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[Page 20]
Wingfield, Edward
Maria. A Founder.(q. v.).
[Page 20]
Ratcliffe, John. A
Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Smith, Captain John. A
Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Percey, George. A
Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Gates, Sir Thomas. A
Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Somers, Sir George.
A Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Dale, Sir Thomas. A
Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
West, Sir Thomas, Lord
Delaware. A Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Argall, Sir Samuel.
A Founder. (q. v.)
[Page 20]
Yardley, Sir
George. A Founder. (q. v.).
[Page 20]
Symonds, Rev. William,
born in Oxfordshire about 1557, educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and in 1579 a fellow
thereof. About this time he received a curacy, the gift of Captain John Smith's friend, Lord
Willoughby, at Hatton Holgate, in the Diocese of Lincoln. He preached the first sermon before the
Virginia Company of London, April 25, 1609. He revised Smiths's "Map of Virginia and Annexed
Relation," which was published at Oxford in 1612.
[Page 20]
Crashaw, Rev. William, a
member of the Virginia Company, and eloquent preacher sometimes classed as a puritan divine and
poet; was baptized at Handsworth, October 26, 1572. educated at Cambridge; prebend of the church
of Ripon, 1604; preacher at the Inner Temple, London; at church of St. Mary Matfellon, of White
Chapel, London, November 13, 1618; died in 1626. He was father of the poet, Richard Crashaw, a
Roman Catholic. In February, 1610, he preached before Lord Delaware and the London Company an
eloquent sermon defending the character of the settlers against malicious imputations, and
praising the objects of the Virginia enterprise.
[Pages 20-22]
Sandys, Sir Edwin,
second treasurer of the Virginia Company, second son of Dr. Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York, by
Ciceley, sister of Sir Thomas Wilford, was born December 9, 1561; educated at Corpus Christi
College; B. A. October 16, 1570, and M. A. June 5, 1583. He was collated to the prebend of
Wetwang in the Cathedral of York, and in 1589 was admitted a student of the Middle Temple.
On October 13, 1586, Sandys entered parliament as a member for Andover. From
the first he took an active part in its proceedings and repeatedly served on committees. In the
parliament for 1588-89 he sat for Plymton, Devonshire, for which he was reëlected in
1592-93. Soon after the dissolution of parliament in 1593 he traveled abroad and was at Paris in
1599, when he prepared an account of the state of religion in Europe which he entitled "Europae
Speculum," which is remarkably tolerant for the times. Sandys returned to England the same year,
and in 1602 resigned his prebend at Wetwang. He was knighted by King James at the Charter House,
May 11, 1603, and was returned March 12, 1604, to James I.'s first parliament as member for
Stockbridge, Hampshire. Sandys had imbibed from Richard Hooker, who had been his tutor and
afterwards his intimate friend, the ideas of a liberal government, and in parliament he assumed a
leading part in opposing all exactions and monopolies. He attempted to have abolished all the
royal tenures and to throw trade open, instead of confining it to the great trading companies. In
the parliament of 1607 he urged that all prisoners should be allowed the benefit of counsel, and
in the same session he carried a resolution for the regular keeping of the Journals of the House
of Commons, which had not been done before. With a view to placating him, Sandys was granted by
the King a moiety of the manor of Northbourne, Kent, but when parliament met on April 5, 1614,
Sandys maintained his old attitude. He opposed Winwood's demand for a supply and was the moving
spirit on a committee appointed to consider taxes. In a remarkable speech on May 21 he declared
that the King's authority rested on the consent of the people, and that any King who ruled by any
other title ought to be dethroned. All this exasperated James against him, and on the adjournment
of parliament he was summoned before the council and punished by being ordered not to leave
London without permission, and to give bonds for his appearance whenever he was called upon.
