Lucy Winthrop Downing (January 9, 1600 – April 10, 1679)[1][2] was an early American Puritan settler. She was the sister of John Winthrop, leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her letters are collected as the Letters of Mrs. Lucy Downing (1871).[3]
Lucy Winthrop | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 9, 1600 (in Julian calendar)  Groton |
| Died | April 10, 1679 (aged 79) London |
| Occupation | Correspondent |
| Spouse(s) | Emanuel Downing |
| Children | 9, including Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet[1] |
| Family | John Winthrop |
Lucy Winthrop was born on January 9, 1600 in Groton, Suffolk, the daughter of Adam Winthrop, a lawyer, and his second wife, Anne Browne.[2] In 1622, she married lawyer Emanuel Downing.[4] They would have 9 children, including Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet.[1] In 1638, they emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts on the Thomas and Frances.[1] In 1656 Emanuel Downing received an appointment in Scotland, so they moved to Edinburgh. He died in 1660 and she relocated to England, where she lived the rest of her life.[2]
Downing's letters provide valuable insight into Puritan life in England, the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and daily life in colonial America.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Hale, House, and related families, mainly of the Connecticut River Valley, by Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman". HathiTrust. p. 516-19. hdl:2027/wu.89066151523. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ^ a b c Waldrup, Carole Chandler (2004-05-17). More Colonial Women: 25 Pioneers of Early America. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1839-8.
- ^ a b "Downing, Lucy Winthrop (c. 1600–1679) | Encyclopedia.com". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ^ Whitmore, William Henry (1864). Notes on the Winthrop family : and its English connections before its emigration to New England. Boston Public Library. J. Munsell.