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[Page 98]
Berkeley, John, He was the
son of Sir John Berkeley, of the castle and manor of Beverstone, in the county of Gloucester,
England, an eminent branch of the noble family of the Berkeleys of Berkeley castle. He lived but
eight months in Virginia, but in that time was well known as the "master and overseer" of
America's first effort to manufacture iron. Iron ore was one of the first commodities carried
back to England by the ships of the Virginia Company, which as early as 1619 considered the
establishing of iron works in the colony. The following year 150 men were sent out to Virginia
for this express purpose and, in 1621, Sir Edwin Sandis reports that a Mr. John Berkeley had been
found to take up the work who was "very sufficient" in such service. The same year, Berkeley
sailed to Virginia to take up the new task. The site chosen for the new works was on Falling
creek which empties into the James river about sixty-six miles above Jamestown and some seven
miles below the present city of Richmond. Berkeley sent an encouraging report of the conduct of
the work and declared that by the following Whitsuntide the company might count on "good
quantities of iron." The terrible Indian massacre of Mar. 22, 1622, intervened, however, and
Berkeley was among those slain. John Berkeley had issue by Mary, daughter of John Snell, Esq.
Maurice, John, Henry, William Edward, Thomas, Mary, Frances, Elizabeth and Anne. His son,
Maurice, came to Virginia with his father and happily escaped the massacre. He married Barbara,
daughter of Sir Walter Long, and had issue, "Edward and others." There is a prominent Berkeley
family in Virginia which descend from Edmund Berkeley, living in 1674, who may have been a son of
Edward last named.
[Pages 98-99]
Capps, William, came
to Virginia before 1649, in which year he was burgess for Kicotan, as Hampton was then called.
During many years Capps took an active part in the affairs of the colony. On Jan. 26, 1621, the
company granted him a patent for land in consideration of his undertaking to transport 100
persons to Virginia, and on Feb. 22, upon his humble request, the court (of the Virginia Company)
ordered a certificate to be drawn up by the secretary to testify to the good esteem in which he
was held, "as well in the Colony of Virginia, and may appear by the rewards of his good service
under them, as also of what ability he is reported to be there in respect of the great supplys he
had sent there." On May 2, it was ordered that he should receive as a reward "five men's passage
free at the Company's charge, in consideration of his many years service of the Company in
Virginia, with the hazard of his live among the Indians." "Upon October 7, 1622," "Mr. William
Capps, an ancient planter in Virginia," made the following requests of the company: (1), that Sir
William Newce be required to deliver him the five men for whose transportation he had paid that
gentleman thirty pounds here in town (London); (2), that Sir George Yeardley restore him a chest
of goods he detained from him; (3), that he might have satisfaction for that land in Virginia
taken from him by Yeardley. At a meeting of the company, Apr. 8, 1624. "Mr. William Capps openly
declared, on the faith of an honest man, that with three boys only, himself having never don, as
he termed it, one stroke of work." Two letters written by Capps in 1623, one to John Ferrar, and
the other to Dr. Wynston, are preserved among the Duke of Manchester's manuscripts. The first of
these letters has been published in full in "Virginia Vetusta." The writer seems to have been
zealous for the welfare of the colony, but was evidently of a grumbling and fault-finding
disposition. One fact connected with him should not be omitted. After the revocation of the
charter in 1624 there was no regular general assembly of representatives of the people. The
Virginia authorities sent over a memorial in 1627 on the subject, and by William Capps, who was
in England, King Charles sent instructions allowing a general assembly and urging the cultivation
of staple commodities, as heretofore they had depended too much "upon smoke." To Capps was given
the privilege of erecting salt works. He arrived in Virginia Feb. 22, 1628 and on the 26th of the
next month the colonial assembly met. He was a member of the council in 1627 and was alive in
1630.
[Page 99]
Cowlinge, Christopher,
is only known by the fact that Gov. Harvey wrote, on May 29, 1630, that since his arrival in
Virginia, Apr., 1630, Christopher Cowlinge had been sworn a member of the council. No other
mention of him occurs in the records.
