Humphrey Griffin (aka Griffing) was born in 1605 in Stepney, Middlesex, England. He married Elizabeth ANDREWS in 1639 in Ipswich Mass. Humphrey died about 1662 in Haverhill, Mass.

 

He was a butcher. He was refused admission to the town of Ipswich in 1639 “the town being full”. The Griffins remained in town He was finally admitted as a formal resident on Jan. 1, 1641 by purchase. On 18 Jan 1641, Robert Andrews (Elizabeth’s father) witnessed a deed from Daniel Denison to Humphrey Griffin of a dwelling house and two acres of land, a meadow, and a planting field near the mill.

 

He was often a guest of the court system, being charged for “reviling his mother-in-law, drinking, profaning the Sabbath by working before sundown and fined for “undue pride” by allowing his daughter to wear a silk hood.

 

1639 – Humphrey Griffing, a butcher, made application to become a freeman of Ipswich, Mass. in 1639. This application was at first refused on the ground that the ‘town was full,’ but he was allowed to remain. . . .

 

19 Jan 1641 – Humphrey Griffing bought a house and two acres of land near the mill at Labor-in-vain and a planting lot at Heartbreak Hill near Ipswich, Mass. from Daniel Denison. The deed was witnessed by Robert Andrews.

 

1646 – Humphrey Griffin contributed a day’s work and voluntary carting toward the building of the east bridge at Ipswich in 1646. . . .

 

1648 – On 4 Jan 1648, Humphrey Griffing sold property in Ipswich to John Brunham, who on the same date sold it to Anthony Potter. . . .

 

1655 – The town of Ipswich, Mass. gave Humphrey Griffing permission to erect a ‘shambles’ or slaughter-house, twenty feet square, near the pound

 

1657 – he was ‘a common packer of beef and pork.’ The meat was salted and packed in barrels.

 

1656 – when Humphrey Griffing fell off his horse and used ‘evil words, — his breath scenting much of strong liquors,’ as the witnesses testified, he was found ‘not drunk but admonished as to drinking!’

 

1656 – He was fined for unloading barley before sundown, thus profaning the Sabbath. –

 

1659 – ‘The daughter of Humphrey Griffin wore a silk hood in for which evidence of undue pride her father was fined 10s. Only the wealthy could wear silk with impunity.’ –

 

19 Nov 1661 – Administration on the estate of Humphrey Griffen was granted to his widow, Elizabeth, by Mr. Samuel Symonds and Major General Denison. It was ordered that an inventory be brought into the next Ipswich Court. – Ipswich Quarterly Court Records, vol.1, p.97. . . .