Published Genealogy

• SOME DESCENDANTS OF JOHN NORTHWAY OF PORTSMOUTH, RHODE ISLAND

• The family name of Northway was first mentioned in the genealogy Palmer Families in America - Vol. III compiled by Horace Palmer - which described the second marriage of Susannah (Briggs) Palmer, widow, to a Northway. No given name was known. In the article Susannah (Briggs) Palmer of Plymouth Colony and Little Compton. Susannah's second husband proved to be John Northway of Portsmouth RI.
• The family name of Northway is uncommon among British surnames and is found in a scant few references. At times it was referred to, phonetically, as Norway. The earliest record of the name in England is that of a Richard de Northweye in 1275. John Northway's family was of Islington, Devonshire, England.
• John was born 2 May 1647, the only child of George and Agnes (Warren) Northway; his mother passed away a few months later on 28 July 1647. John's grandfather, Thomas, was the Constable of Islington, a position referred to as 'prestigious'.
• John has been said to have married an Agnes who died in 1678 after which he sailed to America on the Hannah & Elizabeth out of the port of Dartmouth, Devon, arriving at Boston in November 1679. The ship was commanded by Capt. Nicholas Manning who had John listed as Norway.
• John Northway came to Portsmouth RI about 1680-81 as there is evidence that he married Susannah Palmer probably in 1682. This statement is based on the fact that Susannah's oldest son, William Palmer, was living in Little Compton before 3 January 1683 according to a deed in which he had purchased property on that date from John Partridge of Duxbury of land in Little Compton. Susannah's three sons, William, John and Joseph Palmer had moved to Little Compton after the remarriage of their mother. John Northway served on a coroner's inquest 18 September 1683; signing the document with his mark 'N'. He served again on the 14th of January 1684/5.
• John must have died before 1697 as records show that Susannah (Palmer) Northway, widow, had moved to Little Compton MA (now RI), to be with her three sons of her previous marriage to William Palmer, son of William Palmer, Pilgrim of 1621, who had arrived on the ship Fortune. George Northway, their only child born about 1683, must have been with his mother in Little Compton until her death in 1704 although there is no record of him in the village.<
• John is probably buried in Portsmouth. Susannah (Palmer) Northway died 7 November 1704 at the age of 63 in Little Compton and is buried next to her second son Capt. John Palmer.
• George Northway at age 21, removed to Wethersfield CT after his mother's death for we find that he married Hannah North there on 29 March 1705. Hannah, born in 1677, was the daughter of Samuel North. Her grandfather, John North came to America, arriving at Boston, 16 April 1635 on the Susan & Ellen. He then married Hannah Bird in 1642. The Norths originally were from Rotherham, West Riding, in the county of York, England.
• John Northway was the first of his family name to come to America. This then is the line of descent especially that of his grandson Lt. Samuel Northway. Other Northway families from England and Canada came much later but John was the Patriarch of the following Northway family.
• (Genealogies listed in the PDF document, available below.)