Byles Family Papers 1757-1915 Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketches Collection Description Acquisition Information Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Select List of Items Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketches

Mather Byles (1707-1788)

Mather Byles (1707-1788), the son of Josias Byles (d. 1703) and Elizabeth Greenough Byles, was a clergyman, poet, humorist, and Loyalist. He graduated from Harvard College in 1725 and worked as minister of Hollis Street Church in Boston, from which he was expelled for his Loyalism. He was a founder of and contributor to The New-England Weekly Journal. He was married twice: first to Anna Noyes Gale in 1734 and second to Rebecca Tailer (d. 1779) in 1747. His children included: Mather Byles (1735-1814), Elizabeth Byles (1737-1763), Samuel Byles (1743-1764), Mary Byles (1750-1832), and Catherine Byles (1753-1837).

Mather Byles, Jr. (1735-1814)

Mather Byles, Jr. (1735-1814), the son of Mather Byles (1707-1788) and Anna Noyes Gale Byles, was a clergyman and Loyalist. He graduated from Harvard in 1751 and worked as minister of the First Church in New London, Conn., and Christ Church in Boston. In 1776, following the Siege of Boston, he removed his family to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with other Massachusetts Loyalists, where he served as chaplain to the garrison. He was married three times: first to Rebecca Walter (1739-1775) in 1761, second to Sarah Lyde (1746-1787) in 1777, and third to Susanna Lawlor Reid (b. 1750) in 1788. His children included: Rebecca "Becca" Byles (1762-1853), who married Dr. William Almon of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Mather Byles III (1764-1802), the commissary general at Grenada, British West Indies, who married Mary Bridgewater in 1797; Elizabeth Byles (1767-1808), who married William Scovil; Anna Byles (1768-1830); Sarah Byles (1770-1855); and Belcher Byles (1780-1815), who married Sarah Louisa Lyde (1779-1871) in 1808.

Elizabeth Byles (1737-1763)

Elizabeth Byles (1737-1763) was the daughter of Mather Byles (1707-1788) and Anna Noyes Gale Byles. She married Gawen Brown, a Boston clockmaker and Loyalist. Her son was Mather Brown (1761-1831), a portrait painter who studied with Gilbert Stuart and Benjamin West. Mather Brown was raised by his Boston aunts, Mary Byles (1750-1832) and Catherine Byles (1753-1837), following the death of his mother in 1763.

Mary Byles (1750-1832)

Mary Byles (1750-1832) was the daughter of Mather Byles (1707-1788) and Rebecca Tailer Byles, the sister of Mather Byles, Jr. (1735-1814), and the aunt of Mather Byles III (1764-1802) and Mather Brown (1761-1831). Like her sister Catherine Byles (1753-1837), she lived unmarried with her father in Boston and continued to live at their Boston house after his death. She remained a Loyalist until her death in 1832.

Catherine Byles (1753-1837)

Catherine Byles (1753-1837) was the daughter of Mather Byles (1707-1788) and Rebecca Tailer Byles, the sister of Mather Byles, Jr. (1735-1814), and the aunt of Mather Byles III (1764-1802) and Mather Brown (1761-1831). Like her sister Mary Byles (1750-1832), she lived unmarried with her father in Boston and continued to live at their Boston house after his death. She remained a Loyalist until her death in 1837.

Collection Description

The Byles family papers consists primarily of letters to Mather Byles, Mary Byles, and Catherine Byles in Boston from Loyalist family members and friends who fled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the American Revolution. Among the correspondents are Anna Byles, Elizabeth Byles (1767-1808), Mather Byles, Jr., Mather Byles III, and Rebecca Byles (1762-1853). Subjects include their health, travels, and activities in Halifax. Also included are letters of Mather Byles, Jr. from New London, Conn., about his ministry at the First Church there and problems with the followers of John Rogers, as well as letters written during his ministry in Halifax, 1782-1786; letters of Mather Byles III during his stay at Grenada, British West Indies, and a visit to London; letters of artist Mather Brown describing his art studies and painting in Paris and London; correspondence about claims to land in Amherst, N.H., by Mary and Catherine Byles; and some papers related to the Almon family. Volumes in this collection include an account book and estate inventory of Mather Byles, with a list of his personal library; a commonplace book of Mary Byles; and a line-a-day diary kept by Mather Byles, Jr.

See the Select List of Items below for detailed information on some of the items in this collection. Papers in Box 3 have not been microfilmed.

Acquisition Information

Acquired by purchase, 1970, 1983. The family record of Mather Byles, 1707-1832, was a gift of George E. Ellis, 15 Apr. 1886.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Select List of Items

This list includes detailed information on some of the items in Series I of this collection.

Preferred Citation

Byles family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.