No parliament was summoned for more than six years after this, and meanwhile
Sandys turned his attention to colonial affairs. He was a member of the Somers Island Company and
of the East India Company, and in both he took an active part. But his energies were especially
devoted to the Virginia Company, of which he had been appointed a member of the superior council
in 1607, and he had the greater part in drafting the charters of 1609 and 1612 which vested the
power of government in the company instead of the King as hitherto. Then in 1617 he was chosen by
the company to assist Sir Thomas Smythe in his management of Virginia affairs. In this capacity
he warmly supported the request of the Leyden exiles to be allowed to settle in the company's
domains, and it was largely owing to him that a patent was granted them. On April 28, 1619 a
combination of parties in the company resulted in the almost unanimous election of Sandys as the
successor of Sir Thomas Smythe in the office of treasurer. He made a complete departure from the
old method of government, and each colonist was given a dividend of land and invited to share in
the government. Acting on the company's instructions, Yardley was sent over as governor and
summoned an assembly of burgesses to meet in the church at Jamestown, July 30, 1619. It was the
first representative body assembled in America. On June 6, 1619, Sandys obtained the company's
sanction to a college at Henrico, and during the same year procured the transshipment of a number
of women to the colony to serve as wives to the tenants on the public lands. He also secured the
exclusion from England of foreign tobacco in the interest of the Virginia trace. When his year as
treasurer expired, Sandys was not reëlected, because of the violent interfierence of the
King, who sent word to the company "to choose the devil if you will, but not Sir Edwin Sandys."
The company would not, however, take any of the nominees of the King, but elected Henry
Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, and John Ferrar was elected his deputy. Both were staunch
adherents of the Sandys party, and during the frequent absences of Southampton, Sandys still took
the leading part in the ocmpany's business. He opposed the movement to dissolve the charter with
all his might, and had the question brought up in parliament, where he charged the commissioners
appointed by teh King to investigate Virginia affairs with extreme partiality, and ascribed the
intrigues against the company to the influence of the Spanish ambassador, Gondomar. Despite his
efforts, judgment was rendered against the charter June 24, 1624, and the company was dissolved.
Sandys did not ver long survive this action, but continued as the leader of the popular party in
parliament till his death in October, 1629. He was interred in the church of Norbourne, in Kent.
He was married four times, and by the last wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir Richard Bulkley, he
had with other issue, five sons, all of whom, save one, adhered in the civil war to the popular
side. Sir Edwin Sandys had an elder brother, Sir Samuel Sandys, who served in parliament, was
knighted, etc., and had two daughters by his wife Mercy, daughter of Martin Culpeper, Esq., one
who married Sir Francis Wyatt, governor of Virginia, and another who married Sir Fernando Weyman,
who died in Virginia. Another brother was George Sandys, the poet, who resided in Virginia, where
he acted as treasurer of the colony and was a member of the local council there.
[Pages 22-22]
Wriothesley, Henry,
third Earl of Southampton and third treasurer of the Virginia Company, was the second and only
surviving son of Henry Wriothesley, the second earl, by his wife Mary Browne, daughter of the
last Viscount Montague. He was born October 6, 1573, and succeeded to the earldom at the death of
his father in 1581. He attended St. John's College, Cambridge, and in 1589 at the age of 16
graduated as Master of Arts. In the autumn of 1593 he was accounted the most handsome and
accomplished of all the young lords who accompanied Elizabeth to Oxford that year. On November
17, 1595, he distinguished himself in the lists set up in the Queen's presence in honor of the
thirty-seventh anniversary of her accession, and was likened by George Poe in his account of the
same to Bevis of Southampton, the ancient type of chivalry. His martial ardor was encouraged by
his association with Essex, whom he accompanied in 1596 in the military and naval expedition to
Cadiz. Next year he again accompanied Essex in the expedition to the Azores, but he alienated the
Queen by marrying without her consent one of the Queen's waiting women, Elizabeth Vernon, a
cousin of Essex. He was thrown into the Tower, but soon released. He went with Essex on the
military expedition to Ireland, and on his return was drawn into the conspiracy, whereby Essex
and his friends desired to regain by violence their influence at court. The rising failed
completely, and Essex and Southampton were tried for treason and condemned to death. While Essex
was executed, the sentence of Southampton, owing to his youth, was commuted by the influence of
Sir Robert Cecil to imprisonment for life. On the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the first act
of King James was to set Southampton free. He was given high honors; made knight of the garter,
appointed captain of the Isle of Wight and Carisbrook Castle, as well as steward, receiver and
bailiff of the royal manors on the Island. In 1604 he was fully restored in blood by an act of
parliament, and recreated Earl of Southampton. He became Keeper of the King's game in the
divisions of Andover, Sawley and Kingsclerc, Hampshire, and lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, jointly
with the Earl of Devonshire. He was sorn of the King's council, April 19, 1619.
