ONE of the passengers in the Hopewell, embarking September 11, 1635, was William Lyon,(*) aged "fourteen yeres."  It is furthermore stated "Theis vnder written names are to be transported to New England imbarqued in The Hopewell. Tho: Babb mr. p. Cert. from the Ministers and Justices of their conformitie in Religion to or Church of England: & yt they are no Subsedy Men.  They have taken ye Oaths Of Alleg: & Suprem."

He is registered in Rolls Office, Chancery Lane, London, as having sailed for New England, September 11, 1635, and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  He is thought to have been the same William Lyon who was baptized at Heston (now a part of London), December 23, 1620, the youngest son of William and Anne (Carter) Lyon of Heston.  He is said to have come to New England in the care of Isaac Heath (armorer), and in the list of the Hopewell's passengers his name follows that family.  Isaac Heath was made a freeman in 1636.  He was a member of John Eliot's church, Ruling Elder, town officer, and Deputy.
 

William is the most common male given name and the mere fact that somone found a William LYON baptised in the right year does not prove these are the same individuals.  Nor does the fact that William follows Isaac HEATH on the list prove that he was in the care of Isaac HEATH.

Albert Welles, in American Family Antiquity, says, Henry Lyon, fourth in descent from Baron John de Lyon, left Norfolk, which had been for more than two centuries the ancestral home, and settled at Ryslippe (Ruislip), Co. Middlesex, where the family remained through four generations.  John Lyon, born in Ryslippe about 1470, married Emma Hedde of Ryslippe, and had four sons, Henry, Thomas, Richard, and John [the three brothers who came to Fairfield County, Connecticut, were Thomas, Henry, and Richard].
 

Webmaster's comment:  The children of John and Emma (HEDDE) LYON were born in the early 1500s, a century too early to be the ones who immigrated to New England.  If the author's intent was to imply that the congruence of the names is significant, then all I can say is that John, Richard, Thomas, and Henry are extremely common given names.

John settled at Little Stanmer, County Middlesex. His wife was 

Joan (???).  Their oldest son, born about 1540, was William.  He married Isabel Wightman, daughter and heiress of William and Audry (Deering) Wightman, of Harrow on the Hill.  William Lyon lived for a time in London (1596), but was buried September 7, 1624, at Little Stanmer.  His brother Thomas, whose son William was Marquis of Southwold, was owner of the ship Lyon, which brought many emigrants to America.
 

There is no such title as "Marquis of Southwold" in the Directory of British Peerages (Francis L. Leeson. 1986. Genealogical Publ. Co., Baltimore).

William and Isabel (Wightman) Lyon had a son William, born about 1580, who married July 17, 1615, at Harrow on the Hill, Anne Carter, of Heston, and lived in Heston. 

Their children were: 

Katherine, baptized October 25, 1616; 
John, baptized November 30, 1617, died in infancy; 
John, baptized June 1, 1619; and 
William, baptized December 23, 1620, O.S.
 

It is poor scholarship to place, without qualification, William LYON of Roxbury directly under the listing of the children of William & Isabel (WIGHTMAN) LYON because their identity as his parents is far from proven, at least not here.

1. WILLIAM1 LYON, who came to Roxbury, Massachusetts, married June 17, 1646, Sarah Ruggles, daughter of John and Mary (Curtis) Ruggles of Nazing, England.  She was born April 19, 1629, and came to America with her parents while an infant.  Her death probably occurred in Rowley, for on September (or November) 30, 1677, William Lyon of Rowley was married to Mrs. Martha (Philbrick) Casse (Cass), widow of John Cass.

There was a so-called "Nazing colony" in Roxbury, which included John and Philip Eliot, and William Curtis, an uncle of Sarah (Ruggles) Lyon.  The "Nazing Christians" were distinguished for their piety.  John Ruggles, of Nazing and Roxbury, died in Roxbury November 16, 1644.  His will dated November 9, 1644, named his daughter Sarah.  He was the eldest son of Thomas4 (Thomas,3 Nicholas,2 Thomas1) Ruggles of Sudbury, County Suffolk.  William de Ruggles of Staffordshire, in the reign of King Edward I, was his ancestor.

