who died 26 May 1720; and he m. (3) 29 March 1722 Mary Gibbs who died 17 May 1746. Samuel was one of the first to speak out against domestic slavery. He was made a judge of the Superior Court in 1692 and was one of a special, but unlawful, commission under Deputy Governor Stoughton for the trial of the witches. For many years, Samuel suffered remorse for his part, in his court, for causing the deaths of so many innocent people and prayed for mercy on the Lord's day in the open congregation of the church.
• John, b. in Baddesly, England, 10 Oct. 1654; died in America, 9 Aug. 1699, age 45; m. 27 Oct. 1674 Hannah Fessenden, b. in Cambridge, MA, 1647, died 29 Jan. 1728.
• Stephen, b. in Baddesly, England, 19 Aug. 1657; d. at Salem, MA, 17 Oct. 1736; m. Margaret Mitchell, d. 20 Jan. 1736, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Mitchell.
• Jane, b. in Baddesly, England, 25 Oct. 1659; d. in America, 29 Jan. 1717; m. 24 Sept. 1677 Moses Gerrish of Kittery, ME.
• Anne, b. in Newbury, MA, 3 Sept. 1662; d. in Newbury, MA, 18 Dec. 1706; m. (1) in Newbury, 10 Nov. 1678, William Longfellow; m. (2) in Newbury, 11 May 1692, Henry Short.
• Mehitable, b. in Newbury, MA, 8 May 1665; d. 8 Aug. 1702; m. William Moody of York, ME.
• Dorothy, b. in Newbury, MA, 29 Oct. 1668; d. 17 June 1752; m. (1) 9 Sept. 1691, Ezekial Northend of Rowley, MA, who died 28 Dec. 1732; m. (2) Moses Bradstreet.