Robert Keayne was a prominent public figure in 17th-century Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. He co-founded the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts

The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world...

; served as speaker of the House of the Massachusetts General Court

Massachusetts General Court

The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...

; and worked as a tailor

Tailor

A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...

. In his will, he left money to establish the First Town-House

First Town-House, Boston

The First Town-House in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony was located on the site of the Old State House and served as Boston's first purpose-built town hall and colonial government seat....

, to house Boston's government, library, and commercial activities.

Biography

Keayne was born in Windsor

Windsor, Berkshire

Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1595. His father, John Keayne, worked as a butcher. While living in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Keayne held membership in the Honourable Artillery Company

Honourable Artillery Company

The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...

 and the Merchant Taylor's Company

Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors

The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London.The Company, originally known as the Guild and Fraternity of St...

. He also kept notes in his private journal of sermons preached 1627-1628 by John Cotton, John Wilson, Hugh Peters

Hugh Peters

Hugh Peters [or Peter] was an English preacher.-Early life:He was baptized on 29 June 1598 in Fowey, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge....

, and John Davenport.

In 1617 Keayne married Anne Mansfield; they had a son, Benjamin Keayne, in 1619.

Keayne and his family arrived in Boston from London in 1635 on the ship Defence. In Boston, he worked as a tailor, and kept a shop on State Street

State Street (Boston)

State Street is a major street in the financial district in Boston, Massachusetts and is one of the oldest streets in the city. The street is the site of some historic landmarks. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace can also be found nearby...

, "living in apartments overhead, as was the custom in those times."

He belonged to the First Church

First Church in Boston

First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement in Boston, Massachusetts. The current building is on 66 Marlborough Street in Boston.-History:...

 congregation, and kept notes in his private journal of sermons preached by John Wilson, Thomas Cobbet, and John Cotton, who had moved to Boston in 1633.

In 1637, he was found guilty and fined 200 pounds by a Puritan court for overcharging customers. By today's capitalistic standards he would have been judged shrewd and successful. At the time, he penitently bewailed "his covetous and corrupt heart," but justified himself at length in his will.

In 1638, he helped to establish the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, serving as first captain.

He served as town Selectman for several years; and as a representative to the Massachusetts General Court, being appointed House Speaker in 1646.

Keayne left a 53-page will, covering a range of topics, which notably left several hundred pounds to establish the First Town-House, a building to "be used by the town and county government and be shared by the military company, with convenience for a market and conduit near by." Remarking on the need for a covered market, he wrote:

"I having long thought and considered the want of some necessary things of public concernment which may not be only comodious, but very profitable and useful for the Town of Boston, as a market place ... useful for the country people that come with their provisions for the supply of the towne, that they may have a place to sett dry in and warme, both in cold raine and durty weather, and may have a place to leave their corne or any other things safe that they cannot sell, till they come again, which would be both an encouragement to come in and a great means to increase trading in the Towne also."

Keayne died in 1656, and is buried in the King's Chapel Burying Ground

King's Chapel Burying Ground

King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic cemetery at King's Chapel on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail....

. A memorial plaque of 1925 honors Keayne in downtown Boston, on the corner of State and Washington Streets. Each year on the first Monday in June, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company leads a procession to the gravesite, laying a wreath in honor of Keayne's memory.

Further reading

• Our Ancients: Sketch of Their Birth and Growth. Captain Keayne, First Commander. Boston Daily Globe. Jun 3, 1888. p. 9.
• Arthur Prentice Rugg. A famous colonial litigation; the case between Richard Sherman and Capt. Robert Keayne, 1642. Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society for October, 1920.
• Jesse Hauk Shera. Foundations of the public library; the origins of the public library movement in New England, 1629-1855. Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1949.
• Merja Kytö. Robert Keayne's 'Notebooks': A verbatim record of spoken English in early Boston? Textual Parameters in Older Languages, 2000.