In three aspects especially he shone with surpassing lustre. Literature was from his early
manhood a chief interest of Southampton's life. He was the Maecenas of his age, and loved to
surround himself with poets and men of letters, whom he encouraged with word and money, Among
these were Gervas Markham, Barnabe Barnes, Thomas Nash, Florio and Shakespear, who celebrated his
name in prose and verse. Then his impetuous spirit begat a love of freedom which showed itself in
his opposition at court and in the house of lords to the arbitrary orders of King James and his
favorite Buckingham, whom he thoroughly disliked. He was a strong friend of the Protestant
interest, and opposed the Spanish match proposed for Prince Charles, and on account of his too
great familiarity with the popular party he was arrested and temporarily confined.
But especially was he the friend of colonization, acting the part of another Sir
Walter Raleigh, and his dream was to extend the power of England throughout the world. To this
object he devoted his leisure and ample wealth without stint He sent Gosnold and Gilbert to
Virginia in 1602 and Weymouth in 1605, had a great share in forming the Virginia Company of
London in 1606 and was a member of the Virginia Company's council in England in 1609. The same
year he was admitted a member of the East India Company's council. In 1610 he helped to dispatch
Henry Hudson to North America, and was a member of the Norwest Passage Company 1612, and of the
Somers Island Company in 1615. He was chosen treasurer of the Virginia Company, 1620, and devoted
much energy to championing its interests, to which Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, was
resolutely hostile, but was unable to prevent the withdrawal of the company's charter in June,
1624. He had a copy of the record of the company made of the period of his administration, and
when the King's commissioners demanded its delivery, the Earl made the brave answer that he would
as soon part with the title deeds of his land as part with these manuscripts, since he regarded
them as the evidence of his honor in the Virginia service. The maps of New England, Virginia and
Bermuda commemorate Southampton's labors as a colonial pioneer. In his honor Southampton Hundred,
Hampton river and Hampton roads in Virginia were named.
When in 1624 a
defensive treaty of alliance was made between England and Holland against the Emperor of Germany,
Southampton, accompanied by his son, James, left England and took command of a troop of English
volunteers. But not long after reaching Holland both were attacked with fever and soon died.
Southampton's death occurred November 10, 1614.
[Pages 23-24]
Ferrar, Nicholas,
Sr., skinner, a member of the Virginia Company, ranked high among the merchants of London,
and traded very extensively with the East and West Indies. He was interested in the adventures of
Hawkins, Drake and Raleigh. He died in April, 1620, and was buried in the church of St. Bennet,
Sherhog, London, he gave by will £300 to the college in Virginia, to be paid when there
shall be ten of the Indian children in the Christian religion. His son Nicholas finally
transferred his bequest to the Bermuda Islands. He married Mary, daughter of Lawrence Wodenoth,
Esq., a owman of fervent piety and a mdoel mother, and had issue: (1) Susan, married John
Collett, of Bourne Bridge, Cambridgeshire; (2) John; (3) Erasmus, a barrister-of-law; (4)
Nicholas; (5) William, who was a member of the council in Virginia; (6) Richard.
[Page 24]
Ferrar, John, a member of the
Virginia Company, which he joined in 1612. He was afterwards added to his Majesty's council for
Virginia, and was deputy treasurer from April 28, 1619, to may 22, 1622. he was a member of
parliament for Tamworth in 1621-22. Like his brother Nicholas, he was devoted to the interest of
the Virginia Company, and contributed all his power to the success of the colony. When his
brother retired to Little Giddings in Huntingdonshire, he soon joined him with his family, and
shared in the religious life established there. After the death of his brother Nicholas, he
continued to live according to the same rule. In 1629 Charles I., who was always friendly to the
Ferrars, visited the settlement and was greatly pleased with what he saw. In 1647 the home and
church of Little Giddings were spoiled by some adherents of the parliament, and the little
community was broken up. He wrote the life of his brother Nicholas, which was published by Rev.
