Cynthia asked:
Subject: Re: headrights and dates of passage

....What's been stuck in my head about headrights is that the 50
acres per
isn't granted until 7 years after the uhmm 'transportee' was
transported.
...I'm hoping it's not rotten research for me to
assume from the following patent that these guys
-Edm. Marshall, John Fludd, Edm. Tedmund/Edmunds?, Samll. Cattan,
William
Russell, Willm. Savadge, Richard Browne, Edward Buderhill-
- arrived here at least by 1641.
What say ye?
Cynthia, having a panic-attack in Wales Wisconsin
Surrey County
typ patent
ref Virginia Patent Book 2 p146-147
dat 3 Jul 1648
decl -5
to Thomas Woodhouse
re 400a Neare the head of the Northermost br. of Smiths Fort Cr. in
James
City County
!bounded Vizt
con Transp. of 8 persons
!Assigned Unto him by Thomas Warren whose Names are
!Edm. Marshall, John Fludd, Edm. Tedmund/Edmund,
!Samll. Cattan, William Russell, Willm. Savadge,
!Richard Browne, Edward Buderhill
loc 41882 -65276 F127 L0 P255

*****
Hi, Cynthia.  That "grant" tells me only that Thomas Warren, by
actual transportation or by purchase or trade from yet someone else,
assigned those headrights to Woodhouse before the date of that
patent - 1641.  Woodhouse, after survey (that dignifies what likely
really happened), applied for a certificate and after
"seating"/improving the property gained the patent.  Notice that the
rules were about the seating/improvement, and not about who turned
out to be "good" servants.  Moreover, the seating requirements, like
all matters of government, then and now, depended upon who you knew.

In fact, though the law was supposed to enforce a man's right to the
service of an indentured servant, the quality and length of stay was
of no real concern to the colony and no great efforts by the
sheriffs and constables were exerted to that end; those who turned
out "bad" servants were simply a risk the buyer assumed.  Indeed,
all questions of how long a servant stayed were matters for the
buyer of those terms of service to deal with.

Notice too, that Woodhouse could have gained that patent and at once
sold it to someone else, divided then 400 acres into smaller tracts
and sold whatever of those he chose, or could have traded it for
another more desirable tract(s).  He also could have gained the
patent, then sold the headrights to whomever he chose since the
servants would not have served their terms of service owed, and
others could likewise claim lad from those rights.

Finally, notice that one can not even be sure those servants all
arrived here, since they were headrights even if they died at sea.
Thus you can really only state with some measure of certainty that
those named people booked servant passage in Britain before 1641.

(Though I am NOT a Flood/Fludd reseasrcher, I would almost bet that
John Fludd sold his own headright to Warren, Woodhouse or someone
before either men since, as I recall, Fludd had some measure of
affluence and would not have served as a servant of anyone.  huh?)
Paul

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html