Norfolk County MA Archives Biographies.....Metcalf, Michael 1587 - 
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Author: E. O. Jameson (1886)

MICHAEL METCALF, ESQ.

   MICHAEL METCALF, the immigrant ancestor of the Metcalf's in Medway, was born
in 1587, in Tatterford, Norfolk County, England. He writes: "I was persecuted in
the land of my fathers' sepulchres, for not bowing at the name of Jesus, and
observing other ceremonies in religion forced upon me, at the instance of Bishop
Wren, of Norwich, and his chancellor, Dr. Corbet, whose violent measures
troubled me in the Bishops' Court, and returned me into the High Commissioners'
Court. Suffering many times for the cause of religion, I was forced, for the
sake of the liberty of my conscience, to flee from my wife and children, to go
into New England; taking ship for the voyage at London, the 17th of September,
1636: being by tempests tossed up and down the sea till the Christmas following,
then veering about to Plymouth, in Old England, in which time I met with many
sore afflictions. Leaving the ship, I went down to Yarmouth, in Norfolk County,
whence I shipped myself and family, to come to New England; sailed April 15th,
1637, and arrived three days before midsummer, with my wife, nine children, and
a servant."

   The above extracts we take from a copy of his letter, written in Plymouth,
England, Jan. 13, 1636, on his voyage hither, directed: "To all the true
professors of Christ's Gospel within the city of Norwich." In the postscript he
remarks: "My enemies conspired against me to take my life, and, sometimes, to
avoid their hands, my wife did hide me in the roof of the house, covering me
over with straw."

   History informs us that one of the charges brought against Bishop Wren, by a
committee of Parliament, was, that during the term of two years and four months,
while he held the See of Norwich, "3,000 of his Majesty's subjects, many of whom
use trades, spinning, weaving, knitting, making cloth, stuff, stockings, and
other manufactures of wool, some of them setting a hundred poor people at work,"
"transported themselves into Holland," and "other parts beyond the sea," in
consequence of his superstition and tyranny. Michael Metcalf was admitted a
townsman in Dedham, July 14, 1637; joined the church in 1639, and was selectman
in 1641. His name stands first on the committee chosen to "contrive the fabricke
of a meeting house."


Additional Comments:
From:

THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT PERSONS, AND The Genealogical Records 
OF MANY EARLY AND OTHER FAMILIES 
IN MEDWAY, MASS. 1713-1886.

Illustrated
WITH NUMEROUS STEEL AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

BY
E. O. JAMESON,

THE AUTHOR OK "THE COGSWELLS IN AMERICA," "THE HISTORY OF MEDWAY, MASS.." ETC.

MILLIS, MASS. 1886.

 Copyright, 1886.

E. O. JAMESON, MILLIS, MASS.

All Rights Reserved.

J. A. & R. A. REID, PRINTERS, PROVIDENCE, R. I.


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