Peter Peckard, Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1790, and of his own son Nicholas, who
died in 1640. John Ferrar married twice: First Anne, daughter of William Shepherd, Esq., of
Oxfordshire, who died without issue; and secondly, Bathsheba, daughter of Israel Owen, of London,
and had issue by her; Nicholas, John and Virginia. The last who never married inherited the
family interest in Virginia and kept up a great correspondence with her cousins there and other
planters, and was especially interested in the silk culture.
[Pages 24-25]
Ferrar, Nicholas,
Jr., one of the greatest friends of the Virginia Colony, was third son of Nicholas Ferrar, of
London, merchant, by his wife Mary, daughter of Laurence Wodenoth, of Savington Hall, Cheshire.
Under the excellent care of his father and mother he soon developed a character which United a
great aptitude for management with a singularly pious and gentle disposition. From his earliest
years he was regarded by his family as a prodigy. In 1610 he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts
at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and in 1613 was Master of Arts. He travelled extensively on
the continent and visited Holland, Germany, Italy and Spain. he returned in 1618, and joined the
Virginia Company, buying two shares from Sir William Smith. He became greatly interested in its
affairs, and devoted himself heart and soul to its work, being made member of the company's
council in 1619. In 1622 he succeeded his brother John as deputy treasurer, and for the next two
years was the chief adviser of the Earl of Southampton and Sir Edwin Sandys in withstanding the
assaults of the King and the privy council upon the charter. During this time he caused to be
made the copies of the Virginia records which are now preserved in the Library of Congress and
were recently published. Despite all his efforts the company was deprived of its patent in
1624.
Ferrar was a well known man in political circles. In 1624 he was
elected to parliament for Lymington, and took part in the impeachment of the lord treasurer, the
Earl of Middlesex, who had ben foremost in the dissolution of the Virginia Company. But this was
the last act of Ferrar's political life. Disgusted with the world of business and politics, he
wound up his business concerns and retired to Little Giddings, in Huntingdonshire, and
established there a settlement of a religious nature. He was joined by the families of his
brother John, and his brother-in-law, John Collet. The entire household comprised 30 persons. He
himself acted as chaplain of the community. There was a definite occupation for every hour of the
day, and vigils were kept during the night. Little Giddings was the school, the infirmary and the
dispensary of the region round about. Thus engaged and removed from the turmoil of the world,
Nicholas Ferrar yielded up his pure soul December 4, 1637. He never married.
[Page 25]
Rich, Sir Robert, eldest son
of Robert Rich, third Lord rich, born in May or June, 1587; made a knight of the Bath at the
coronation of James I., July 25, 1603, and succeeded his father as second Earl of Warwick in
April, 1619. He played an important though not always enviable part in the affairs of Virginia
and New England. In 1616, when the Duke of Savoy was at war with Spain, he sent out several ships
under the commission of the Duke to prey upon Spanish commerce. One of these ships, the
Treasurer, under Captain Daniel Elfrith, roved about in the West Indies, where she took certain
negroes from the Spaniards, and in consort with a man-of-war of Flushing brought them to Virginia
in 1619. These were the first negroes imported. Rich was added to the council for Virginia in
1619. Having quarrelled with Sir Thomas Smythe, the treasurer of the company, because of bad
feeling created by the marriage of his sister Isabel to Smythe's son, Sir John Smyth, he united
with the popular party in the Virginia Company and elected Sir Edwin Sandys as treasurer. He soon
repented of this act, and was afterwards a bitter opponent of Southampton and Sandys, and
contributed to the abrogation of the charter in 1624. After the dissolution he was a member of
the council for Virginia appointed by teh King. Warwick River county, founded in 1634, was named
for him, hwich in 1643 received its present name, Warwick county.
He was
active in the affairs of New England, was member of the New England council in 1620, signed the
first Plymouth patent, June 1, 1621, and was president of the New England council, 1630-32. he
was also interested in the Bermudas, the Bahamas and in Guiana. He espoused the Puritan side in
the civil wars, and parliament in 1643 made him admiral of the islands and coasts of America, but
he was deprived of this office in 1645. In May, 1648, he was made lord high admiral by
parliament, but his commission was revoked the following year. When Cromwell succeeded to power,
Lord Rich made friends with him, and on his death April 18, 1658, left his estate more improved
and repaired than any man who figured in the rebellion.
