William Aspinwall (1605 – c. 1662) was an Englishman who emigrated to Boston with the ''

Winthrop Fleet The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 11 ships led by John Winthrop out of a total of 16 funded by the Massachusetts Bay Company which together carried between 700 and 1,000 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the ...

'' in 1630. He played an integral part in the early religious controversies of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

Life

Aspinwall as most of the Aspinwalls probably came from the

County of Lancaster Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, England. Aspinwall arrived to Massachusetts Bay on board of

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...

with the ''

'' on 17 June 1630. Along with him was his wife, Elizabeth, who was sixteen at that time. Among with other settlers he came ashore at Charlestown on 1 July and was appointed a deacon. On 3 April 1632 Aspinwall took the oath of a freeman. In 1633 he moved to Boston, where he was one of the leading figures of the new settlement and in 1637 replaced Sir Henry Vane as a Deputy to the General Court. At the time of Aspinwall was involved in the

Antinomian Controversy The Antinomian Controversy, also known as the Free Grace Controversy, was a religious and political conflict in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. It pitted most of the colony's ministers and magistrates against some adherents of ...

which severely divided the

from 1636 to 1638. He joined himself with the adherents of

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...

and

John Wheelwright John Wheelwright (c. 1592–1679) was a Puritan clergyman in England and America, noted for being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Antinomian Controversy, and for subsequently establishing the town of Exeter, New Hamp ...

, aided in drafting their famous petition, and departed with them to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. He was at Portsmouth in 1638, where he signed the covenant of formation, but he moved to the

New Haven Colony The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history o ...

in 1641. By 1642, Aspinwall had rehabilitated his relations with the Boston authorities, and he began to acquire employment there recording official documents. In 1643, he joined the

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. Its charter was granted in March 1638 by the Great and Gen ...

. It was declared by the Boston court in 1644 that Aspinwall "shall be a public notary for his jurisdiction," and he continued at this post until 1651. As a skilled surveyor, he joined a group of Boston merchants on an unsuccessful expedition up the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

in search of furs. He was one of Boston's delegates to the Cambridge Synod of 1646. Relations ran afoul for Aspinwall again in Boston, and in 1652 he sold his property and returned to England, where he was living in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

as late as April 13, 1662. Upon his return to England, he became one of the

Fifth Monarchists The Fifth Monarchists, or Fifth Monarchy Men, were a Protestant sect which advocated Millennialist views, active during the 1649 to 1660 Commonwealth. Named after a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that Four Monarchies would precede the Fifth or e ...

, a radical religious sect that had a brief existence in the turmoil of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execut ...

. He probably had seven children.

Works

Aspinwall published theological tracts following his return to England. He compiled the ''Boston Book of Possessions'' listing the property of every freeman of the city. His notary records were published in 1903 by the Boston Record Commissioners as ''A Volume Relating to the Early History of Boston Containing the Aspinwall Notarial Records from 1644 to 1651''.

References

External links

William Aspinwall from TGM
!--Admittedly not a reliable source, but has a lot of information--> {{DEFAULTSORT:Aspinwall, William 1605 births 1660s deaths 17th-century apocalypticists People from colonial Boston People of colonial Massachusetts