Downing, Malcolm

Published: 03 Dec 2014, Updated: 23 Feb 2020
Researchers: Dr. Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust
Editor: Teresa Rust

Malcolm Downing, #9 on the “Scots at Lynn 1653. Iron Works Inventory“

IMPORTANT UPDATE! (July 2018)
According to, Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, in, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018), on page 246, Malcolm is categorized as:

Definite [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity]

Downing, Micum/Miccan/Malcolm/Macam/Machum/Makam/Mackum/Macullam. Residences: Lynn MA. Appears: 1653. D.1683. [Exiles; Banks; DR; SPOWS; Ch.7 & 8]

For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.

First Generation in the New World

1. MALCOLM¹ DOWNING, “a Scot”¹ was born in Scotland and died at Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts in Oct 1683.² He married at Lynn on 04 Mar 1653, MARGARET SULLIVAN.¹

Biographical Notes:
Married Margaret Sullivan 04 Mar 1653 at Lynn
Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society: 2008, 9998.
Malcolm died at Lynn in Oct 1683. Did Margaret move with some of her children to Salem where her daughter Priscilla marries in 1683?

Children of Malcolm and Margaret (Sullivan) Downing:
2. i. MARY DOWNING, born at Lynn, Massachusetts in Feb 1654/5. ³
2. ii. HANNAH DOWNING, born at Lynn on 03 Apr 1657. ⁴
2. iii. SARAH DOWNING, born at Lynn on 01 Mar 1658/9. ⁴
2. iv. MARGARET DOWNING, born at Lynn on 15 Jan 1660/1. ⁴
2. v. PRISCILLA DOWNING, born at Lynn on 15 Mar 1661/2; m. at Salem in 1683, NATHANIEL CARRILL, II. ⁴
2. vi. CATHERINE DOWNING, born at Lynn on 15 Aug 1665. ⁴
2. vii. JOHN² DOWNING, b. at Lynn on 20 Nov 1667; m. at Lynn in 1690, JOAN DISPAW, Englishwoman. ⁴
2. viii. JOANNA DOWNING, born at Lynn on 26 Feb 1671. ⁴

Second and Third Generations

2. i. MARY² DOWNING, was born at Lynn in Feb 1654/5.⁵

2. ii. HANNAH² DOWNING, was born at Lynn on 03 Apr 1657.⁴ In, 1674, Hannah Downing, the Leonard’s maid and daughter of Scottish ironworker Macam Downing, accused sons Nathaniel, Samuel and Thomas Leonard of “lascivious carriages” toward her. From: Social and Economic Networks in Early Massachusetts: Atlantic Connections By Marsha L. Hamilton, page 39.

2. iii. SARAH² DOWNING, was born at Lynn on 01 Mar 1658/9. ⁴

2. iv. MARGARET² DOWNING, was born at Lynn on 15 Jan 1660/1. ⁴

2. v. PRISCILLA² DOWNING, born at Lynn on 15 Mar 1661/2.15 Mar 1661/2.⁴ She married at Salem in 1683, NATHANIEL CARRILL, II.⁶

Biographical Notes:
From Salem Quarterly Court Vol 9 1683-1686: “Warrant dated July 5, 1684 for the appearance of Walter Philips and wife Ruth, William Beale, Jr and his wife Sarah Paul and John Darlin son of George Darlin of Salem, Nathll Carrell, Jr and Prissillah Downing for fornication’

2. vi. CATHERINE² DOWNING, was born at Lynn on 15 Aug 1665.⁵

2. vii. JOHN² DOWNING, was born at Lynn on 20 Nov 1667.⁵ He married at Lynn in 1690, JOAN DISPAW, Englishwoman. JOAN DISPAW was baptised at Horsemonden, England on 18 Aug 1672 and died after 20 May 1740.⁷

Biographical Notes:
The Dispaw and Downing Families of Lynn, Massachusetts by Marian Bowers Natale. Volume 170, Whole Number 680, Fall 2016, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, The Journal of American Genealogy, page 291.”

