William Beardsley
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William Beardsley (1605-1661) was one of the first settlers of Stratford, Connecticut (abt. 1635).
He was born 1605 in Ilkeston, Derbyshire; in 1631 he married Marie Harvie in St. Mary's church, as written in "Beardsley Genealogy - The Family of William Beardsley - One of the first settlers of Stratford, Connecticut" (Nellie Beardsley Holt, 1951). In 1633, their first son John was baptized there.
In 1635, Beardsley and his wife and three children boarded the ship "Planter" with 116 other passengers and sailed to Massachusetts. In December 1636, Beardsley took the oath of office in Massachusetts and was made a freeman.
In 1639, Beardsley and his wife left Boston to became one of the first settler families in the Pequonnock Plantation, which later became known as Stratford, Connecticut. Beardsley was active in the affairs of the settlement and served as Deputy to the General Court at Hartford from 1645 to 1659, as well as being one of the founders of the First Congregational Church of Stratford.
After arriving in America, from 1636-1646 Beardsley and his wife had six additional children.
Beardsley died in Stratford, Connecticut in 1661.
