English Ancestry of William Paine and his sisters Elizabeth Hammond, Phebe Page and Dorothy Eyre

William Paine and Agnes Neves his wife were the parents of a very adventurous group of children. Their daughter Elizabeth Paine married John Hammond, together they  immigrated to Watertown, MA with their children between 1630 and 1634. But Elizabeth was not alone in her move to a new world, her sisters Dorothy and Phebe and her brother William also immigrated. Note: William Paine of Lavenham did not have a son Robert, at least there is no record of a baptism for him and Robert Charles Anderson doesn't seem to have his as a brother either. 

the book is wrong

St. Peter and St. Paul Lavenham

If you think you know who William's ancestors were, I'd wager a guess that you are wrong. Let me start out by saying that the 1881 book, "The Paine Family" by Albert Paine was proved incorrect in 1915. [1]  The ancestors of William Paine of Lavenham were not the Paines of Hengave and Nowton Manor, sorry. I know that this is all over ancestry.com and other family websites and blogs, including one which I have found to be frequently wrong but often copied, minerdescent. If you do any research yourself, instead of coping other peoples mistakes, you will quickly see that the William of the Manor of Nowton could not be the William of Lavenham. Neither the 1881 Book by Albert Paine, nor the earlier 1880 book by Henry D. Paine, mentions the town of Lavenham. [2]

These two authors had apparently not seen the Paine entries in the parish records of Lavenham, they did not know the existence of the Lavenham Paines. They did not have the baptismal or marriage records of the Paine's of Lavenham, did not know they lived, married and died there, they did not know the name Agnes Neves or the names of the Paine siblings who did not immigrate to Massachusetts.

What most people seem to have done is taken the Paines of Lavenham, their baptisms and deaths and sorta said they were born in Nowton Parish of Lavenham, or some other mishmash of names. But Nowton is Nowton and Lavenham is Lavenham, two entirely different places, each with it's own parish church.

who they weren't

As I said, in 1881 a book was published on the ancestry of the Paine family. The author incorrectly identified the Paine's of Nowton as the ancestors of William Paine and his sisters who immigrated to Massachusetts in 1635. A thorough search of the parish registers in 1915 proved this to be the wrong family. A second troll through Suffolk in 1625 turned up wills of the Lavenham Paines that confirm that the Lavenhams and the Nowtons were distinct families. William, the son of Anthony and Mary Castell was baptized in 1565 at St. Marys Church in Bury St. Edmunds. St. Marys was the church of choice for the baptisms of the Paines of Hengrave/Nowton. This William's name is not found in the Lavenham parish registers.

William of Nowton married in 1602. He wife's name was recorded in the 1612 Visitation of Suffolk, she was Elizabeth Sparrow of Standsfelde. They married in the parish of Rede, which is only a few miles south of Nowton. [3]

William of Nowton's father, Anthony, died in 1606. Although not his heir, he made bequeaths to his son William in his will. He also named his  one year old granddaughter Anne. [4] In 1606 William of Lavenham had five or six children and his daughter Anne was 18 years old. William of Nowton died in November of 1648, his wife had died the previous April. William of Lavenham died in 1621, his wife Agnes died in October of 1645.[5] All the Paines of Nowton were buried in Nowton. William of Nowton seems to have had a son William, baptized in 1605 in Barnham, but as he was not named in his grandfather's will, it is presumed that he was dead.

A side by side comparison of the two families shows that the Lavenham Paines were baptized, married and buried in Lavenham.  The Nowton Paines were baptized in Bury St. Edmunds and buried in Nowton. So, I don't know what else to tell you. If you're still not convinced, can I ask a favor? Many people are under the assumption that if a man was "Lord of the Manor" then his title was 'Sir'. This is not true. In order to be called 'Sir', a man must be Knighted. Anthony Paine and his sons were not Knights, they were referred to as Gentlemen, and therefore they were called 'Mr.'. I have seen multiple ancestry trees which have the Paines given the title of Lord and Lady Paine, and Sir William Paine. This is incorrect. So, if your going to use an incorrect pedigree, could you at least do it correctly. :)

so who were they

William's family can be traced back to Thomas and Alice Paine of Boxted, Suffolk. Thomas wrote his will and died in February of 1544/5. In his will  he named his wife Alice and children: Richard, John, William, Alice and Robert. He also made a bequest to his Goddaughter Margery Fyrman. Thomas requested to be buried in the Boxted parish churchyard. Richard was his heir and as such received the land. [6]

