You could google for e-book Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships might be handy. Cheers, Edna - Ottawa -----Original Message----- From: elizabeth howard Sent: Monday, January 27, 2014 11:23 AM To: devon@rootsweb.com Subject: [DEV] Greenfield LARRABEE Hi, given the quote and its idiosyncratic spellings. Greenfield Larrabee could be anything !! Does anyone know of the Phoenix ship ? who owned it where it came from ? life is hard . soften it with a cat \\\=^..^=/// ----- Original Message ----- From: "David L. Langenberg" <gallienus@mac.com> To: <devon@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 2:54 PM Subject: [DEV] Greenfield LARRABEE > This is going to be a very long shot! One of the classic problems in > American (specifically New England) genealogy is the English origins of > Greenfield LARRABEE, who shows up out of nowhere in colonial Connecticut, > in 1647. (He went on to settled permanently in Connecticut and left many > descendants on this side of the Atlantic.) Here is an extensive quote > about his appearance in court: > > "Steven Reekes, master of a vessell that came from the Barbadoes, was > called before the court to answer for some miscariadges of his on the > Saboth daye, vizd:--that he, the said Steven, did, contrary to the law of > God and of this place, halle vp his shipp to or towardes the necke bridge > vpon the Sabothe, which is a laboure proper for the six dayes, and not to > be vndertaken on the Lords day. Mr. Reeks answered that their shipp laye > on ground and had not flotted some dayes before, but that day the winde > coming vp at the southeast, brought in a great tide, and then she flotted, > and that all ye company did was but to keepe her of from runing on the > banke or driving vpon her ancor, the shipp hauing neuer a boate to carie > another ancor forth. Hee was toold they should have provided for that > before, for it is ye duty of all men to remember the Saboth, and to > provide so beforehand that nothing maye distrube them vpon the Saboth, > vnlesse it bee in cases of mercy or workes of such ! > necessitie as could not be provided for the day before nor staye till the > day after. Mr. [Greenfield] Larebe, a seaman belonging to the Phenix, was > called before the courte, to answer to some miscariadges of his vpon the > same Saboth, vizd, that he, wth some other company, went aboard the > Phenix, and did worke not proper for that day, as halling of the vessell, > and emptying some stones out of a cannow to help them in that servie. Mr. > Larebe replied, that hee conceived the worke was a worke of charitie, to > preserve the vessell that it might not perish, for their was some danger > of her ouer-setting; besid, Mr. Pery came to hime himeselfe, and saide it > was fitt some bodye should goe downe. Mr. Malbon saith that Mr. Pery was > at his house, and he was speakeing of some danger the vessell might bee > in, whervpon he wished his sonne Pery to goe to Mr. Davenport and aske his > advise. Hee did, and Mr. Davenport tould hime hee should leave it to Gods > providence, the Saboth was a day ! > of rest, and therfore hee ought to rest. Then Mr. Malbon wished hime > to give order that nothinge should bee done, wch hee did, only on might > goe downe and see what state the vessell was in, but that nothing, wthout > apparent necessitie, be done to her, yett Mr. Larebe, wth diueres others, > went and wrought, contrary to the lawe for the Saboth. The courte > considered bothe these cases and finde them to be much alike, and > considering the persons, that they are strangers, and thinking they did > not doe it out of contempt, but ignorantly, they agreed for this time, > (that they acknowledging ther failings, and promising amendment for time > to come,) to passe it by, but if any of our owne take libbertie heareby, > the sentenc will bee heavier on them." > > I think it is quite reasonable to believe that Greenfield LARRABEE was a > West Country man, possibly from Devon or Cornwall. I also believe that > his forename Greenfield comes from the surname GRENVILLE and there was a > famous GRENVILLE family of Devon. In the article on Richard GRENVILLE in > Wikipedia it is stated: "The ancient Grenville family were lords of the > manors of Bideford in Devon and of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall. He was > a cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh and the privateer Sir Francis Drake. > Grenville's birthplace is believed to have been at Bideford." > > Now the surname LARRABEE is another matter. It appears in many forms, > ranging from LEATHERBY to LEREBE to LARRABEE and all possible spelling > variations thereof. IGI actually shows some Letherbys from Devon. I > believe the name also occurs in Cornwall. > > Has anyone ever encountered in Devon a LARRABEE (or any of its variants) > family with individuals named Greenfield or Grenville or other variants? > > David Langenberg > Newark, Delaware, USA > ------------------------------------------ >

Edna, Tracking down the home port of the vessel is a good idea. However, the Phoenix was not a Royal Navy vessel. Presumably it was a commercial vessel engaged in shipping between the British Isles, the American colonies, and the Caribbean. I am not sure what resources exist for ships in the 17th century. That's a line of research I will pursue someday. For now, my query was primarily to see whether anyone on the list has encountered the surname LARRABEE in their research in Devon and particularly in relation to a Christian name Greenfeild/Grenfell/Grenville/etc. Regards, David Langenberg Newark, Delaware, USA On Jan 27, 2014, at 12:28 PM, liverpud wrote: > You could google for e-book > Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships > might be handy. > > Cheers, > > Edna - Ottawa > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: elizabeth howard > Sent: Monday, January 27, 2014 11:23 AM > To: devon@rootsweb.com > Subject: [DEV] Greenfield LARRABEE > > Hi, given the quote and its idiosyncratic spellings. > Greenfield Larrabee could be anything !! Does anyone know of the Phoenix > ship ? who owned it where it came from ? > > > > life is hard . soften it with a cat \\\=^..^=/// > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David L. Langenberg" <gallienus@mac.com> > To: <devon@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 2:54 PM > Subject: [DEV] Greenfield LARRABEE > > >> This is going to be a very long shot! One of the classic problems in >> American (specifically New England) genealogy is the English origins of >> Greenfield LARRABEE, who shows up out of nowhere in colonial Connecticut, >> in 1647. (He went on to settled permanently in Connecticut and left many >> descendants on this side of the Atlantic.) Here is an extensive quote >> about his appearance in court: >>