[Page 99]
Finch, Henry, Gov. Harvey,
writing May 29, 1630, says that since his arrival in Virginia, a few weeks before, he has sworn
as a member of the council, Henry Finch, "brother to Sir John Finch." Finch was present in
council upon Dec. 20, 1631, Feb 21, 1631-32, and Feb 1, 1632-33, but there is no other notice of
him. He probably died or left Virginia soon after the last named date. He was the son of Sir
Henry Finch, sergeant-at-law, and brother of Sir John Finch, lord chief justice, speaker of the
house of commons and lord keeper, who was knighted in 1626, and afterwards created Baron Finch of
Ferdwick. The pedigrees given by Burke and Berry say that John Finch was the only sone of Sir
Henry, but this is certainly an error, for the "Dictionary of National Biography" gives a sketch
of Edward Finch, a royalist devine, who was another son, stated, like our councillor, to have
been "overlooked by the genealogists." Maj. Joseph Croshaw, of York county, Virginia, married a
Widow Finch, who had a daughter Betty.
[Pages 99-100]
Stephens, Richard,
came to Virginia in the year 1623, in the ship "George," and settled at Jamestown. In the same
year he was granted sixty rods of land adjoining his dwelling house, in the "corporation of James
Citty," in the hope that others might be "encouraged by his example to enclose some ground for
gardens." In March of the year following he was a member of the house of burgesses. In the spring
of 1624 Stephens awakened to find himself notorious as one of the principals in the first duel
ever fought in Virginia. His antagonist, George Harrison, died fourteen days afterwards, and it
has been generally stated that his death was caused by his sounds, but George Menifie, writing on
April 28, 1624, to John Harrison, told him that post-mortem examination had shown that his
brother George was in bad health, and that his death was not supposed to have been the result of
being "hurt in the field," in the duel of fourteen days before, for that he had only received a
slight wound in the leg between the garter and the knee. Early in 1630 Gov. Harvey added Stephens
to the council, but some years later, probably in 1635, a quarrel arose between them and Harvey
dashed out some of Stephens' teeth with a cudgel. This disgraceful act was one of the charges
made against Harvey when he was sent to England for trial, but he sought to excuse himself by
saying that it did not occur in the council, and that Stephens had assailed him with "ill
language." Stephens does not seem to have lived many years after this. From the land patents it
appears that the wife of Councilor Richard Stephens was Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Piersey,
formerly of the council. She took for a second husband, in or before 1642, Sir John Harvey, the
same who had deprived her first consort of his teeth. In September of that year Captain De Vries,
the Dutch trader, brought suit against the estate of Richard Stephens for £4.14, due "for
goods sold Lady Harvey," who, it was explained, was at that time the wife of Stephens. Richard
and Elizabeth Stephens had at least one child, a son Samuel. On Jan. 20, 1644-45, Dame Elizabeth
Harvey petitioned the court to substitute Richard Kemp and Capt. William Pierce as trustees in
place of Capt. Samuel Mathews, George Ludlow and Capt. Thomas Bernard, "former trustees under a
feoffment made by the same Dame Elizabeth to Samuel Stephens, Gent., her son by a former
marriage." The son, Samuel Stephens, of "Bolthorpe," Warwick county, was governor of Carolina,
and died in 1670, leaving no children. His will was dated April 21, 1670. Gov. Samuel Stephens
married Frances Culpeper, sister of Alexander Culpeper, afterwards surveyor-general of Virginia.
In the diary of Mrs. Thornton, published by the Surtees Society, are several notices of the
marriage in Virginia, about 1650, of the heir of the Danby family in Yorkshire to a Miss
Culpeper. The editor states that she was a niece of Lord Culpeper, lord chancellor of England,
and it seems highly probably that she was a sister of Frances Culpeper. Mrs. Frances Stephens
married secondly, in June, 1670, Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, whom she seems to
have ruled with as high a hand as he showed the colony, and thirdly, sometime in 1680, Col.
Philip Ludwell, of "Richneck," James City county, Virginia. She had no children by either
marriage.