[Pages 25-26]
Rich, Sir Nathaniel,
eldest son of Richard, illegitimate son of Robert, second Lord Rich; member of parliament at
different times; interested in the Bermudas in 1616; knighted at Hatton House, November 18, 1617.
he was a leading member of the Warwick party in the factions of the Virginia Company, 1622, and
wrote many of the papers and documents emanating from his side. After the dissolution of the
company in 1624, he was one of the commissioners for the Virginia appointed by the King. He was
also member of the council for New England in 1620, and deputy governor of the Bahamas Company in
1635. He died in 1636.
[Page 26]
Danvers, Sir John, regicide,
born about 1588, third and youngest son of Sir John Danvers, of Dauntsey, Wiltshire, by
Elizabeth, fourth daughter and coheiress of John Neville, last Lord Latimer. He was a very
handsome man, and it is said people would run to see him on the streets. In 1608 he married
Magdalene Herbert, widow of Richard Herbert, the poet, and Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury. he
was knighted by King James, and under Charles I. became a gentleman of the privy chamber. He was
a member of the Virginia council, 1612-20, and was one of the Sandys faction in the Virginia
Company, 1620-25. He acquired an intense jealousy of the crown and sided with the parliament
against the King. He was a member of the commission nominated to try the King in January, 1649,
and signed the death warrant. In February of the same year he was given a seat in the council of
state, which he retained til the council's dissolution in 1653. He died at his home in Chelsea in
April, 1655 and was buried at Dauntsey. His name was in the act of attainder passed at the
restoration. He had two brothers — Sir Charles Danvers, who was beheaded for participation
in Essex's Rebellion of 1601; and Sir Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, and afterwards a friend of
Charles I., who died in 1644.
[Page 26]
Wroth, Sir Thomas, prominent
member of the Virginia Company, was brother-in-law of Sir Nathaniel Rich, and sided with him
against Southampton and Sandys. He was a subscriber to the Virginia Company in 1609, and after
the dissolution of the charter was one of the commissioners appointed to take charge of the
colony July 15, 1624. On November 3, 1620, he became a member of the council in New England, and
June 25, 1653, he was made a commissioner for the governor of the Bermudas. In domestic politics
Wroth joined the opposition to the King and was a member of the Long Parliament. He adopted the
views of the independents, and on June 3, 1647-48, moved the famous resolution that Charles I. be
impeached and the kingdom settled without him. He was appointed one of the judges to try the
King, but attended only one session. After the restoration he petitioned for pardon, which was
apparently granted, and Wroth lived in retirement until his death, aged 88, at Petherton Park,
July 11, 1692.
[Pages 26-27]
Wolstenholme, Sir
John, merchant, was second son of Sir John Wolstenholme, of London, of an ancient Derbyshire
family. He was a leading man in the East India Company and the Virginia Company. On April 28,
1619, he was one of the candidates for treasurer of the Virginia Company, and in May, 1622, was
recommended by the King as a person most suited to the office, but he was not elected. He was a
member of the commission appointed July 15, 1624, to take charge of the company's affairs after
its dissolution in May, and in 1631 held place on the commission requested to suggest to the King
a form of government for Virginia. He aided Capt. William Clayborne in settling Kent Island, and
in 1634 he was one of the tobacco commissioners. He had a strong faith in the Northwest Passage,
and contributed liberally to all the different expeditions sent out while he was living —
Henry Hudson's, Button's, etc. He died aged 77. November 25, 1639, and was buried in Magna
Church, where there is a handsome monument to his memory.
[Page 27]
Smith or Smyth, John, a great
antiquary, son of Thomas Smyth, of Hoby, Leicestershire, and grandson of William Smyth, of
Humberton, in Leicestershire; was born in 1567, and educated at Magdalene College, Oxford. he is
generally known as John Smyth of Nibley. After completing his studies he returned to the Berkeley
family as household steward, a post which he exchanged in 1597 for the more lucrative and
dignified office of steward of the hundred and liberty of Berkeley. As keeper of the archives at
Berkeley Castle, he had rich material for his "Lives" of the first twenty-one Lords Berkeley from
the Conquest down, which after remaining in manuscript for a long time has been published. He
left also in MSS. a "History of the Borough and Manor of Tetbury," "Tenure by Knights Service
Under the Berkeleys," and several other works. He was an active member of the Virginia Company
and regularly attended its meetings, and in 1618 determined to make a plantation of his own in
that country. For this purpose he formed a partnership with Sir William Throckmorton, Sir George
Yeardley, Richard Berkeley and George Thorpe, and obtained a special charter from the parent
company. They established a settlement at James river, which was called "Berkeley Hundred," and
which was afterwards the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison. he was a member of
parliament in 1621,but took little part in the politics of the stormy times in which he lived. He
died at Nibley in the autumn of 1640.
