By Mike Berry
In 1629 King James I issued Captain John Mason and others right of settlement in the area now known as New England. Mason focused his initial efforts on the territory of land between the Merrimack River (now Salisbury, MA) and the Kennebec River (now Popham Beach, ME). William Berry, born in Newcastle in northeast England in 1610 and who was then in service as a constable to Mason in England, was selected to be among the group which traveled to the shores of what is now New Hampshire to permanently establish the territory.
He is known to have been at Strawberry Bank (later Portsmouth) as early as 1631 and ultimately would serve as Selectman for the town later in 1646. In 1636, Berry married Jane Locke Hermins and the two had 7 children. In January 1648/49, at a town meeting held at Strawbery Banke, "Granted that William Berry shall have a lot upon the neck of land upon the South side of the Little River at Sandy Beach". This was later to become part of Rye when it was set apart from Hampton.
Parson's History of the Town of Rye holds that William was the first to settle in Rye. However, he would have been in his 50s, and given his stature would not have been likely to make such a move. Thus, although William appears to be the first to get a grant in Rye, his son John is known to have settled on this grant and was probably the first settler to actually live there and set down permanent roots.
William Berry died in June of 1654 of unknown causes in Portsmouth NH. His widow Jane remarried to Nathaniel Drake. His children and the generations of Berrys which followed would establish many homesteads in and around Rye. A Berry Family Cemetery can be found on Breakfast Hill Road in Rye approximately .3 miles from Route 1 (see photo).
Berry Cemetery with map