[Page 100]
Basse, Nathaniel, with
Sir Richard Worseley, John Hobson, gentleman, and others, associates of Capt. Christopher Lawne,
deceased, presented a petition on June, 28, 1620, to the Virginia Company, and received a
confirmation of an old patent and plantation, and that said plantation should be henceforth
called the Isle of Wight's plantation. The tract was situated in the present Isle of Wight
county, which took its name from the plantation, as did Lawne's creek from the first settler
there. Sir Richard Worseley, and probably the other men interested in the enterprise also, lived
in the Isle of Wight, England. On Jan. 30, 1621-22, Capt. Nathaniel Bass and his associates
received a patent on condition that they would transport 100 persons to Virginia. Basse was a
member of the house of burgesses for Worresqueiacke from 1631-32, at which time he was authorized
to go to New England and offer the inhabitants a place of settlement on Delaware Bay. The name of
his plantation was "Basse's Choice."
[Pages 100-101]
Purefoy, Thomas,
Purfry, Purfee or Purfury, as the name is variously spelt, was born about 1582 and came to
Virginia in the ship "George" in 1621. In 1625, when he is styled Lieut. Thomas Purfoy, he was
living in Elizabeth City, and in 1628, was chief commander and one of the commissioners of that
place. On July 4, 1627, the governor and council ordered him to make an attack upon the Indians.
As "Captain Thomas Purefoy," he was a member of the house of burgesses for "the lower parts of
Elizabeth City," at the session of March, 1629-30, and on Dec. 20, 1621, appears as a councillor.
He was probably appointed by Harvey, whom he was always faithfully supported during the long
dispute between the governor and the council and burgesses. When this contest reached a climax
and an address from the house of burgesses to the English government was being circulated for
signatures, the people of the lower country went in such numbers to sign it that "Captain Purfry
took an affright that caused him to write to the Governor of many incident dangers, insomuch that
he durst not keep a court until he heard from him or had a letter from the King." Samuel Mathews
says that in this letter Capt. Purefoy accused the people of being "in a near sense to rebellion,
which since he denied, it being very usual with him to affirm and deny often the same things."
This, of course, is the opinion of a member of the hostile party. The opinion of another
contemporary is very different. "He is a soldier and a man of open heart, hating for aught I can
see all kinds of dissimulation and baseness." In spite of his adherence to Harvey, Purefoy
continued a member of the council after the governor's deposition, and was one of those whom the
King thought fit to allow to retain their seats. He named, according to a land patent, one of his
estates, a 1,000 acre tract, "Drayton," doubtless after a place of that name mentioned by Burke
as a seat of the Purefoys in England. He left a son Thomas who had an only daughter Frances who
had many descendants in Virginia Tabbs, Bookers, Lowrys, et. Capt. Purefoy was alive in
1640.
[Pages 101-102]
Peirce, William,
came from England in the "Sea Venture" in 1609 and was, for many years one of the foremost men of
the colony. In May, 1623, Gov. Wyatt appointed him captain of the guard and commander of James
City. In the same year, the governor ordered "Captain Wm. Peirce, Captain of his guard and
lieutenant governor of James City," to lead an expedition against the Chickahominies. This Peirce
did, falling upon them on July 23, "with no small slaughter." he had already made a very
favorable impression upon George Sandys, the treasurer of Virginia, who wrote to England in 1623
that William Peirce, the governor of James town, was inferior to none in experience, ability and
capacity and recommended him for appointment to the council. In 1627, he was again commissioned
to attack the Chickahominies with Thomas Harwood as his second in command. In 1629, he was in
England and while there, prepared "A Relation of the Present State of the Colony of Virginia, by
Capt. William Perse, an ancient planter of twenty years standing there." He states that there
were in Virginia between four and five thousand English, generally well housed, besides much
other valuable information in regard to those times. In 1631, Peirce was appointed a member of
the council and, on December 20, signed the accord between that body and Governor Harvey. he was
a strong opponent of Harvey's misgovernment and was one of the councillors who, on April 28,
1635, arrested and deposed him, himself leading thirty, or according to some accounts, fifty
musketeers to beset Harvey's house. Early in the next month, when Claiborne complained to the new
governor, West, and the council of his treatment in Maryland, Capts. Utie and Peirce were sent to
that colony to protest, to the authorities there, against their violence towards him. Peirce was
one of those who was ordered by the King to be sent to England to answer Harvey's charges but who
were never actually prosecuted. He was also one of those to whom the privy council directed the
reinstated governor to restore the property he had taken from them. Peirce returned to Virginia
on a sort of parole and though once more summoned to England, never went there, as the civil war
intervened. He was present in council in 1639 and it seems probably that some other influence had
been brought to bear upon the King as he was included in the last royal commission of councillors
before the war, dated Aug. 9, 1641. The last mention we have of the councillor is of his being
present in council, Feb., 1644-45. His daughter ter Jane became the third wife of John Rolfe.
