Individual Details

Mary was the first child of English parents born in New London. Her father, Robert Hempstead, was one of the four inhabitants who helped Winthrop settle New London.


"...Robert Hempstead was probably born in England. He came to New London in 1645 and the next year married Joanna Willie and d. Jun 1655. They had three children: 1. Mary (the first born daughter of New London), b. Mar 1647, who m. 28 Sep 1665, Robert Douglass of New London and had twelve children, ten of whom married and had families. 2. Joshua b. 16 Jun 1649 who m. Elizabeth Larribee and had one son and eight daughters, 3. Hannah, b. 11 apr 1652, who m. in 1670 Able Moore, who d. 9 Jul 1989, and had by him four sons and one daughter. She then m. Samuel Waller and d. 26 Apr 1729. They settled at New London, where there two son and three daughters were recorded to them."
Hyde Genealogy, or, The Descendants, in the Female as Well as in the Male Lines, From William Hyde,, North America Family Histories, Ancestry.com. p.1014

Written on the back of a postcard sent from Beaumont CA in 1964 and posted in an Ancestry family tree. Addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Marx of Woodland Hills, CA.
Printed: The Hempstead House, the oldest part built by Robert Hempstead about 1643. One of the oldest houses in New England. Added to by later generations. A fort in the French and Indian wars, one of the few houses spared in the burning of New London by the British. Birthplace of Stephen Hempstead, distinguished for bravery at the Battle of Groton Heights.
From a pencil drawing by William Douglass, descended from Robert Hempstead in the tenth generation.
Handwritten note: From Aunt Ida your 1st and only aunt: Dear Douglas & Margy: This was the home of your 10th grandmother, Mary Hempstead who was born March 16, 1647, the first white child born in New London, shere so many of the Douglases lived for generations. She married Robert Douglas, Sep 28, 1665, your 10th Grandpa. Aint you glad? It a show place now. Pay to get in. I belong to the Hempstead Assn.

The above may perhaps be a bit of exaggeration - I'm not sure the house remains.
A Google search in 2016 reveals a slightly different Hempstead House in New London, and refers to an earlier house built in 1678, not 1643.
http://historicbuildingsct.com/?tag=ct-landmarks
A picture is accompanied by:
Joshua Hempsted is a well-known citizen of colonial New London because he kept a detailed diary for nearly fifty years, from 1711 until his death in 1758. Hempsted was a farmer, surveyor, carpenter, gravestone carver and local official who was born and lived in a house at 11 Hempstead Street, which had been built by his grandfather in 1678. Joshua added the east section of the house in 1728. It is New London’s oldest surviving house and was occupied by the Hempsted family until 1937. With the death of Anna Hempstead Branch, the house was left to the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society, which restored the house in 1956. Today, along with the adjacent house of Joshua Hempsted’s nephew, Nathaniel Hempsted, the Hempsted Houses are a Connecticut Landmarks site open to the public.

Birth	Mar 1647	New London, New London County, Connecticut
Marriage	28 Sep 1665	New London, New London County, Connecticut - Robert Douglas
Death	26 Dec 1711	New London, New London County, Connecticut

Spouse	Robert Douglas (1639 - 1715)
Child	Sarah Douglas (1674 - 1704)