By the mid 17th century, life in theocratic England had become intolerable -- Henry VIII had established the Church of England when the papacy refused to grant him a divorce from one of his many wives. Mary Tudor, in her zeal to return the country to Catholicism, had scores of recalcitrant Protestants slaughtered -- earning her the nickname Bloody Mary. In dissolving parliament, Charles I so provokes the Puritans that the ensuing civil wars result in his beheading. By 1620, Pilgrim separationists had already fled England, establishing themselves at Plimoth (Plymouth) while other stock companies were being formed to promote settlement in the Americas. During the Great Puritan Migration of the 1630's, Nicho ffilipes leaves his homeland to face the vicissitudes of the New World. It is in Dedham, Massachusetts along the Charles River that he and his family take up farmland¹. Later moving to Wessagusset (Weymouth) he was made Freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter in 1640, elected Commissioner in 1643, and later elected church Deacon in 1660.

Nicholas PHILLIPS, son of Nicholas PHILLIPS and Abigail SEWELL, b. ABT 1611, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, m. 26 Jun. 1631, in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, Elizabeth JEWSON², b. ABT 1610, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, (daughter of Richard JUSSON and Elizabeth KIPPING) d. ABT 1649. Nicholas died 1 Sep. 1672, Boston, Suffolk, MA., at the age of 61.

1. Elizabeth PHILLIPS b. ABT 1633, Wendover, England., died in infancy.
2. Alice Elizabeth PHILLIPS b. ABT 1636, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, m. ABT 1652, John SHAWE, 23 May 1630, Halifax, Yorkshire, England, (son of Abraham SHAW and Bridget BEST) d. 17 Sep. 1704, Weymouth, MA. Alice died 1 Sep. 1672, Boston, Suffolk, MA.
3. Richard PHILLIPS
4. Experience PHILLIPS b. 8 May 1641, Weymouth, MA, m. 17 Feb. 1658, Samuel KING, b. ABT 1640, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, (son of John and Mary KING) d. 24 Dec. 1711, Weymouth, MA. Experience died 21 Jan. 1717.
5. Caleb PHILLIPS b. 22 Jan. 1643, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, d. BFR 2 JUN 1671.
6. Joshua PHILLIPS b. ABT 1647, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, d. 2 May 1679.
7. Hannah PHILLIPS b. 25 Nov. 1652, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, m. BFR 2 JUN 1671, Ebenezer WHITE, b. ABT 1648, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, (son of Thomas WHITE) d. BFR Aug. 1703. Hannah died ABT 1703.
8. Benjamin PHILLIPS b. ABT 1654, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, m. 13 Feb. 1687, Anne, b. ABT 1654, MA. Benjamin died 13 Feb. 1687, Charlestown, MA.
9. Abigail PHILLIPS b. ABT 1660, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, m. Mar. 1684, John BLANCHARD, b. 27 Mar. 1660, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA, d. ABT 1733. Abigail died 19 Sep. 1724.

¹ Nearby a small stream retains the name Phillips Creek to this very day.
² The spelling: JEWSON -or- JUSSON is a hotly debated topic.