[Page 27]
Martin, Richard, a noted
lawyer, born at Otterton in Devonshire; student at Oxford, and afterwards at the Middle Temple.
His learning, politeness and wit were the delight and admiration of all his acquaintances. He was
frequently a member of parliament, and in 1601 spoke most eloquently against the monopolists. In
1612, he was a member of the council for the Virginia Company, and in 1614 he made a vigorous
speech in behalf of the colony in parliament. In 1617 he was head of a private company which
obtained from the Virginia Company a grant to 80,000 acres of land about seven miles below
Jamestown. The estate called "Carter's Grove" is situated in this region in James City county. In
1618 he was made recorder of the city of London, but died a month later of the smallpox, and was
buried in Temple Church, London. His grant of land in Virginia was known as "Martin's Hundred."
[Pages 27-28]
Cranfield, Lionel,
Earl of Middlesex, was the younger son of Thomas Cranfield, Mercer of London, by Martha, daughter
of Vincent Randolph, was baptized March 13, 1575; was an active and successful man of affairs,
and rose rapidly to all the honors of the kingdom; was knighted July 4, 1613, and a few days
later made surveyor-general of the customs; was master of the court of requests; master of the
wardrobe; master of the wards; and commissioner of the navy; privy councillor; lord treasurer;
Baron Cranfield, and Earl of Middlesex. he was a member of the council for the Virginia Company;
and the Sandys-Ferrar faction attributed to him more than any other man the abrogation of the
charter — by entangling the company into dissensions over the tobacco contract. Having
incurred the nmity of Buckingham, King James' favorite, he was impeached and fined £50,000,
but a year later Charles I. released him from the fine, and August 20, 1616, he was granted
special pardon. He retired to his splendid seat, Copt Hall in Essex, where he died August 6,
1645. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
[Page 28]
Digges, Sir Dudley, eldest
son of Thomas Digges by his wife Anne St. Leger, was born in 1583, and educated at University
College, Oxford. he studied law, and after being knighted at Whitehall, April 29, 1607, travelled
to improve himself on the continent. He was sent in 1618 as ambassador to Russia by James I.; two
years after, he went to Holland as commissioners, with Sir Maurice Abbott, to settle differences
between the English and Dutch East India Company. He served in parliament during the reigns of
James I. and Charles I., and his conduct was very independent and often hostile to the measures
of the court. He was one of the commissioners to conduct the impeachment of the King's favorite,
the duke of Buckingham, and the King arrested him and sent him a prisoner to the Tower of London,
but he was released in a few days on complaint of parliament. After this, measures were taken to
win him over to the King's side, and he was granted the reversion of master of the rolls,
November 17, 1630. He died March 18, 1639, and was buried at Chilham Manor near Canterbury.
He was greatly interested in explorations and colonization. In 1610 he aided
in sending Henry Hudson to the northwest, and wrote a little tract on the Northwest Nelson. For
the same end he aided in 1612 in sending out Capt. Thomas Button and Master Francis Nelson, and
was one of the directors of the Northwest Passage Company. He was member of the Bermuda Islands
Company, and of the east India Company. In addition he was constantly interested in the Virginia
Company, of which he was also a member. He was member of the royal council for Virginia in 1609,
and in 1619 was one of the committee of the Virginia Company to codify the rules. He was also one
of the committee regarding the establishment of the college at Henrico. In 1631 he was appointed
one of the commissioners to advise concerning Virginia. He married Mary, youngest daughter and
coheir of Sir Thomas Kemp, of Olantigh. Edward, one of his sons, settled in Virginia, and was
governor of the colony in 1656.