[Page 102]
West, John, deputy governor of Virginia (q. v.).
[Page 102]
Harvey, Sir John, governor of Virginia. (q. v.).
[Page 102]
Bullock, Hugh, first
appears as a councillor in Dec., 1631. He went to England in the following spring, but was back
in Virginia and present in the council, in Feb., 1632-33, and in February and March of the next
year. In 1637 he was one of the members of the council whom the King directed should be retained,
but it is likely that he soon after removed finally to England, and never lived in Virginia
again. On March 12, 1634, "Captain Hugh Bullocke" received a grant of 2,550 acres on the Pocosin
river, in what is now York county. By deed dated July 8, 1637, and recorded in York, "Hugh
Bullock of London, gentleman," conveyed to his son, "William Bullock of London, gentleman," his
corn-mill, saw-mill and plantation in Virginia. His wife Mary joined in the deed. There can be no
doubt that this William Bullock, son of the councillor, was the author of the rare pamphlet on
Virginia. In it he states that his father owned land in the colony. In the general court records,
under date of April, 1672,is to be found an entry list of a suit by Robert Bullock, son and heir
of William Bullock, versus Col. Peter Jenings, guardian of John Mathews, orphan of Col. Mathews,
deceased, in regard to a parcel of land in Warwick county, containing 5,500 acres.
[Page 102]
Brewer, John, "citizen and
grocer of London" was a son of Thomas Brewer, probably of the same city, and came to Virginia
prior to the 1629. He was a member of the house of burgesses from Warwick county in 1629-30, and
as "John Brewer, gent.," was appointed one of the commissioners (justices) for holding monthly
courts in that county in Feb., 1631-32. he was a member of the council of state from 1632 until
his death in 1635. All that is known of Brewer's wife is that her name was Mary, and that in 1636
she consoled herself for his death by becoming the wife of the Rev. Thomas Butler, "Pastor of
Denby." The children of John and Mary Brewer were: John, Roger and Margaret. Councillor Brewer
owned a plantation called "Stawley (or Stanley) Hundred, otherwise Bruer's Borough," in Warwick
county, and not long before his death had obtained rights of 1,000 acres, which his wife and her
second husband located and obtained a grant for, at what is still called "Brewer's Neck," between
Brewer's and Chuckatuck Creeks, in Isle of Wight county. His will, dated Sept. 4, 1631, and
proved in London, May 13, 1636, was published in "Waters' Gleanings."
[Pages 102-103]
Perry, William, came
to Virginia in 1611. In a list dated 1626, he is mentioned as owning 100 acres of land on the
south side of the river below the falls, which it is probable were granted to him in the year of
his coming over and at the time of Sir Thomas Dale's attempt to settle the upper region of the
James. After the massacre of 1622, the settlements there were abandoned, and we find Perry living
either at or near "Pace's Paines" on the south side of the river not far from Jamestown. He was
in England in April, 1624, but was back in Virginia and, as "Lieutenant William Perry," was
representing "Pace's Paines" in the house of burgesses in Oct., 1629, and in March of the year
following. At this last session he was appointed one of a committee to manage the building of a
fort at Point Comfort. In Feb., 1631-32, he was a burgess for the territory "From Capt. Perryes
downwards to Hog Island." It was in the summer of 1632 that he was appointed to the council, and
in September of the same year, that he appeared for the first time as a member. He was also
present in Feb., 1632-33, and in March of the next year. Some years before his death he went to
live in Charles City county, where he died in 1637, and was buried at the old "Westover" church.
