{Garnsey Ancestors}
Research by Lorena Darnell
The name Leigh or Lee is derived from the Saxon lay or leah, meaning "the pasture or place."3
The name "Thomas Lee" appears in the Ipswich 1641 List of Commoners – that is, those "that have right to Commonage there; the last day of the last month, 1641." 1 There is no known passenger list or other record to tell us which part of England he had came from, and there were many Thomas Lees in England.
Thomas may have been the brother of John Lee of Agawam (later Ipswich), who had arrived by 1634 and is said in Lee Family tradition to have come from a well-to do London family. John also appears in the 1641 Ipswich list of Commoners.1 John and Thomas had business dealings with each other, as did Richard, the grandson of Thomas, and the sons of John.3 The seal of Thomas Leigh bore the device of a bird which was perhaps the same device as the seal of John Leigh.2 Savage assumes that Henry Lee of Manchester was also a brother, but there is no record of a connection between them.
From "John Leigh of Agawam [Ipswich] Massachusetts, 1634-1671: and his descendants of the name of Lee" by William Lee, pp 26-29:
"We find the following records concerning him:
"1648 Thomas Lee with John Lee are among the subscribers to a fund to maintain a military company at Ipswich.
"1650 March 13. He received a grant of land in Ipswich.
"1656 Thomas Leigh refers to a sale of two acres of land to John Leigh before Jan. 2nd of this date, in a deed (Ipswich deeds, vol. 1, p. 589,) dated 1659, in which Thomas Leigh, of Ipswich, according to an award made Ap. 20 last for £30 (£40 having been already paid) deeds to Symon Thompson his house and houselot, which he bo't of John Wyate ; also 9 acres he bo't of Ambrose Leach (except 2 acres he sold John Leigh before Jan. 2, 1656.3
The Ipswich Vital Records show his death as "LEE, Thomas, Mar. 23, 1661. CT. R." 6
His will is as follows:
"The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Lee of Ipswich:
"In the name of God, amen:
"I, Thomas Lee, of Ipswich, being at this present time of perfect memory and understanding doe dispose of the outward estate that God hath given mee, in manner as followeth:
"In the first place I comit my soule to God and my body to decent buryall.
"My mind and will is that Alice, my beloved wife, shall have the fole disposing of my farme and the rest of my estate upon these consederations, that is to say, that my grandson, Richard Lee. shall live and abide with her untill he shall bee two and twenty yeares of age; then my whole estate to be devided and Richard shall have an equall share with my wife, only my wife shall have the use of my now dwelling house during the terme of her life unless shee shall bee willing that they both may live together, but if my wife should marry my mind is that shee shall have five pounds every yeare out of my estate during the terme of her life, and the above named Richard to have my estate at ye age of two and twenty. My mind allso is that if my wife shall continue a widow and enjoy such a share of my estate as is aforesaid, that after her decease my forsayd grandchild shall inherit all that estate shee shall leave, Twenty pounds being excepted which I give and bequeath to my Daughter Susanna, now in England, or her children, if any of them shall bee here to demand the same within ye space of seaven yeares from this present time. My will is that Richard my grandchild should not have liberty to alien, sell or bargaine my farme, or any part thereof but that it bee reserved entire to him and his heires.
"If my wife shall not think meet that Richard, my grandchild should abide with her for the present, shee shall have liberty to dispose of him to some good service till he shall come to bee at the age of two and twenty.
"In wittnesse of this my Will and Testament, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this nineteenth of March, one thousand six hundred and fixty-one.
"I constitute and appoint^
"Allice my wife onely executrix of this my last will and testament.
"the mark of Thomas Lee
Subscrbed and sealed in the presence of
Richard Brabrook,
Jonas Gregory.
"This seal bears the device of a bird.
"Testified by the oath of Mr. Richard Hubbard and Richard Brabrook to be the last will and testament of Thomas Leigh, in court held at Ipswich, the 17 of April 1662.
By me,
Robert Lord, Cleric.
"The inventory of the estate of Thomas Leigh (so written) gives him credit to the amount of £198 y. id. Debts £40."
In 1704, this estate, consisting of "between 70 & 80 acres, with two dwelling houses, 2 barnes & 1 shop on said land, which was a "sure Estate of Inheritance from their grandfather, Thomas Lee." was sold by his grandchildren for £388 to Rev. John Wise, of Ipswich as they moved from Ipswich to Connecticut.
According to his will Thomas married Alice who survived him in 1662. They had:
"Second Gener. Susanna, living as a married woman in England in 1661, and a son who died before his father, leaving Third Gener. Richard born about 1644".3
Richard was a minor at the time his grandfather wrote his will and was apparently raised by his grandparents.
The Ipswich Vital Records do not show a second marriage or a death record for Alice Lee.
Ipswich Commoners Records. Vol. 2nd p 2
History of the descendants of Peter Spicer, a landholder in New London, Connecticut, as early as 1666. Compiled by Susan Spicer Meech and Susan Billings Meech, pp 527-530.
John Leigh of Agawam [Ipswich] Massachusetts, 1634-1671: and his descendants of the name of Lee by William Lee pp 21-29
The Standard History of Essex County, Massachusetts by Cynthia Mason Tracy
A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New-England; Containing an Alphabetical List of the Governours, Deputy-Governours, Assistants or Counsellors, and Ministers of the Gospel in the Several Colonies, from 1620 to 1692; Graduates of Harvard College to 1662; Members of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company to 1662; Freemen Admitted to the Massachusetts Colony from 1630 to 1662; With Many Other of the Early Inhabitants of New-England and Long-Island by John Farmer p. 176
Massachusetts Vital Records Project, Ipswich Deaths p 614