Some records have John married to Margaret OLDHAM.William Basset, one of the forefathers, came over in the shipFortune in 1621; settled first in Plymouth, then in Duxbury, andfinally in Bridgewater - of which town he was an originalproprietor. He died there in 1667. He was comparatively wealthy,being a large landholder, only four in Plymouth paying a highertax in the year 1633. He had a large library, from which is tobe inferred that he was an educated man.William came on the Ship Fortune; resided at Duxbury andBridgewater,Mass.; was a gunsmith and metal worker. The Bassett family inSandwich,England is Huguenot per Barber's "British Family Names"{-"TheTrail of theHuguenots...," G. Elmore Reaman (Toronto: Thomas Allen Ltd.,1963, p.263)}William is of the Sandwich, England and Bethnal Green, Middlesexline.{-"Saints and Strangers", G.F.Williston, and "The PilgrimReader".}The surname appears in 1066--Thurstine de Bassett was GrandFalconer to theConqueror at the Battle of Hastings. The name is thereafternotable inEngland - in the Domesday Book as well as the Battle Abbey Roll.Thurstinebuilt Beaupre Castle near Cambridge in Glamorgan, Wales, soonafter theConquest, and his son Ralph was Lord Chief Justice of Englandunder KingHenry I. Another Bassett castle is at Tehidy Park in Camborne,Cornwall;this line had large incomes from mining. Two Bassetts were amongtheKing's counsellors at the signing of the Magna Charta. TheLeyden, Hollandrecord indicates that "Pioneer" William Bassett came fromSandwich,England, a master mason, widower of Cecelia Light. William wasRepresentative, 1640-44; with Gov. Bradford and others he joinedin thepurchase of Dartmouth and moved to Bridgewater, Mass. in 1652.Arriving in1621, he was one of the "purchasers", first in Plymouth with hiswife,Elizabeth, and son, William, and daughter, Elizabeth, and tookpart in thedivision of cattle in 1627; then resided at Duxbury; then wasamong thefirst settlers and a proprietor of Bridgewater. "Pioneer"William Bassettwas baptised at Stepney, 24 Oct 1600, per Charles Edward Banks,"The EnglishAncestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers" (Balt.:Gen.Pub.Co.,1971),p.106, who also states that he arrived in America never marriedand marriedthere before the land division of 1623! "The Mayflower Planters"(Balt.:Gen.Pub.Co.) lists William who arrived on the Fortune in 1621 asmarried toMargaret Oldham and settled in Duxbury, an "iron monger fromBethnal, Co.Middlesex," whose father is John Bassett. Also see the"Genealogical Notesof Barnstable Families." (Note: Mary and Elizabeth are often thesamename - Mary Oldham may be Elizabeth Bassett.) Cf. "PlymouthColony,"Eugene Stratton, pp. 242-3; "One Bassett Family in America,"Buell BurdettBassette (New Britain, Conn.: 1926), pp. 1-10.