Alexander Knight his wife Hannah Tully arrived in Ipswich in 1635 from Chelmsford, Essex, England, and were granted a lot to build a house on High Street across from today’s Lords Square. In 1648 the house burned down; their child Nathaniel died when his clothes caught on fire. Alexander was accused of the death by negligence and was fined by the court for not preventing the fire. Now homeless, the town arranged for the family to board with with their neighbor Aaron Pengry.
By 1656 the family was destitute. Alexander was working as an indentured servant, and Hannah was pregnant again. Original documents in the Town Clerk’s office show that in April 1657, the Town Meeting appropriated £6 to build the family a small thatched roof house on High Street, 16 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 7 or 8 feet high.
In 2013 a group of volunteers began reconstructing the Alexander Knight House next to the Whipple House at the South Green using traditional tools and materials, and then gifted it to the Ipswich Museum.
See photos and read more about the Alexander Knight House at the Historic Ipswich site.
Historic Ipswich 