His tomb, which is doubtless the oldest in Virginia, may still be seen near "Westover" house, but
the epitaph is entirely illegible. It was once examined by Charles Campbell, the historian, who
says that there was engraved upon it a shield with armorial bearings which could not even then be
made out, and also the following epitaph:
[Pages 103-104]
Hinton, Thomas,
first appears as a member of the council on Feb. 8, 1633-34. He did not enjoy the honor long as
Harvey soon removed him on the charge that he had given the governor "ill words," which reason
seems to have been accepted by the English privy council as a valid one, and there is no other
mention of Thomas Hinton in our records. Neill, in "Virginia Carolorum," says that the councillor
was Sir Thomas Hinton, whose daughter married Samuel Mathews, but this seems unlikely, for an
account of Virginia written in 1649 asserts that Mathews married a daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton,
while the notices of the Virginia councillors in 1634 and 1635 style him simply "Thomas Hinton,
Esq." or "Mr. Thomas Hinton." He is "Mr. Thomas Hinton" in the account of the examination of Gov.
Harvey before the English privy council on Dec. 11, 1635. Neill says that one William Hinton, a
brother of Mrs. Mathews, was a gentleman of the King's privy chamber, and it seem probable that
Thomas Hinton, the councillor, was another brother. Foster, in his "Oxford Matriculations,"
states that a Thomas Hinton was knighted July 1, 1619, and thinks he may have been the same as
Thomas Hinton of Wiltshire, gent., who matriculated at Queen's College, Oct. 15, 1591, aged 17.
Sir Thomas Hinton was of Chilton-Foliet, Wiltshire. The register of the parish gives the births
of Thomas, April 8, 1600, and William, July 25, 1605, sons of Thomas Hinton Esq. and Katherine
his wife; also the burials of Mrs. Katherine, wife of Mr. Thomas Hinton, Oct. 11, 1609 of
Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Hinton (doubtless the son) Sept. 20, 1658, and of Thomas Hinton, Sept.
23, 1658.
[Page 104]
Stoner, John, On Sept. 29,
1634, the King wrote to the governor of Virginia stating that the bearer of his letter, John
Stoner, had been appointed one of the councillors of that colony, and his majesty's agent to
treat for a yearly contract for tobacco. On Jan. 21, of the following year, Governor Harvey wrote
that Mr. Stoner had died on his voyage to Virginia.
[Page 104]
Browne, Henry, came to
Virginia about 1634 and was evidently a man of property and influence. He had grants for several
large tracts of land at various points in James City county, and was known as Col. Henry Browne
of "Four Mile Tree," his plantation locating in the ancient "Pace's Pains." He was also appointed
to the council in the year of his arrival and is believed to have remained a member of that body
until the surrender of the colony to the parliamentary forces in 1652. He was one of the
strongest of Harvey's adherents and when the majority of the council proposed to depose the
governor, Capt. Brown is said to have disliked the proceedings so greatly that he made an excuse
of sickness and retired to his home. Before this time, Capt. Thomas Young in a letter of July 13,
1634, states that only two of the council were indifferent to Harvey's conduct as governor, Capt.
Purefoy and another (Browne), who was "an honest and plain man, but of small capacity and less
power." When Harvey was returned to power, Browne was one of the few councillors who acted with
him and was present at meetings held in jan. and Feb., 1636-37 and Jan., 1639, and was one of the
few members of the council whom the King ordered retained. Upon the accession of Gov. Wyatt, the
adherents of Harvey were in general disfavor in the colony and Browne was turned out of office,
Oct., 1640. It amounted to only a suspension, however, for in the following March he was
reinstated. He was included in the royal commission of 1641 under Berkeley, and after the
temporary retirement of the royalist element at the time of the protectorate, was restored to the
council when Berkeley was again made royal governor in 1660. In a deed of 1652, Browne is
referred to as "Colonel Henry Browne." He died in 1661 or 1662, leaving a daughter Mary who
married Lieut. Col. William Browne, who lived at "Four Mile Tree," and left many descendants.
