Interesting. Thomas Cardwell came as an indentured servant at age 21, in 1636; he was a barrel maker and was initially in the employ of a man in Keoghtan [now the city of Hampton]. On the ship's passenger list there are many indentured servants who paid 6 shillings passage each, but his passage was 11 shillings, which must have given him a more comfortable passage (relatively speaking) than the other people, who must have been in the equivalent of "steerage." He later lived in Middlesex County Va. Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 3, 2007, at 9:27 AM, Katharine Harbury wrote: > The term, "servant" or "indentured servant," in the 17th-century > held a > different meaning - I believe it was used in the context of an > "employee" instead of a "servant" as we know it today. This was why > Adam Thorowgood was described both as a "servant" (employee) and a > gentleman. Many younger sons of nobility came to Virginia as > "indentured servants," and no stigma was attached to it. The more > modern meaning of "servant" only came later. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Chandler > Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 12:07 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: a question about transporting new colonists > > To the previous information I would add the following: > > (1) A headright does not necessarily mean that the person for whose > passage was paid was an indentured servant. I seriously doubt that > Adam > Thorowgood was an "indentured servant," although he is described as a > "servant" in the muster of Edward Waters in Jan-Feb 1624/5, having > arrived in the "Charles" in 1621. > Indeed, he was described as a "gentleman" when he bought 150A on the > north side of Hampton Roads on December 30, 1626. His status was such > that he married Sarah Offley, who was (as has been noted) the daughter > of one Lord Mayor of London and granddaughter of another. Her father > invested more than L100 in the Virginia Company ca. 1618/19, > perhaps in > response to the major change of administration of the Company that > occurred then. I suspect Adam's status was akin to a clerk or > aide-de-camp to Waters while Adam got acclimated to Virginia (going > through one full year's cycle and surviving the climate and other > threats to life). > > (2) Headrights were also awarded for persons merely visiting in the > colonies -- it was the transit for which the headright was earned, > even > though not everyone transported stayed. > > (3) Headrights were also fungible, much like bearer bonds are today. > They could be sold (and often were) by simple endorsement on the > face or > the back and sometimes passed through several hands before being > redeemed. Ship captains also acquired headrights for transporting > individuals for free, often to fill out the passenger spaces on their > ships for later redemption (investments) and/or to provide a > sufficient > number of souls to meet contract requirements for which the captain > had > been advanced funds by a planter in Virginia. > > jc > > > > --- Douglas Deal <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Barbara's response nicely summarizes the difficulties inherent in >> using land patents and headrights for genealogical purposes. The >> larger historical significance of the system is pretty clear, though. >> The idea was to reward--with land grants--those immigrants who paid >> for their own passage to the colony and for that of others, whether >> family members, servants, or (for several decades, at least) slaves, >> at the rate of 50 acres per person transported (self plus others). >> Those whose passage was >> thus paid did not get the land, except for a spell in certain other >> colonies, such as Maryland where it was part of a servant's freedom >> dues (until 1683, if I remember correctly). For most of the colonies, >> including Virginia, the headright system rewarded the wealthiest with >> even more wealth. In Virginia, it helped build a landed elite that, >> conveniently, was rewarded for bringing more labor into the colony. >> Political conflict in the decades before and after 1700 revolved, >> much > >> of the time, around the abuses and inequalities that the practices of >> land distribution entailed. Anthony Parent's recent book, Foul Means, >> treats some of this story in detail. >> >> Doug Deal >> History/SUNY-Oswego >> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the >> instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html >> > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html