Robert Royce: Founding Father of the Royce Family in America
The descendants of Robert Royce spread throughout New England to the Midwest and are now in all 50 states.
Robert Royce (estimated birth date 1605 in England) arrived in North America with his wife, Mary, sometime before 1648, as part of the Great Migration of Puritans from England.
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A shoemaker by trade, Robert Royce appeared in the records with an entry for lot number 74 at Stratford, Connecticut dated September 16, 1648.
He owned 8 pieces of land, including his 2-acre home lot.
Robert Royce is listed in the records of New London, Connecticut in 1657 as one of the first sixteen members of the New London Church.
The town gave him 10 acres of upland woodlands, perhaps as a bounty for moving there, and the next year he purchased 6 adjoining acres. Town records show that he purchased 10 acres in Scull Plain, 4 acres in the Neck, 4 acres of fresh meadow and 24 acres of uplands. In 1660 John Stebbins deeded him 16 acres of upland by the Mill Brook and his 6-acre home lot with the remaining part of Post Hill adjoining Royce’s land. He successfully petitioned the town for a land grant to settle his sons Samuel and Nathaniel, and he also gave them his mountain farm, which was called Royce’s Mountain for many generations. The acquisition and gifting of land reflects Robert Royce’s relative affluence in the community.
In 1667 Robert Royce was appointed to keep an Ordinary.
Robert Royce died in 1676 in New London.
It is important not to confuse Robert Royce of Connecticut with Robert Royce of Boston. Robert of Boston died prior to October 1652 and was outlived by his wife Elizabeth who later married Michael (Miles) Tarne or Terne. Robert had at least one son named Joshua who is mentioned in Tarne’s will.
Presumed Robert Royce homesite at Mackay Harbor, Stratford CT, photographed by Lloyd Docter, 2023.