Here’s another weird question. If a man was convicted of murder in 1666 and owned land, would his heirs be deprived of ownership and the land escheat to the colony?

The reason I ask this one is the case of Edward Boswell, who owned land on Sunderland’s Creek in now-Middlesex County. In September 1666, he was arrested for murdering one Thomas Thompson and sent to James City for trial. He was apparently found guilty and executed, for by November 1666 he was dead (Lancaster County Order Book 1, p. 11-12). 

In two patents in 1667 and 1669, his 550 acres was granted to Robert Smith, Esq. In the 1669 patent, the land is described as formerly granted to Edward Boswell, deceased “and lately escheated to His Majesty as by inquisition in the Secretary’s Office under the seal of Henry Corbin” held 5 May 1667 (PB 6, p. 215).

If Edward Boswell had died with no heirs, regardless of the circumstances of his death, the land would escheat. But what if he had heirs? Would the land be forfeited as a consequence of his murder conviction, and his heirs be disowned from the land? I don’t know if Edward Boswell had any children, and his wife died about the same time he dead (She was also dead by November 1666).


Craig Kilby
Kilby Research Services
www.craigkilby.com







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