Richard the eldest son named in Thomas' will died in late 1575. He identified himself as a Clothier of Boxted. He named in his will, written in January of that year, his wife Margery. She was dead by the time of the November probate. He also named his sons Richard, Thomas and John. He mentions Marion, Joane and John Firman (presumably the Firmans are related). Richard also leaves four nobles to the children of William Paine, his brother. [7]

move to lavenham
William, son of Thomas and brother of Richard had three known children: William Jr., Thomas and Agnes. The name of William Sr.'s wife is unknown as are the birth dates of the children. The three children are known to have lived in Lavenham. The parish register begin in 1558 so we can only trace the family to that time. A William Paine Sr. died in 1587 and a William Paine died in 1583, either of these could be him. I think he was the William who died in 1587.

In 1559 a birth of a Thomas Paine was recorded in the Lavenham parish records.  He was, most likely, the son of William Jr., who was presumably now married and living in Lavenham, some seven or eight miles from Boxted. William's brother Thomas married Agnes Wyatt in 1561 and their sister Agnes married George Seargentson in Lavenham in 1565.

William Jr. and his wife, possibly the Widow Joane Payne who died in 1594 had at least two sons, the Thomas born in 1559 and a son William III.  This William is the one who married Agnes Neves of Lavenham in 1584.  The births of their children are recorded in the Lavenham parish records beginning with Elizabeth, my ancestor, who was born in 1586.  William Jr. died the following year in 1587. William III, called William Payne the Elder in the records, died in 1621.  His son William and daughters Dorothy, Phoebe and Elizabeth are the siblings who immigrated to Massachusetts. When Agnes died she left her home in Lavenham Market to her daughter Susan and left money to her son Richard, both of whom remained in England. Agnes was buried in the Lavenham churchyard. [8]

paine meets paine
In an odd twist of fate, the two William Paines, one of Lavenham and the other of Nowton, may have come face to face. On 6 October 1634, William Paine, 37, clothier of Lavenham, was deposed in a court case involving his brother Richard. His deposition was taken at the Greyhound Inn in Lavenham before two commissioners; Sir Robert Crane, Baronet and William Payne, Gentleman. Were these the two Williams who are confused today? I think they were? [9] Another interesting thing about this court case is that Richard Paine stated that he had gone to Bury St. Edmunds, "a long way off" where he "was a stranger." Anthony Paine had owned many houses and lands in Bury and he had been one of the leading men there. If Richard was his grandson, he would have been known to men in Bury and not thrown in jail.

conclusion
William Paine's family members obviously lived, married, died and were buried in Lavenham. They had no connection to Nowton Manor. Below is my side by side comparison of the two families. It's a bit squished in this view but you might find it helpful.