Children of John and Joan (Dispaw) Downing:
3. i. HENRY³ DOWNING, was born about 1691 and married at Lynn on 15 Jan 1712/3, MARY RHOADS.⁸

3. ii. HANNAH³ DOWNING, was born about 1694. She filed an intention to marry at Lynn on 26 May 1716, with, THOMAS NEWMAN.⁹ Perhaps he was the child of that name b. Lynn 12 Nov. 1693, son of Henry and Margaret (Downing) Newman, and thus Hannah Downing’s first cousin.[30]¹⁰

3. iii. CALEB³ DOWNING, was born about 1697 and died between 26 Aug 1763 and 12 Jul 1792.⁷ He married at Salem, on 02 Mar 1726/7, MARY GOOLD, of Salem, daughter of THOMAS and ABIGAIL (NEEDHAM) GOOLD/GOULD.¹¹

3. iv. JOHN³ DOWNING, was born about 1700 and died shortly before 6 April 1747, the date of an administration bond on his insolvent estate.[34] Apparently he had no living spouse or children.⁷

3. v. JOANNA³ DOWNING, was born about 1703. She married at Lynn on 16 Feb 1729/30, NATHANIEL RAMSDELL. He was born at Lynn on 14 Sept. 1694, the son of Isaac and Abigail (_____) Ramsdell, and possibly widower of Sarah Farrington.[36]⁷

3. vi. MARY³ DOWNING, was born about 1706. She married at Lynn on 29 Aug 1731, PATRICK COBORN.¹², widower of Rebecca _____.[38]⁷

3. vii. JOSEPH³ DOWNING, was born about 1710. He married at Lynn on 31 Jan 1737/8, HANNAH NARREMORE.¹³, was born at Lynn on 13 March 1709/10, the daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Paull) Narremore.[40]⁷

3. viii. SARAH³ DOWNING, was born about 1712. Married with intentions recorded in Lynn 17 Nov. 1734, ISAAC DAY, of Gloucester.¹⁴, he was born at Gloucester on 11 April 1712, son of Joseph and Abigail (Crowell) Day.[42]⁷

3. ix. BENJAMIN³ DOWNING, was born about 1714. He married at Lynn on 06 Sep 1739, SARAH SMITH.⁹, Perhaps she was the wife of Benjamin Downing buried about 17 Nov. 1756.[44]^{2 7}

2. viii. JOANNA² DOWNING, was born at Lynn on 26 Feb 1671.

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Sources and Notes:

Scots at the Braintree Furnace (1653):
“On April 2, 1651 an account appears in the Iron Works Papers for “a weeckes Dyett to ye 7th of 61 Menn” By June 9, 1651 the Iron Works has 38 Menn remaining on these rolls. The rolls continue to dwindle as these indentured workers are sold to others. The only surviving list of Scots by name is in the 1653 Iron Works inventory. It lists 35 names.” “Malcolm Downing” is one of the Scots.

1. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_M123.shtml [↩] [↩]
2. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_D471.shtml [↩] [↩]
3. Vital Records of Lynn, Mass to the year 1849; A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England showing three generations of those who came before May, 1692, on the basis of Farmer’s Register
   by Savage, James, 1784-1873; Making of America Project; Farmer, John, 1789-1838; Dexter, O. P. (Orrando Perry), 1854-1903 [↩]
4. Ibid. [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
5. Vital Records of Lynn, Mass to the year 1849; A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England showing three generations of those who came before May, 1692, on the basis of Farmer’s Register by Savage, James, 1784-1873; Making of America Project; Farmer, John, 1789-1838; Dexter, O. P. (Orrando Perry), 1854-1903 [↩] [↩] [↩]
6. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Salem/Images/SalemV3_M312.shtml [↩]
7. https://www.americanancestors.org/uploadedfiles/media/the_register/nehgr-680-dispaw.pdf [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
8. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_M122.shtml [↩]
9. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_M122.shtml [↩] [↩]
10. https://www.americanancestors.org/uploadedfiles/media/the_register/nehgr-680-dispaw.pdf [↩]
11. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Salem/Images/SalemV3_M311.shtml [↩]
12. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_M099.shtml [↩]
13. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_M261.shtml [↩]
14. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Lynn/Images/Lynn_M116.shtml [↩]