William Lyon of Roxbury became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.  In 1648 he received a grant of six acres in Roxbury, and in 1652 one of three acres "upon the common."  Subsequently he acquired additional property.

When "New Roxbury," now Woodstock, Connecticut, was

formed in 1686, he was one of the "goers" and was assigned a lot.  He did not occupy it, but four of his grandsons and a stepson became members of the new colony.

The Lyon homestead in Roxbury was on what is now called Bellevue Avenue, formerly called Lyon Street.  It stood on the east side of the street, southwest of Atwood Street.  William Lyon was admitted to full communion in John Eliot's church in 1655 and became a freeman in 1666.  He with others signed the Roxbury petition October 25, 1664, to the General Court, praying it to "stand fast in our present liberty's."  He lived to be seventy-two and was buried May 21, 1692, probably in the West Roxbury Cemetery.  His widow died "about Aug. 4, 1694."

      i. John, baptized April 10, 1647; d. in Roxbury, January 15, 1702/3, aged 55 years.
     ii. Thomas, baptized August 8, 1648; d. Roxbury, 1734.
2.  iii. Samuel, baptized June 16, 1650; d. April 7, 1713 (Roxbury).
     iv. William, baptized July 12, 1652; d. Roxbury, August 10, 1714, aged about 62 years.
      v. Joseph, baptized November 30, 1654; d. Woodstock, Connecticut, January 12, 1721/2.
     vi. Sarah, b. January 8, 1657 (?); baptized March 8, 1657.
    vii. Jonathan, b. September 5, 1666; baptized September 9, 1666; d. January 5, 1668.
   viii. (?) Jonathan, b. 1668; d. May 30, 1668 (Pope); buried June 5, 1668.

2. SAMUEL2 LYON (William1) was born in Roxbury and was baptized "Samuel Lyons" June 16, 1650.  He died April 7, 1713.  He was dismissed from the church in Roxbury, December 21, 1673, to the church in Rowley, but returned later.  He was by trade a mason.  He married Deliverance (???) who was the mother of all his children.  He married for his second wife Sarah Grant of Rehoboth, being then "of Worcester."  About 1688 he was granted land in Woodstock, but it is not certain he lived there.  His will, dated Roxbury, April 25, 1711, was probated April 25, 1713.

His brother, Joseph Lyon, died in Woodstock, January 12, 1721/2.  He married Mary Bridge, daughter of Edward and Prudence (Robinson) Bridge, a granddaughter of William Robinson of Dorchester, born in Roxbury, April 21, 1661, by whom he had a son, Joseph, and five daughters.  Joseph Lyon, Sr., seems to have been the first of his family in America to engage in military service.  He served in King Philip's War in 1676.  In 1678 he took the Oath of Allegiance in Roxbury.  He removed to West Woodstock, where he spent the later years of his life.

    i. Sarah,8 b. Rowley, Massachusetts; baptized February 8, 1673; m. Jonathan Curtis, and d. 1724.
   ii. Samuel, b. Rowley, December 16, 1675.
  iii. Ebenezer, baptized Roxbury, July 29, 1676.
3. iv. Abiel, baptized Roxbury, April 25, 1680; d. Pomfret, Connecticut, October 9, 1756.
    v. Henry, b. Roxbury, November 14, 1682; baptized November 19, 1682.
   vi. Margaret, b. Roxbury, August 24, 1685; baptized September 13, 1685.
  vii. Joanna, baptized Roxbury, September 18, 1687.

In the Roxbury, Massachusetts, church records, appears the baptism of "Biel son of Joseph Lyon." This is considered an error and should have been "son of Samuel Lyon" as Samuel had a son Abiel, while his brother Joseph, who was not married according to the Lyon Memorial: Massachusetts Families, page 33, until March 13, 1681, had so far as known only one son, and he bore the name of Joseph.