[Pages 28-29]
Copeland, Rev. Patrick,
was a Puritan minster, who was first employed in the service of the East India Company. In
1614 he was chaplain on one of the company's ships. In 1616 he returned to England accompanied by
a native whom he had taught chiefly by signs to speak, read and write the English language
correctly in less than a year. At his suggestion this land was publicly baptized on December 22,
in St. Dennis Church, London, "As the first fruits of India." Not long after, in 1617, Copeland,
with his pupil, sailed for the Indian ocean in the Royal James, one of the fleet which Sir Thomas
Dale, late governor to Virginia, assumed the command of on September 19, 1618. In the presence of
Dale, in view of an impending naval conflict with the Dutch on December 2, Copeland preached on
the Royal James. On August 9, 1619, Dale died, and his old associate, Sir Thomas Gates, died in
the same service the next year. Copeland on the Royal James went to Java. Leaving Java in
February, 1621, the ship slowly returned to England, and Copeland having become interested in
Virginia by conversing with Dale and Gates, collected on the homeward voyage from his fellow
passengers the sum of £70, to be employed for the use of a church or school in Virginia.
This sum, when he arrived in London, he delivered to the authorities of the Virginia Company, who
made him a free member. They decided that there was more need of a school than a church, and
designed the money, increased to £100 by a gift of £30 from another source, for the
establishment of a free school at Charles City, now City Point, which should hold a due
dependence on the proposed university at Henrico and be called the "East India School," after its
East India benefactors. In recognition of his zeal for the colony and his experience as a
missionary, the company on July 3, 1622, appointed Mr. Copeland rector of the intended college
for the Indians, a part of the university, as well as a member of the council for Virginia.
On Wednesday, April 17, 1622, Copeland, at the invitation of the London
Company, preached a thanksgiving sermon in London for the happy success of affairs in Virginia
the previous year. But about the middle of July it was learned from Capt. Daniel Gookin, who came
from Newport News, that on Good Friday, March 22, the Indians, whose children were so largely in
the proposed scheme of instruction, had risen and barbarously destroyed George Thorpe, the noble
superintendent in charge of the college lands, and 346 more of the unsuspecting settlers. The
university, college and free school were all three abandoned, and Copeland did not go to
Virginia. He afterwards went to the Bermuda Islands, where he was living in 1638 and later. About
1645 he left the Bermudas and went to a small island in the Bahama group, to form a Puritan
church which should have no connection with the state. The isle, which was called "Eluthera,"
proved a dreary place, and friends of the religion in Boston were obliged to sent the settlers
supplies, and in 1651 many of them returned to Bermuda, where Copeland, then more than four score
years of age, must soon have died.
[Page 29]
Sackvill, Sir Edward,
Earl of Dorset, born in 1590, educated at Christ Church, Oxford, 1605-09; made a knight of the
Bath, November 3, 1618; commanded troops sent to the Elector Palatine, and fought at Prague in
1620; member of parliament; sent on an embassy to France; member of the privy council. He was an
active member of the Virginia Company, and took sides with Southampton and Sandys in the factions
from 1620 to 1625.After his brother Richard's death in March, 1624, he succeeded him as fourth
Earl of Dorset. He was on the commission of 1631 for the management of Virginia affairs, and
constantly tried to influence Charles to reestablish the Virginia Company of London. he was a
distinguished cavalier in the civil war, and died at Withiam, Sussex, July 27, 1625.
[Pages 29-30]
Purchase, Rev. Samuel,
a divine known as an early collector of voyages and travels, born in 1574, at Thaxted in
Essex, and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge; he was curate of Purleigh, in Essex, the
parish of which Rev. Lawrence Washington was rector, 1633-43. he was afterwards vicar of Eastwood
in Essex, 1604-13. In 1614 he was collated to the rector of St. Martin's Ludgate, London,
(where he continued till his death) and appointed chaplain to George Abbott, archbishop of
Canterbury. His "Pilgrimage" was published soon after November 5, 1612. The second edition
appeared in 1614. After Hakluyt's death he had access to his papers, and published a third
edition of his work much enlarged in 1617. "Purchas his Pilgrim — Microcosmos, or the
Historie of Man," was published in 1619.In December, 1621, "Purchas his Pilgrims" was entered at
Stationers Hall for publication. May 22, 1622, he was admitted into the Virginia Company of
London. His last work appears to have ben "The King's Tower and Triumphant Arch of London." He
died in 1626, aged 51 years.