M. 11 Aug 1625 in Little Waldingfield, England1
Husband: John Sayles
D. before 1 Apr 16331
When John Winthrop led an effort to transport a large number of followers to the new colony of Massachusetts Bay, a few were said to have died along the way. One of them may have been the wife of John Sayles, Phillip Sole.
The Sole family was based in the cloth industry town of Sudbury, England, which is in Sussex. It was there that a girl was born to James Sole and Ellen Bell, who was baptized on February 28, 1602.1 They gave their child the unusual name of Phillip (not Phillipa, as some researchers suggest); Phillip was said to be “not an uncommon name for girls” in Suffolk County.1
Tragically, all three of Phillip’s siblings died very young, and it appears that two of them were victims of a 1604-1605 epidemic that also took the life of their father.1 Phillip and her mother carried on, possibly by living in the households of relatives. After she came of age, Phillip was living in Little Waldingfield where she married John Sayles on August 11, 1625.1 She soon gave birth to two daughters, one in 1626,1 and one in 1628.1
Essex County was at the center of the Puritan movement in England, and John and Phillip became followers. The church that John Winthrop attended was just a few miles from where they lived.2,3 Winthrop was a wealthy lawyer who sought to set up a religious haven in America, an endeavor which took shape in the spring of 1630. He wrote down the families he considered good candidates for the new colony, and one of the names on his list was Sayles.1
The Winthrop Fleet consisted of 11 ships and over 700 passengers, with John Winthrop himself aboard the flagship, Arabella.4 Sailing across the Atlantic in the 17th century was no easy thing; ships might be ridden with disease, and if the wind wasn’t working for them, a voyage could take months. It was later reported that 14 people died on one of the ships, The Talbot.1 Because there were no records of Phillip or her younger daughter in Massachusetts, the assumption has been made that they were among the deaths.
The Arabella.
John settled in Charlestown and he was among the first members of the church, but Phillip wasn’t mentioned.1 He became somewhat of a misfit, and was accused of stealing from his fellow settlers; a 1633 record detailed a punishment of whipping and indenture.1 Perhaps the idea of leaving England had been more Phillip’s than his — she being the more devoted Puritan — but this is speculation. By November 1638, John and older daughter Phoebe took the drastic measure of relocating in New Amsterdam.1 He remarried to a Dutch woman in 1644,1 and he died the following year.1
It’s important to note that no real proof exists that Phillip died while sailing on the historic Winthrop Fleet. Another scenario was that she made it to Charlestown and simply passed away early on. By virtue of having descendants in the New Netherland colony, she is the distant ancestor of James Spader.5
Children:
1. Phoebe Sayles — B. before 1 May 1626, Little Waldingfield, England;1 D. 13 Dec 1666, Flatbush, New York; M. (1) Teunis Nyssen (~1615-~1663), 11 Feb 1640, New Amsterdam, New Netherland;1 (2) Jan Cornelissen Buys (1629-1690), 24 Aug 1663, Midwout, New Netherland1
2. Sarah Sayles — B. before 27 Jul 1628, Little Waldingfield, England;1 D. (probably) young1
Sources:
1 “The Family of Phillip (Sole) Sayles of the Winthrop Fleet,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 168, January 2014, pp. 43-57
2 Little Waldingfield (Wikipedia article)
3 Groton, Suffolk (Wikipedia article)
4 John Winthrop (Wikipedia article)
5 FamousKin.com listing of Teunis Nyssen
