From: teresa stuart de rios
To: paul drake
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 1:16 PM
Subject: question
Paul, I have a question for you concerning ages of people who came to VA ca. 1638. Could a child be brought over by a man, what would be the earliest age for a boy to travel alone? A Charles Steward was sponsored by Edward Osbourne, Henrico Co VA 1638. I am trying to determine if he could have been a minor. Maybe 10 years old, did this happen?
Thanks,
Teresa
Hi, Ms. T. Your question illustrates historical facts and a perspective that many would do well to notice.
The whole business of who came to these colonies and at what age was but a matter of desire and wherewithal - MONEY! Any person could make the voyage to these colonies with any other person, unless those would-be travelers were personally restrained from free travel by virtue of some legal impediment imposed by a court upon that named person. Such personal restrictions might have grown out of the criminal law particularly, or have arisen from any order of any other court by which that named person was prohibited from moving freely outside the jurisdiction of the King's court. Other than such personal prohibitions - and those were rare, indeed - there were no rules concerning age or sex of an adventurer.
Still though, there existed powerful deterrent factors for most, and those were economic. It was an expensive, dangerous, fear-filled, and VERY long trip across the ocean; further in perception and in time of travel than is any place on Earth today. Indeed, we now go to the moon in less time than was required for a trans-Atlantic voyage.
Considering that in the 17th-Century the average artisan earned L40 per year, the average sailor L20, the average laborer L15, and the poor and landless ONLY L5 to L6 per year, and that the average cost for the journey even with the poorest of accommodations was from L7 to L9 one-way, it is easy to understand that the motivation to bring another and pay such a cost had to be mighty, indeed.
Still though, if you had the money and there were no personal prohibitions such as those mentioned, ships' masters able and willing to so transport you and your child, no matter the age of that youngster, were widely and frequently available. Notice that the records occasionally did reveal that very young children sometimes were charged a tad less for their fare - "kids rate", I suppose. Hope this answers your question.
----- Original Message -----
From: teresa stuart de rios
To: paul drake
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 1:16 PM
Subject: question
Paul, I have a question for you concerning ages of people who came to VA ca. 1638. Could a child be brought over by a man, what would be the earliest age for a boy to travel alone? A Charles Steward was sponsored by Edward Osbourne, Henrico Co VA 1638. I am trying to determine if he could have been a minor. Maybe 10 years old, did this happen?
Thanks,
Teresa
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
|
