Mrs. S; The following list almost surely reveals that these headrights were gained through purchase, trade or through "new" certificates of abandoned grants/patents taken up from the clerks' offices. We also think that this "master" - Benjamin Johnson - transported few, if any of these folks. Notice too that the "rights" likely were gathered in the Americas, since to gather such a list of folks from all over Britain would have been more than difficult, and likely a waste of time for such speculators. I suggest that Johnson was a speculator or entrepreneur who went about the ports and towns and gained headrights from whoever owned those at the time, all to the end that he patent lands and, in turn, sell those tracts to buyers on the best terms possible. Another fact perhaps is revealed; there are almost no wives listed, leading me to believe that he only bought strong young men, plus an occasional woman, and then traded those "rights" among planters, those who sought to undertake a "homestead" in the wilderness, and those tradesmen who needed raw labor. Were I you, I would check the "criminals" who were sent to the colonies as outcasts. Then too, check the MD and VA land grants and note any of these named "servants" who appeared as headrights either before and after the date of this entry. I would bet that you will find some such duplicates. I also would check the MD land ownership practices, since it is well known that many tracts were "farmed-out" from the proprietors or nobility who had the rights in such tracts, and "leased" those tracts for the life of one or more people, thus creating some VERY long term leases. Paul ************** Bound to Benjamin Johnson: John Betson, aged 21, for Virginia; Arthur Munday, aged 20, for Virginia; Thomas May, aged 21, for Virginia; John Wall, aged 22, for Virginia; Daniell Habgood, aged 21, for Barbados; John Thompson, aged 22, for Barbados; Thomas Nonson for Barbados; Thomas Miller, aged 23, for Virginia; Humphrey Tedder, aged 23, for Virginia; John Williamson, aged 21, for Virginia; William Elton, aged 28, for Virginia; Thomas Allen of St. Martin in the Fields, [Middlesex], for Virginia; Robert Downey, aged 22, for Virginia; William Dale, aged 26, for Virginia; Robert Strides, aged 21, for Virginia; Alexander Cock, aged 24, for Virginia; Richard Jones, aged 21, for Virginia; Abraham Taylor, aged 30, for Virginia; David Higgs, aged 24, for Virginia; John Briteridge, aged 24, for Virginia; William Kendall of Wilburton, [Cambs], for Virginia; William Ryley, aged 22, for Virginia; William Blades, aged 23, for Virginia; RICHARD HIGHFIELD, aged 21, for Virginia; Elizabeth Gale, aged 22, for Virginia; James Black of St. Martin in the Fields, [Middlesex], for Virginia; William Rolfe, aged 21, for Virginia; Edward Smyth, aged 27, for Virginia; William Clay, aged 24, for Virginia; Robert Cooke, aged 22, for Virginia; Oliver Bancks, aged 26, for Virginia; Phebe Rumney of St. Bride's, [London], for Virginia; Ralph Gibbs, aged 22, for Virginia; Michaell Rudlidge, aged 29, for Virginia; Elizabeth Jones of Gloucester, for Virginia; William Eckley, aged 28, for Virginia; Hugh Edward of Denbigh, aged 18, for Virginia; William Page, aged 21, for Virginia; William Lloyd, aged 22, for Virginia; Robert Boyce, aged 39, for Virginia; Jane Kitchen, aged 21, for Virginia; William Jones, aged 24, for Virginia; Thomas Clark, aged 23. I do think it was a lease and not a rental. Goodness, the indenture date was not mysterious to me, it was the issue of two Highfields being sent to MD/VA pretty much at the same time. Jeanine Scholz No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.14.0/1046 - Release Date: 10/3/2007 10:08 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.14.0/1046 - Release Date: 10/3/2007 10:08 AM