The male-line descendants of the immigrant Robert Proctor were monographed in 1898 by William Lawrence Proctor and his wife.819 According to their work, Robert Proctor, “the earliest American Ancestor of the families to which this volume is devoted, first appears in this country at Concord, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643. He married, Dec. 31, 1645, Jane, the eldest daughter of Richard Hildreth of Concord and Chelmsford, the ancestor of the Hildreths of America, who died at Chelmsford in 1688, and whose younger daughter, Abigail, became the wife of Moses Parker.

“In 1653 Robert Proctor, in connection with Richard Hildreth and twenty-seven others, petitioned the General Court for a grant of land six miles square, ‘to begin at Merrimack river at a neck of land next to Concord river, and so run up by Concord river south, and west into the country to make up that circumference or quantity of land as is above expressed.’ The petition was granted. In 1654 Mr. Proctor removed to the new plantation which was organized, November twenty-second of that year, as a town under the name of Chelmsford. The first four or five of his children were born in Concord, the others in Chelmsford. His descendants resided in many of the neighboring towns, and at an early date some of them pushed back into the wilderness and settled in New Hamp-[p. 5]shire, Vermont and New York, and have since scattered over the West.

“He died at Chelmsford, April 28, 1697. Letters of administration upon his estate were granted to Jane Proctor, executrix, July 13, 1697. In his will, dated March 10, 1695-6, he speaks of having already deeded lands to his sons Gershom, Peter, James, John, Samuel and Israel, and mentions son Thomas, to whom certain lands are given if he ‘live and return from Sea to New England;’ also daughters Dorothy Barrett, Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Chamberlain and Mary Bourne. Some of his children settled in what afterwards became the West Precinct, and later in the town of Westford.”820

The information given here on Robert Proctor’s ancestors as well as his birthdate and place come without sources from Ancestral File. This information may not be correct. The following email message provides some background:

Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 09:28:48
From: Kathleen (Proctor) Rowe <akrowe@clubi.ie>
Subject: Robert Proctor of Chelmsford

To my knowledge, coincidence is the only thing connecting Robert of
Chelmsford to Robert of St. Albans. Although that information is in one
of the family histories at the Family History Center Libraries, that
family history has many errors and inconsistancies -- so many that most
serious researchers have discarded the majority of the information
therein.

The connection between Robert of MA and Robert of St Albans was also
published in _Proctor Genealogy 1546 - 1982_ by A. Carlton Proctor. I
have not seen the book personally, but the author supposedly cites Parish
Records of St Mary's Parish of St Albans (which is just outside of
London).

Here is the coincidental evidence:

1. Richard Hildreth, father in law of Robert of Chelmsford, is probably
from St Albans.
2. Ties between the Hildreth and Proctor families are quite strong;
Robert of MA married Richard's daughter, Jane Hildreth; Robert and
Richard had a number of business and community dealings together.
3. Robert of St Albans was born about the right time to actually be
Robert of MA.
4. Richard Hildreth and Robert of MA arrived in Concord about the same
time.

Please let me know if you are interested in more specific details. I'd
love to share and compare sources and information.