Peter Browne

BIRTH: Probably about 1600, in England.

MARRIAGE: * Martha Ford, by about 1626, Plymouth. * Mary, by about 1631, Plymouth.

Death: 1633, probably in the autumn during the general sickness at that time.

Children: Children by Martha: Mary, Priscilla / Children by Mary: Rebecca, and a child whose name has not been discovered..

Peter Browne's origins in England have not been discovered, but based on his approximate marriage dates, an estimated birth of around 1600 seems probable. Peter is known to have had a brother, John Browne, who took up residence in Duxbury with the profession of a weaver and had one daughter named Remember (not to be confused with John Browne of Watertown who came on the ship Lion, or John Browne, gentleman, who was a patentee with the Massachusetts Bay Company).

Peter Brown and John Goodman seem to have been associated with one another, as their names are frequently entwined in the Plymouth records. On 12 January 1621, Peter Browne and John Goodman had been cutting thatch for house roofing all morning. They ate some meat and went for a short walk to refresh themselves, when their two dogs (an English mastiff and a English spaniel) spied a great deer and gave chance. Peter and John followed and quickly got lost. They wandered around the entire afternoon in the rain, and spent the night in a tree (and pacing back and forth under it) fearing that they had heard lions roaring in the woods. The next day they made their way up a hill, spotted the Bay, reoriented themselves, and made it back home to an extremely worried Colony that had already sent out two exploring parties in an attempt to find them.

In a partial list of the house locations of the Pilgrims made out in 1620, John Goodman and Peter Browne appear to have been neighbors on the south side of the Street and the ocean side of the Highway. Peter Browne was apparently still living there during the 1623 Division of Land. By about 1626 he married Martha Ford, who arrived as one of the only female passengers on the ship Fortune in 1621. She gave birth almost immediately after arriving, but husband Ford apparently died during the voyage or shortly after arrival. In the 1627 Division of Cattle he, his wife Martha (Ford), his daughter Mary Browne, and his stepchildren John and Martha Ford were included with the Samuel Fuller and Anthony Anable families. About a year later, Peter and Martha would have daughter Priscilla, but Martha would die shortly thereafter. Peter remarried to a woman named Mary, whose maiden name has not been discovered. With her, he had a daughter Rebecca born about 1631, and another child who was born about 1633 and died before reaching adulthood (the name of this child has not been discovered).

Peter Browne died in 1633, probably during the general sickness that occurred that autumn and also killed neighbor Samuel Fuller and several others in Plymouth. His estate inventory taken 10 October 1633 shows that he owned 130 bushels of corn, six melch goats, one cow, eight sheep, and a number of pigs, among other things.