3. ABIEL3 LYON(+) (Samuel,2 William1), born in Roxbury, baptized April 25, 1680 (as son of Joseph), married, first, November 24, 1703, Judith Farrington of Woodstock.  She died September 12, 1740.  He married, second, in Pomfret, Connecticut, April 26, 1743, Mrs. Susanna Craft.  She died September 2, 1748.  He married third, November 3, 1749, Sarah Tomson.  After dwelling for

      i. Experience, b. Woodstock, October 11, 1704; m. October 21, 1728, Ebenezer Goodell. She d. Canterbury, Connecticut, January 3, 1758.
     ii. Abiel, b. Woodstock, December 6, 1706; d. Pomfret, March 30, 1724.
4.  iii. Jonathan, b. Woodstock, September 28, 1709; d. Pomfret, August 25, 1785.
     iv. Pelatiah, b. Pomfret, September 20, 1711; d. February 18, 1746.
      v. Judith Farrington, b. Pomfret, September 5, 1713.
     vi. Obadiah, b. Pomfret, October 16, 1715.
    vii. Mary, b. Pomfret, October 8, 1717; m. Benjamin Ingalls.
   viii. Samuel, b. Pomfret, January 3, 1719; d. Pomfret, August 23, 1774.
     ix. Peter, b. August 26, 1722; d. Pomfret, September 7, 1722.
      x. Abigail, b. Pomfret, September 11, 1725; m. Jabez Goodell.

4. JONATHAN4 LYON (Abiel,3 Samuel,2 William1), born at Woodstock, Connecticut, September 28, 1709, died at Pomfret, August 25 (or 22), 1785.  He married, first, April 23, 1735 (1731?), Elizabeth Sabin, who died January 1, 1752.  He married, second, May 10, 1753, Rebecca Moseley, who died December 1, 1788.  She is said to have been Irish, and her name is also given as Maxley. 

   i. Jonathan, b. March 19, 1732.
  ii. Elizabeth, b. January 17, 1734.
 iii. Abiel, b. May 10, 1735; d. August 19, 1735.
  iv. Abiel, b. June 8, 1736.
   v. Joshua, b. October 22, 1738; d. September 29, 1756.
  vi. Phineas, b. November 27, 1740; d. October 29, 1742.
 vii. Seth, b. March 23, 1742.
viii. Simeon, b. June 15, 1745.

   ix. Sarah, b. February 20, 1747; m. July 9, 1767, Hezekiah Cole, Jr.
    x. Dorcas, b. June 20, 1749.

   xi. Mary, b. March 10, 1754.
  xii. Amos, b. April 13, 1756; d. Havana, September 23, 1762.
 xiii. Thomas, b. November 13, 1757.
  xiv. John, b. March 1, 1762.
5. xv. Asa, b. December 31, 1763; d. South Hero, Vermont, April 4, 1841; m. Esther Newell. 
  xvi. Rebecca, b. June 3, 1766.

5. REV. ASA5 LYON (Jonathan,4 Abiel,3 Samuel,2 William1) was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, December 31, 1763.  He was a pupil of the Rev. Walter Lyon, Congregational minister in Pomfret from 1783 to 1800, a distant cousin, and his senior about six years.  The Rev. Walter Lyon was a native of Woodstock and a Dartmouth graduate of 1777, receiving his A.M. degree in 1782 from Yale.  He was a preacher of distinction, as seen in a volume of his published sermons.  Asa Lyon followed in his footsteps and entered Dartmouth, whence he graduated with first honors in 1790.  He studied divinity and became pastor of the Congregational church at Sunderland, Massachusetts, in 1792.  Going to Vermont, he made Shelburne his home for a short time, then organized the church at South Hero, which town became his home in 1795.  He was its first minister.(*)  He married Esther Newell, who was born in Goshen, Connecticut, November 12, 1762, the daughter of the Rev. Abel and Martha or Abigail (Smith) Newell.(+)