Record evidence
Early proprietor of Yarmouth by 1639. His will names wife Mary and sons Joseph, Thomas and Jeremiah. Father unknown. A Besthorpe pedigree proposes Robert Howse (reported died 1618), while another pedigree places Robert a generation earlier. A 1601 deed places Robert in Norfolk. The published Y-DNA comparison suggests a shared paternal ancestor among tested lines. The Burr surname comes from later accounts.[1] [2] [3]
Plymouth Colony and family
The 1665 will names Mary and sons Joseph, Thomas and Jeremiah. The division of his land corroborates the household. His son Thomas Jr.’s will refers to his mother as Prence, consistent with Mary’s later marriage to Governor Thomas Prence. Evidence and records
English origins
Family recollection points broadly to Morningthorpe. The father and birthplace of the Yarmouth settler remain unidentified. The 1659 marriage record names a younger Thomas from Carleton Rode. Evidence and records
Atlantic crossing
The ship that brought Thomas and Mary to New England remains unverified. In May 2016 the Dennis Historical Society reported that the English oak Howes Chest became part of its collection after a 53-year loan. Its newsletter also recorded a tradition that the couple came on a later ship named Mayflower in 1637, and cited Charles Swift for 1635. The Plymouth Colony records place Thomas in Yarmouth in 1639. The archive’s 1623 Anne connection comes through Edward Bangs and the Howes lines through his daughters Sarah and Rebecca.