1. NICHOLAS1 BROWNE (Edward), was born at Inkburrow (Inkborough), Worcester County, England about 1610, and died at Reading in the Massachusetts Bay Colony on 5 April 1673 (Reading VRs), the son of Edward and Jane (Lide) Browne. He married, in England, about 1632, ELIZABETH ---- (her surname has not been found). She was still living on 17: 4: 1673, when Nicholas's will was probated.
Proof of Nicholas's birth place and parentage is derived from a Power of
Attorney granted by Nicholas to his eldest son, John, on 5 October 1660, and
published in Lilley Eaton's Genealogical History of the Town of Reading, Mass.
(Boston, 1874), 50-51.

"Know all men by these presents, that Nicholas Browne of Redding, in the
County of Middlesex, in the Massachusetts Colonie of New England, sonne of
Jane, the daughter of Thomas Lide, which said Jane was the wife of Edward
Browne, father of the said Nicholas, who lived and died in the parish of
Inkburrow, in the County of Woster, in the realme of England; the said
Nicholas Browne, on the fifth day of October in the year of our Lord one
thousand six hundred and sixty, stile of England ... doth appoint his eldest
sonne, John Browne, now bound for England, his true and lawful attorney ... to
call William Rand of Inkborough to account what of shops, houses and lands,
that by discovery are found to be belonging unto the said Nicholas Browne as
next heir unto the Lides, which the said Rand by former power unto him granted from the said Nicholas Browne hath recovered. Also, what monies he hath received for rents or arrearages of rent, profits and sheep rents, heretofore and of late due ... unto the heires of the said Lides. And the said houses, land, tenements, hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever, by him the said Rand recovered as aforesaid, to enter into, to give possession to such tenent as the said John Browne likes of, that will hire the same, by lease or yearly rent ... and to demand all such monies as received by the said Rand, allowing and paying unto him the one half of the true value of said houses and lands so recovered and one half of said monies for Rand's cost, charges and paines he hath bin at thereabout. Signed in the presence of Robert Howard, and
acknowledged by Ncholas Browne before Ri. Bellingham, Depy. Govr., 6 Oct
1660."

It is not known when or on what ship Nicholas Browne came to New England, but he probably came about 1637 with his wife and three or four small children. Alonzo Lewis, in the History of Lynn (Lynn, 1890), 119, has Nicholas in Lynn in 1630, but the first official record is on 13 March 1638 when he was one of the 100 settlers who received allotments of land in the "six-mile grant." This land was granted to Lynn by the General Court of the Colony. It extended six miles from the meeting-house in Lynn and contained 13 square miles of land, most of it lying within the present bounds of Wakefield, Reading and Lynnfield. Its western limits were the two Wakefield ponds, and then north to the Ipswich River (Loea Parker Howard, The Beginning of Reading and Lynnfield, Massachusetts [1937], 7). These land grants enabled the company that promoted the settlement of Massachusetts Bay to fulfill its obligation to the patriotic stockholders who had advanced money to meet the cost of fitting out and of planning the Colony. Its pledge was: "to
adventurers in the common stock, 200 acres for each 50 pounds adventured. For persons as go over at their own charge and are adventurers in the common stock shall have lands for themselves and their families at the rate of 50 acres for each person; but being 'no adventurer' shall have 50 acres for the Mister and familie" (ibid., 8).
Nicholas Browne received "200 plus tenn acres," which was one of the
largest amounts given; Lord Brooks received 800 acres, three settlers received 500 acres, and 14 settlers received 200 acres (ibid., 5). Many of the grantees did not remove to these lands, but later sold their granted land to others. It is not known exactly when Nicholas Browne removed to Reading. Although the births of his last two children in 1640 and 1647 are recorded in the published Reading Vital Records, Nicholas remained active in the town affairs at Lynn until 1649. He served as Lynn's Representative to the General Court in Boston (Lewis, Hist. of Lynn, 578); served on the Jury at the Salem Court for Essex County in 1638 and 1640, and on the Grand Jury at Essex County from 1641 to 1649, (EQCR, I:9, 24, 33, 44, 74). Also, Nicholas and his family remained members of the church at Lynn until 1663, for in that year:
Nicholas Browne, having given the Selectmen [at Lynn] offense by
inserting 3 or 4 words into a grant of a piece of meadow without their
knowledge, for explaining of it and having dealt with it, his honest
confession was sent to the church of Lynn whereof he was a member, they
weighing it, sent that he should acknowledge his error, etc., which being
attended, the Congregation took satisfaction and upon letters of Dismission
afterwards, he and his wife were admitted (with their children) into the
church [at Reading]" (William E. Eaton, Church Records of the Old Town of
Reading, Mass. and of the First Parish of South Reading from 1648 to 1846
[typescript, 1934], 7-8; copies at Reading, Wakefield and Lynnfield Public
Libraries).
In addition to the "200 plus tenn acres" that Nicholas Browne received in
the six-mile grant of 1638, he was given, by the town of Reading, as they
meted out lands to the settlers, additional acreage: in 1647, 30 acres of
upland, bounded by John Pearson and Capt. Richard Walker's land; 30 acres of
meadow, bounded by Josiah Boston, the swamp, and Thomas Hutchinson's land that is called Bear Meadow; also 8 acres of the land that Thomas Dunton (?) bought of Thomas Kendall, bounded by Jeremiah Swain, William Cowdry, Thomas Kendall and Thomas Clark. The largest allotment of town land that Nicholas received was on 14 February 1658, when an additional four miles was granted to the Town of Reading by the General Court of the Colony. Nicholas received 327 acres, 90 poles of land. This was the second largest allotment of any in the town; the largest going to the minister, Samuel Haugh, Jr., who received 399 acres. Nicholas's son John (who would have been about 24 years of age) received 47 acres. All of this "4-mile grant" was on the north side of the Ipswich River (Records of the Town of Reading, Mass., 1639-1812, I:3, 13, 31; copy at Reading, Wakefield and Lynnfield Public Libraries). On the 30th of the 1st month, 1647, Nicholas also purchased from Hugh Burt of Lynn, 80 acres of land in Reading. The land was bounded by Thomas Marshall, John Pool, the Great Pond, and Nicholas's own land. This was probably the land that Hugh Burt had received in 1638 in the "six-mile grant" allotment. Nicholas Browne's total acreage was about 685 acres.
From 1651 on, Nicholas took an active role in the Town of Reading. On the
4th of the 12th month, 1651, he was appointed to gather all fines of
delinquents for the year; he was to have 1/5 part for the gathering of it
(ibid., I:10). On the same date, the town made an agreement with Nicholas for
the keeping of three score cattle - he to have 3 shillings per head, his pay
to be 1/2 in butter and wheat and 1/2 in Indian corn ... and his sons, Josiah
and Cornelius were to assist him (ibid., I:11). He served as Selectman in 1655 and a Commissioner in 1658 and 1668 (ibid., 1:22, 27).
Nicholas Browne made his will on the 29th of the first month, 1673, and
it was probated 17: 4: 1673. His estate was valued at 1,232 pounds. The will
appears in William Eaton's Historical Sketch of Ancient Redding, Mass...
[typescript, 1935], 1:150-151; copies at Reading, Wakefield and Lynnfield
Public Libraries). He bequeathed:

