 Birth |
27 Aug 1592 |
Ratcliffe, Devon, Stepney, Middlesex, England |
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| Christening |
27 Aug 1592 |
Ratcliffe, Devon, Stepney, Middlesex, England |
|
| Religion |
28 Nov 1636 |
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Joined the church of Rev. John Lathrop. He was not a Puritan/Congregationalist. William had many contentions regarding his perception of religious intolerance by the Puritans in New England. In various records, William was referred to as "fractious." |
| Occupation |
1638 |
Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
William gained 350 acres and obtained the right to keep a ferry. |
| Military Service |
27 Sep 1642 |
Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
Council of War William was selected to be on the war council after threats to the colony from the Narragansetts. |
| Place of Residence |
1643 |
Marshfield, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
William moved to Marshfield and became the Town Officer. In Marshfield, the Vassals, Whites, & Winslows all lived close to each other, intermarried, and became good friends. (Susanna White m. Edward Winslow, governor of Plymouth Colony, & served as magestrate with William Vassall. Later the two men became foes.) |
| Military Service |
1643 |
Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
On list of Men Able to Bear Arms |
| Religion |
from 1644 to 1645 |
Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
William was involved in a church controversy over baptism which caused the church to divide. One half of the church, including the minister, relocated to Barnstable. The other half, with William and his daughter, Judith, remained. The Vassall group called their church the "Second church" of Scituate. His brother, Samuel, became the founder of that church. |
| Place of Residence |
1646 |
England |
William grew intolerant of MA attitudes toward ENG. Also embroiled in church battle. He & some family members returned to ENG. Family who remained in New England moved to Plymouth Colony. He supported the bill for Liberty Of Conscience (the Remonstrance). |
| Place of Residence |
1648 |
Barbados, West Indies |
Removed from England to Barbados with his wife and some of his children, citing religious intolerance in Massachusetts, and lack of support and sympathy from England. |
| Occupation |
|
Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Virginia, United States and Barbados, West Indies |
Importer/Planter, and in 1639 was granted the liberty “to make an oyster bank in the North River, in some convenient place near his farm which was called the ‘West Newland’ and to appropriate it for his own use, forbidding all others to use same without his license.” |
| Occupation |
|
State of Massachusetts |
Comptroller |
| Occupation |
|
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Inherited all of his father's fleets. William became known as probably the wealthiest of the Plymouth colonists. The Vassals held immense estates in New England and the West Indies. Unfortunately, evidence does exist that, like his brother Samuel, William dealt heavily in slaves. |
| Occupation |
|
Rotherhithe, Greater London, England |
William had property on the Thames. |
| Death |
13 Jul 1655 |
St Michaels Parish, Barbados |
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| Burial |
from JULY 1655 to JUNE 1657 |
Saint Michael, Barbados, West Indies |
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Anna Elizabeth King