[Pages 104-105]
Menifie, George,
came to Virginia in July, 1623 and settled at Jamestown. He was for long one of the wealthiest
and probably the leading merchant in the colony, and represented Jamestown in the house of
burgesses in 1629. He made frequent voyages to England, probably beginning as early as 1625. In
1635, he was appointed a member of the council, and for a time was inclined to restrain the other
councillors from their proposed arrest of Harvey, but after mature deliberation, became of a like
mind with them. He it was that answered Harvey, when that violent officer asked the council what
was the cause of the people's petition against him, and brought down the governor's wrath upon
him. Harvery struck him violently upon the shoulder and said "I arrest you of suspicion and
Treason to his Majestie." Upon this the other councillors, headed by Utie, arrested the governor.
he was, with the other leaders of the council, ordered to England by the King to answer the
charges preferred against them by Harvey. He petitioned the King to be allowed to return to
Virginia and was given permission upon his furnishing a bond of £1,000 to appear before the
star chamber at any time appointed. Menifie returned to Virginia almost at once, but was back in
England shortly. He and Councillors Peirce, Mathews and West were at length ordered to return to
answer the charges, but there is nothing to show that any of them went. Menifie's name was
included by the King in his commission of councillors in 1641, so it appears probable that his
majesty's feelings had changed towards the worthy councillors. In any event, the breaking out of
the civil war must have suspended all the proceedings. He died in 1644, leaving a daughter who
married Captain Henry Perry.
[Page 105]
Hooke, Francis, Writing
in 1635, Gov. Harvey informed Secretary Windebank that he knows no man so fit to command the fort
at Point Comfort as Capt. Francis Hooke, who was an old servant of King James, and requested the
King's approval of his appointment to that office. This was evidently received as the good
captain was given the office and was also made a member of the council, Jan. 18, 1636-37. Little
further is known of him save that prior to his residence in Virginia, he had been a naval officer
and commanded a ship off the coast of Ireland.
[Page 105]
Donne or Dunn, George, as
his name was frequently spelt. was the second son of Dr. John Donne, the poet and Dean of St.
Paul's. He was baptized, May 9, 1605, and led an eventful life. He was associated as sergeant
major in the settlement of St. Christopher and, when the Spaniards captured the place, was
carried as a hostage to Madrid, where he remained a long time a prisoner. He finally made his
escape by bribing his jailors and got safely to England. He went to Virginia with Harvey and, in
Jan., 1636-37, was a member of the council and marshall of Virginia. Early in 1640, he was in
England in the interests of Harvey and presented the King with a treatise entitled "Virginia
Reviewed" which is still extant and in the British Museum. He also petitioned the King to confirm
his title to the various offices which he had held in the colony, and this was done. His death
occurred in 1641.
[Page 105]
Brocas, William, settled
at an early date in Charles River, now York, and early in 1637 was called to the council on the
order of the English government and was present at many meetings. He was again appointed in the
royal commission of 1641, and once more by Charles II. in 1650. The house of burgesses failed to
include him, however, in the council elected by them two years later. Capt. Brocas received
numerous grants of land in York and on the Rappahannock, and about the year 1650, removed to what
is now Middlesex county. The good captain appears to have married three times, but died without
issue, as it is stated in the records that one John Jackson was his heir-at-law.
[Pages 105-106]
Thoroughgood, Adam,
was the seventh son of William Thoroughgood of Grimston in Norfolk and brother of Sir John
Thoroughgood, a pensioner of Charles I. He was born in 1602 and came to Virginia in 1621,
settling in Kicotan, now Hampton. He acquired by patent large tracts of land in various
localities, the latest being "granted to him at the especiall recommendation of him from their
Lordshipps and others, his Ma'ties most Hon'ble privie Councell to the Governor and Councell of
State for Virginia." Capt. Adam Thoroughgood was a commissioner and burgess for Elizabeth City in
1629 and 1630 and was appointed to the council in 1637 and the same year was presiding justice of
the county court of Lower Norfolk. He died in the spring of 1640, leaving descendants in
Virginia.