"to son JOHN BROWNE, all my two lots of land between Edward Taylor and
the Sawmill River, with ten acres more adjoining said river, he to pay yearly
to his mother 40 shillings per year upon demand...

to son JOSIAH BROWNE, the odd ten acres and the other half of my farm
called Wigwam Farm, being 210 acres, and 50 acres of my great lot beyond the Ipswich River and two acres of my great lot of meadow, paying to his mother 20 shillings per year upon demand...

to son CORNELIUS BROWNE, the other half of my Wigwam Farm & 50 acres of my great lot beyond the Ipswich River & 2 acres of meadow, paying to his
mother 20 shillings per year upon demand...

to daughter ELIZABETH BROWNE [she would have been ELISABETH PARKER at this date], all my house lot below the highway with 1/2 of the 30-acre lot
next to Thomas Parker, Sr. and all my upland lot this side of the river and 10
acres of meadow between Josiah Browne and Edward Hutchinson plus 3 acres of town meadow between William Eaton and Mr. Brock and one small piece of meadow on the Ipswich River, and 50 acres of my great lot beyond the river with the proportion of meadow belonging to it...

to son EDWARD BROWNE, 100 acres between Mr. Hollick (Holyoke?) and John Pearson, and 5 acres of great meadow and 50 acres of my great lot beyond the river with the proportion of meadow belonging to it, and 1/2 of my cedar lot...

to my dear & loving wife ELIZABETH BROWNE, 1/2 my dwelling house and barn with all the broken land adjoining it and 1/2 the pasture and orchard, 2 oxen, 3 cows, and 16 acres of meadow at Bear Meadow, and 4 acres of meadow at Dwyers lot and 3 acres of salt meadow at Rumney Marsh, and all indoor moveables to her and her disposal to my children...

He appointed his son John Browne his sole Executor, and appointed his
"sons," Hananiah Parker [his son-in-law] and Josiah Browne to be Overseers. The will was attested by John and David Bacheller, at a County Court at Charlestown, 17: 4: 1673, and was recorded by Thomas Danforth (Hist. Sketch of Ancient Redding, 150-151) .

Children, given in the order named in Nicholas's will, the first four
probably born in England (or perhaps at Lynn, although they are not in the
published Lynn VRs), the last two recorded in Reading VRs:
873