Year	Paine of Lavenham	Year	Paine of Nowton/Bury St. Edmunds
1545	Thomas Paine of Boxted died	1545	Mr. Henry Paine, Lawyer of Bury St. Edmunds, buys Nowton for 648 pounds
1558		1558	John Paine s/o Anthony, baptized at St. Marys Bury St. Edmunds
1559	Thomas s/o William (1) Paine, bp. St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham This is the brother of William (2)
1560		1560	Anne d/o Anthony Paine, bp. St. Marys Bury St. Edmunds
1561	Thomas Paine m. Agnes Wyat St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham	1561
1562		1562	Margaret d/o Anthony, bp. St. Marys Bury St. Edmunds
1563		1563	Thomas s/o Anthony, bp. St. Marys. Bury St. Edmunds
1565	Agnes Paine m. George Sergeantson St. Peter St. Paul Agnes is sister of William (1) and Thomas	1565	William s/o Anthony, bp 2 Dec at St. Marys Bury St. Edmunds
1568		1568	Henry Paine, Lord of Nowton, buried at Nowton 26 July
1579		1579	Thomas s/o Anthony admitted to Caius College, Cambridge at age 16
1583	Joane Wright Servant of William Paine buried at St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham, probably a servant of William (1)	1583
1584	William Paine m. Agnes Neves St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham This is William (2)	1584
1586	Elizabeth d/o William Paine bp. St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham	1586
1587	William Paine Sr. buried at St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham this is the father of William, Thomas and Agnes Anne d/o William (2) bp. St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham	1587
1589	Judith d/o William bp. St. Peter St. Paul	1589
1590	Susan d/o William bp. 22 June St. Peter St. Paul	1590
1591	Susan d/o William buried 1 June St. Peter St. Paul	1591
1592	Susan d/o William bp. 1 April St. Peter St. Paul	1592
1594	Jane d/o William buried	1594
1596	William and Richard s/o William bp. St. Peter St. Paul	1596
1597		1597	John Paine, s/o Anthony buried at Nowton 28 October. John was also the heir of Anthony. Because of his death his son Anthony became the heir of Anthony (1)
1599		1599	Anthony s/o John Paine (deceased) admitted to Caius College Cambridge age 16
1600	Francis d/o William bp. 20 July St. Peter St. Paul Francis d/o William buried 12 August St. Peter St. Paul	1600
1602		1602	William Paine s/o Anthony m. Elizabeth Sparrow at Rede, Suffolk
1603		1603	Martha Paine w/o Anthony Sr. buried 28 June Nowton
1605	William's daughter Ann is now 18 years old Elizabeth Paine m. William Hammond 9 June St. Peter St. Paul	1605	(Ann d/o William born, no parish record found)
1606	William and Agnes have six living children: Elizabeth, Ann, Susan, Phoebe, William and Richard.	1606	Anthony Paine buried 4 March at Nowton. He wrote a will and named, leaving his estate to Grandson Anthony (2). He also names his son William and William's daughter Anne.
1607		1607	William Paine pays 3,000 pounds to his Nephew Anthony for Nowton
1609		1609	William Paine holds his first court at Nowton
1612		1612	Visitation of Suffolk: William Paine m. Elizabeth Sparrow, daughter Ann age 7, not other children named.
1613	Anne Paine m. Richard Neve St. Peter St. Paul	1613
1621	Phebe Paine m. John Page St. Peter St. Paul 5 June William Payne the Elder buried 9 June St. Peter St. Paul	1621	William hold his last court as Lord of the Manor of Nowton. He sold the manor to Sir Daniel de Ligne.
1624	William s/o William Paine bp. 9 Nov. St. Peter St. Paul No marriage record for this William, he m. by 1623 to Anna	1624
1635	Anne Neve Paine wrote her will on 8 December. She named only her daughter Susan and her son Richard	1635
1645	Anne (Agnes) Neve Paine d. buried at St. Peter St. Paul Lavenham	1645
1648		1648	William Paine, sometime Lord of the Manor of Nowton, buried at Nowton. He requested to be buried next to his wife in the chancel.

Citations/Sources:

[1] Albert W. Paine, Paine Genealogy, Ipswich Branch, (Bangor, Maine: O. F. Knowles, 1881), 51, digital images, Hatitrust (babel.hatitrust.org : accessed 5 February 2016).

[2] Henry D. Paine, Paine Family Records, a journal of genealogy and biographical information respecting the American families of Payne, Paine, and Payn, (Albany : J. Murrell, 1883), 177, digital images, Hatitrust (babel.hathitrust.org : accessed 5 February 2016).

[3] William Harvey, Robert Cook, John Earl Raven and Walter Charles Metcalf, "The Visitation of Suffolk Made by Hervey, Clarenceaux, 1561, Cooke, Clarenceaux, 1577, and Raven, Richmond, Herald 1613, with notes and an appendix of additional Suffolk Pedigrees, (Exeter, William Pollard, 1882), 157; digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/visitationsofsuf00harvuoft#page/156/mode/2up : accessed 8 October 2015).

[4] Henry D. Paine, Paine Family Records, 177.

[5] Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Research in England," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, MA,The New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1915, 69, pgs. 251-252; digital images, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new_england_genealogical-and_historical_register : accessed 4 Oct 2015).[ Contains the Payne births, deaths and marriages from the parish records of Lavenham.]

[6] G. Andrews Moriarity, "Genealogical Gleanings in England V," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, MA, The New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1925, 79, pgs. 82-84; digital images, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new_england_genealogical-and_historical_register : accessed 4 Oct 2015).

[7] G. Andrews Moriarity, "Genealogical Gleanings," 84.

[8] G. Andrews Moriarity, "Genealogical Gleanings," 84.

[9] Author unnamed, "Gleanings from English Records," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register," 103 (1949) 183-185, digital images, American Ancestors (https://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 5 February 2016). [court case involving Richard Paine and his brother William Paine, both of Lavenham.]

other sources:

Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Vol. V, M-P, Boston, MA, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007, 2; digital image, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/great-migration-immigrants-to-new-england-1634-1635-volume-v-m-p/image/?pageName=340&volumeId=12155 : accessed 4 Oct 2015)

http://www.stedmundsburychronicle.co.uk/Chronicle/1539-1699.htm (according to this website on St. Edmundsbury, Henry Paine purchased Nowton in 1545 not 1546)