LAMPREY of Hampton, New Hampshire

The Lamprey River Forest in Epping, New Hampshire

LAMBREL / LAMPRAILL / LAMPRILL / LAMPRELL / LAMPRY / LAMPREE / LAMPY

There are many family stories about my 9^th great grandfather, Henry Lamprey (about 1616 – 1700), and some of these have been disproved by Alicia Crane Williams in her Early New England Families Study Project for NEHGS.  These stories claim that Henry Lamprey and his wife came from London in 1653. They claim that Henry, a lower class cooper, married an heiress.

According to Joseph Dow’s History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire, there was “a pretty story (of the truth of which there is little doubt) has been handed down from generation to generation that this little wife received for her marriage dowry a scale, containing her weight (one hundred twelve pounds) in gold. The chest which held the treasure is still preserved, being now [1893] owned by the children of the late Morris Lamprey, Esq. of St. Paull, Minn.”  No proof has been found for this pretty story.

The truth is that we barely know Lamprey’s wife, whose name appears as Julianne or Gillian in various records. We know that Lamprey lived in a house in Boston because of a deposition from 1697 where he stated he lived in a house during Bezaliel Payton’s lifetime (Payton died before 21 November 1651 when an inventory was taken on his estate). Lamprey was a co-signer on a mortgage in Boston on 20 December 1651.

Henry Lamprey was poor and in debt from the time he lived in Boston until his death in New Hampshire. There were court records for debts in Boston in 1652, and 1654, and 1660. There were court records for more debt in Hampton in 1662, 1668 and 1677.  In 1659 “Mr. Lampree & wife warned out of town” [Portsmouth]. By 1660 he removed to Hampton, New Hampshire, and he received a grant of 60 acres of land there in 1670.  He took the oath of allegiance at Hampton with Danll Lamprey and Benjamin Lamprey. 

Henry and Gillian Lamprey had eight children The first four born in England, the next two in Boston, and the rest in Hampton, New Hampshire:

     1.      Henry, born about 1641, died 1721 in Stratham, NH m. Elizabeth Mitchell

     2.      Unknown, born about 1644, died after 1668

     3.      Elizabeth, born about 1646, m. Daniel Dow

     4.      Daniel, born about 1649, died 1732 in Hampton

     5.      Mary, born 8 March 1653/4 in Boston, died before March 1657

     6.      Mary, born 19 March 1657/8 in Boston, died 7 June 1663 in Hampton

     7.      Benjamin, born 29 November, died about 1660

     8.      Benjamin, (see below)

I descend from the youngest child, Benjamin (1661 – 1751/2) who married first Jane Batchelder, mother of his twelve children. He married a second woman, Mary Unknown. He lived all his life in Hampton.

Children all born in Hampton: 

     1.       Benjamin, born 9 October 1688 in Hampton, m. Sarah Dow

     2.      Deborah, born 1690 in Hampton, m. Samuel Palmer

     3.      Daniel, born 23 February 1691/2, died 2 April 1718, unmarried

     4.      Sarah, born July 1695, m. Robert Moulton

     5.      Nathaniel, born before 26 June 1698, m. Ruth Palmer

     6.      Jane Lamprey (see below)

     7.      Henry Lamprey, born 25 February 1700/1, m. Esther Palmer

     8.      Elizabeth, born 18 February 1703, m. Jonathan Moulton

     9.      Abigail, born 3 May 1705, m. Josiah Batchelder  

    10.  John, born 17 August 1707, m. Mary Johnson

    11.  Hannah, born 13 November 1709, m. John Moulton

    12.  Morris, born 20 December 1711, m. Elizabeth Batchelder

I descend next from Jane Lamprey, baptized on 30 April 1699 and who married her first cousin Stephen Batchelder (1701 – 1748/9), son of Stephen Batchelder and Mary Dearborn.  They lived in North Hampton at North Hill. They had nine Batchelder children born in Hampton.

I have lived in New Hampshire for 37 years and have driven past the Lamprey River many times. I always thought it was named for the fish that inhabit these waters near the Great Bay.  However, I recently discovered it was named for a John Lamprey that lived nearby.  The Lamprey River runs through Epping, Lee, and Durham.  I'm not sure which John Lamprey this river was named after, but I'm sure he was a distant cousin! 

For more information on the LAMPREY family:

Early New England Families Study Project, 1641 - 1700 (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.)   https://www.americanancestors.org 

Sybil Noyes, Charles T. Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (Portland, Me: 1928 - 29, 1972) , page 409

George Freeman Sanborn, Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Vital Records of Hampton, New Hampshire to the End of the Year 1900, 2 Vols. (Boston: NEHGS, 1992)

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 2, edited by William Richard Cutter, page 663

References to Henry Lamprey and Edmund Johnson and their descendants, prepared by Henry Cadle (Bethany, Missouri, 1893?)

Lamprey River Advisory Committee  https://www.lampreyriver.org/   

My LAMPREY genealogy:

Generation 1:  Henry Lamprey, born about 1616 in England, died 7 August 1700 in Hampton, New Hampshire; married about 1641 in England to Julianne (sp?) Unknown.  She died May 1670 in Hampton. Eight children.

Generation 2: Benjamin Lamprey, born 28 September 1661 in Hampton, died 23 January 1751/2 in Hampton; married on first 10 November 1687 in Hampton to Jane Batchelder, daughter of Nathaniel Batchelder and Deborah Smith. She was born 8 January 1669 in Hampton, and died 17 September 1735 in Hampton, and was the mother of twelve children. He married second to Mary Unknown.

Generation 3:  Jane Lamprey, baptized on 30 April 1699 in Hampton; married on 1 August 1721 in Hampton to Stephen Batchelder, her first cousin, son of Stephen Batchelder and Mary Dearborn. He was born 19 July 1701 in North Hampton, and died 6 March 1748/9 in North Hampton. Nine children.

Generation 4: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Longfellow

Generation 5: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Perkins

Generation 6: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 7: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 9:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 10:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo,” LAMPREY of Hampton, New Hampshire”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 10, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/lamprey-of-hampton-new-hampshire.html: accessed [access date]).