[Page 106]
Townsend, Richard, was
born in 1606 or 1607 and came to Virginia in 1620 as an apprentice to Dr. John Pott, afterward
governor, who was to teach him the art of an apothecary. The doctor did not carry out his part of
the contract satisfactorily to Townsend, who in 1626, complained to the authorities that Pott had
neglected to do his duty in the matter. The student of drugs probably abandoned his intended
profession when he came of age, and in course of time rose to be one of the leading men of the
colony. He was burgess for the plantations between "Archer's Hope" and "Martin's Hundred," in
Oct., 1628 and, removing in 1630, to what is now York county, became a commissioner or justice
there in 1633, and presiding justice in 1646. Sometime in 1636-37, the secretary in England wrote
to the governor and council in Virginia that Capt. Richard Townsend, having been recommended as
"an able man for the execution of that service, in respect to his knowledge, of the affairs of
the Country," had been appointed a member of the council and that the King directed that he be
forthwith sworn. He was probably turned out of office as some of the councillors were at the
accession of Wyatt to the governorship, for he appears again as a burgess in 1642. He was again
sworn to the council in that year, however, and probably retained his seat until his death,
although his name does not appear in that connection later then Feb., 1645-46. Townsend was a
prominent man in the colony and acquired considerable tracts of land there by grant. He seems to
have made a number of trips to England.
[Pages 106-107]
Wormeley,
Christopher, a son of Christopher Wormeley of Yorkshire and a descendant of Sir John de
Wormeley, was governor of the island of Tortuga from 1632 to 1635, during which last year it was
taken by the Spaniards, a loss said to have been due to the carelessness of the governor. He
appears to have come directly to Virginia as he was a justice of Charles River county in 1636. In
1639 and 1640, he was commander-in-chief of Charles River and Elizabeth City counties. In
1636-37, he was appointed a member of the council, and, being a supporter of Harvey, received a
share of the governor's unpopularity. When Secretary Kemp fled to England in 1640, Wormeley seems
to have accompanied him. He and Kemp were accused of cruelty and oppression in the colony and had
considerable difficulty in making their return to Virginia, being twice prevented from doing so
by orders from the house of lords, the second order being served on them when they were already
on shipboard and about to depart. These charges seem to have had a foundation in fact. Wormeley
actually confessed later to having tried a case against one Taylor unjustly, when a commissioner
of Elizabeth City. Moral standards seem to have been somewhat lax in Virginia in 1640, for,
although the council directed Wormeley to make reparation to Taylor, yet his sins do not seem to
have debarred him from his office as councillor, and he was present at meetings of the council in
1642 and 1643. It seems probable that he died shortly after the latter date
[Page 107]
Evelyn, Robert, was a
member of a family that had several representatives in Virginia and Maryland early in the
seventeenth century. He was a relative of John Evelyn, the diarist and author of "Sylvia," and a
brother of Capt. George Evelyn who emigrated from England to Maryland. Capt. Thomas Young, an
uncle of Robert Evelyn, having obtained permission to trade in America and to explore there,
sailed from England in 1634 with two ships, taking his nephew, Lieut. Robert Evelyn, as his
second in command. They arrived at Point Comfort, in Virginia, on July 3, and on the first of
September, Evelyn, in a small shallop, which Young had built, departed for the Delaware, whither
he was soon followed by his uncle. Here they built a fort where Evelyn says he remained four
years trading with the Indians. He doubtless means that he and his uncle retained an interest in
the place for that length of time, for in 1634 Evelyn himself returned to England and was again
there in 1637. In the latter year he made another trip to Virginia, carrying a recommendation
from Secretary Windebanke to Gov. Harvey, who was "to let him passe without let or hinderance on
this great and secret service of his Majesty's. What this great and secret service was does not
appear, but it most probably relates to some rose colored accounts of profits in trade which
Young and Evelyn had given. Immediately upon his arrival in Virginia, Gov. Harvey and Secretary
Kemp chose Evelyn to be surveyor-general of the colony, in place of Gabriel Hawley, deceased.
This appointment was ratified by the English government, which also appointed him a member of the
council. In 1640, Evelyn again went to England and in the next year, published a pamphlet giving
directions to emigrants to America. Before this time he appears to become a resident of Maryland
and was a member of the assembly of that colony. He continued to play a prominent part in the
affairs of Maryland for a time, but after 1642 he is not mentioned in the records. A nephew,
Mountjoy Evelyn, son of Capt. George Evelyn resided in James City county, Virginia.
[Pages 107-108]
Hawley, Jerome.
Burke's "Peerage and Baronetage" gives the pedigree of the present baronet of the name of Hawley,
tracing to an ancestor in Somersetshire, from whose eldest son the extinct Lords Hawley were
descended, and whose second son, Jeremy Hawley, of Boston, near Brentford, Middlesex, England,
was the father of (1) James Hawley, Esq., of Brentford; (2) John, who married Amy, daughter of
Thomas Studley, possibly the first "Cape Merchant" of Virginia; and (3) Capt. Henry Hawley. John
and Amy (Studley) Hawley had issue: (1) Jerome, of Virginia and Maryland; (2) Capt. Henry,
governor of Barbadoes; (3) Dr. Richard, of London, ancestor of the present baronet; (4) James,
who was also interested in the colonies and perhaps lived in Northumberland county, Virginia; (5)
William, who came from Barbadoes to Maryland after the death of his brother Jerome, and was a
signer of the Protestant Declaration of 1650. There were two other sons, who were probably
Gabriel, who died in Virginia while holding the office of surveyor-general, and John, who came to
Virginia in 1619. Jerome Hawley was a councillor of Maryland in 1634, and returned to England in
the summer of 1635. On Jan. 5, 1637, the King appointed him treasurer of Virginia and a member of
the council there. At this time he was "one of the gentlemen servers to Queen Henrietta Maria. He
came to Virginia in march, but soon returned to Maryland, where he had large interests. he died
about Aug., 1638, deeply in debt, and on the 14th of that month the Maryland authorities, who
spoke of him as "late of St. Maries," appointed Thoams Cornwallis administrator of his estate.
[Page 108]
Sibsey or Sipsey, John, is
first mentioned on Sept. 2, 1624, when, as John Sipsey, of Kicchoughtan, "yeoman," he was granted
a tract of 250 acres on the "south side of the river over against Kiccoughtan," as Hampton was
then called. He returned to England after this time, for in the winter of 1626-27, a ship going
to Virginia carrying some planters and servants, chiefly Irish, ran aground in Barnstable Bay,
the principal persons on board being Fell (Felgate?) and Sipsie. In Sept., 1632, and Feb., 1633,
John Sibsey was a burgess for the upper parish of Elizabeth City, and in 1636-37, probably in
January, he was made a councillor. He must have been one of the council for a very short time,
however, for in 1639 he was burgess for Lower Norfolk, where he had acquired a considerable
estate. On June 1, 1635, he had received two grants of 1500 acres each, one on the western branch
of the Elizabeth river, and the other nearby, probably adjoining. In 1640 he was one of the
residents of Lower Norfolk who subscribed to pay the salary of Thomas Harrison, the well known
Puritan minister, and in 1641 he was again a burgess for that county. During a long period Capt.
Sibsey was one of the leading men in this section
[pages 108-109]
Hobson, John. On June
2, 1620, and Jan. 30, of the year following, Sir Richard Worseley, Bart., Capt. Nathaniel Basse,
John Hobson, Gent., and Capt. Christopher Lawne agreed with the Virginia to transport 100 persons
to Virginia and receive a "confirmation of their old patent." Their settlement was to be called
"the Isle of Wight's plantation," and it is possible that all the patentees were, as Worseley
certainly was, residents of the Isle of Wight, in England. Hobson came to Virginia about this
time, but exactly when he arrived there or how long he remained is not known. In 1637, Capt. John
Hobson, "who hath formerly been in Virginia and is now ready to return," was added to the
council. He sailed from England soon after June 4, 1637, upon which day, at the request of
"Captain John Hopsonn, one of his Majesty's Council in Virginia," the seamen of the ship in which
he was about to take passage were exempted form empressment. He was resent as a member of the
council Feb. 20, 1637, and on the 4th of June following, and was included in the commission of
councillors under Gov. Berkeley, Aug. 9, 1641. On March 16, 1635, "Captain John Hobson, Esq., one
of the Council of State," received a grant of land extending from Pagan Point Creek, "hereafter
to be called Hampstead Point," to Warruschisqueake river, "hereafter to be called New Town
Haven," due him for "a share of his adventure." The grant was dated May 2, 1621, in the time of
the Virginia Company, of which Hobson had been a member. When Capt. Hobson died is not known.