All Blog Posts (910)

I am now able to provide the maternal side of this family.

Isabella, the wife of Lt Col Edward Douglas was a daughter of Sir Thomas Pettus and Cicele King. Isabella married Edward Douglas in Jamestown, Virginia, about 1630. This was her only marriage. I suggest that Edward Douglas married twice. First he was married to a Bowman and there were no children. He followed with his marriage to Isabella Pettus. Sir Thomas Pettus was a member of the 3rd Charter of the Virginia Company. He was…

The first reference to Lt Col Edward Douglas is in 1638 or 1639. By 1650 he had risen to fourth in importance in both Northampton and Accomack Counties of Virginia. See Deeds, Wills, etc. iv, 1651-1654 "On March 1651 "We whose names are subscribed whereby promise to be true and faithful to the Commonwealth of England, as it is , now established, without King or House of Lords- Nathaniel Littleton, Obedience Robins, Edmund Scarburgh, Edward Douglas, " and it continues with 50 or more…

Remember William Burdette was granted a patent for 1050 acres  four years before Lt. Edward Douglas was granted his patent for the same land. In March 1641 Samuel Chandler attorney for the executors of Dame Elizabeth Dale's estate "did this day petition the Board (Virginia Council) for divers land granted by the old Treasurer and Company to Sir Thomas Dale, Knight, long since deceased". We may conclude that Shrimpton through Chandler, had received a favorable response on this seaside patent…

Congratulation go to the following on their appointments in Her Majesty's Birthday Honours:

• Commander of the Order of the British Empire: Susan Frances DOUGLAS, Chief Executive Officer, Eden Academy Trust, and Senior Adviser, Schools, British Council. For services to Education; High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

• Member of the Order of the British Empire:  Clive Anthony DOUGLAS, Chair of the Board of Trustees, The Boleyn Trust. For services to Education; London

• Member of…

This patent was at the time when the prenuptual agreement was signed by the Littletons and Douglases. As was mentioned earlier Dame Elizabeth Dale was the aunt of Anne Southy who married, first, Charles Harmar and second, Colonel Nathaniel Littleton. Dame Dale raised no objections to this encroachment upon Dale's Gift.

In August 1641 Richard Hanby of Westminster in Middlesex County, England, and William Shrimpton of White Church in Southampton County, England (executors of Dame Dale's…

In 1630 Charles Harmar married Anne Southy, daughter of Henry Southy. Henry Southy had a sister named Anne Southy who married Lord who married Lord John Throgmorton. John Throgmorton was a brother of Elizabeth Throgmorton who married Sir Thomas Dale. Charles Harmar's patent for 1050 acres in the same area was granted 4 June 1635. The patent was for himself, his wife, Anne, and nineteen servants.(See Minutes of the General Council and Court, page 179. On 17 September 1644 the patent was…

As mentioned Sir Thomas Dale died in 1619. His widow, Lady Elizabeth Dale, had a lifetime use of Dale's Gift with Richard and Isabella having a remainder interest. Lady Dale, never, made it to Virginia. Instead she appointed overseers to manage her holdings in Virginia. (to be continued)

Could it be that Sir Thomas Dale, his brother Richard and sister Isabella descend from Henry Dale and his wife, Isabella of Amesbury, daughter of Henry Plantagenet, the third earl of Lancaster? Henry Plantagenet  was the leader  of the Confederacy of 1324  that deposed King Edward ll and became the guardian of King Edward lll. Isabella's brother, Henry Plantagenet, became England's top militarist, and was Commander of the siege of Calais as well as the King's lieutenant in Flanders.…

Before I continue with Colonel Thomas Dale in Jamestown it might help if I provide a biographical sketch for him. Prior to Dale's arrival in England the "States General of the United Netherlands consented that Thomas Dale (destined by the King of Great Britain to be employed in Virginia in his "Majestys" Services) may absent himself from the company for the space of three years, and that his said company shall remain meanwhile vacant to be received by him if he thinks proper". Dale was…

In Abstracts of Wills, Middlesex County, England,  is the notation Lady Dale, the widow of Sir Thomas Dale of Stepney in Middlesex, deceased,  in parts beyond the seas, to brother, Richard Dale. There followed  a 1619 will  of Richard Dale of St. Swithin (near Stepney) In his will he mentions sister, Isabella Gayer alias Dale. Vaughn Baker provided me this information years ago. I suggest the Gayer/ Isabella marriage was an earlier one which was followed by the marriage to Edmond Bowman,…

I return now back to the discussion about Dale's Gift, its dimensions and various encroachments. My ancestor, Thomas Hunt arrived in the colony in late 1628 and with him was Robert Drake. Both settled on their patents but they were not awarded to them until 1636 because the Virginia Company was uncertain as to the extent of Dale's Gift. Thomas Hunt had settled on Old Plantation Creek which was on the northern rim of Dale's Gift and Robert Drake on the southern rim on Magoty Bay. Drake was…

I have been discussing "Dale' s Gift' but see there may be confusion over Isabella's parentage. I shall devote this paragraph toward that issue. Her parents were Edmund Bowman (Senior) and Isabella Dale.  Isabella had a 1st cousin named Edmund Douglas (Junior). The water becomes a bit muddied when we find Lt. Edward Douglas calling Edmund Bowman his cousin. When Edward was on his death bed in the home of Edmund, Jr., he wrote his will. When Isabella spoke of her 1st cousin, she addressed him…

I shall show that Isabella wife of Edmund Bowman of Middlesex County was a daughter of Isabella, sister of both Sir Thomas Dale and Richard Dale. I reiterate that Isabella Bowman, daughter of Edmond Bowman of Middlesex Co, married both Lt Edward Douglas as well as the Rev Thomas Teackle.(As I stated above Edmond Bowman married Isabella Dale, sister of both Sir Thomas Dale and Richard Dale.)

Sir Thomas Dale sailed for Virginia with a flotilla of three ships in March 1611. Before…

I shall start with a general review of what we can say about the Colonel and, after that, provide new information I have to offer about this ancestor from whom I descend through four separate lines.

Edward Douglas was born 14 Dec 1540 in Norfolk, England and died 02 Nov 1657 in Northampton Co, Virginia. He married Isabella Bowman of Middlesex Co, England in 1641. Her birth was in 1600 and she died 1666, then the wife of Rev Thomas Teackle, in Northampton Co. Virginia. Edward Douglas…

I received the following, which I have translated from French:

Comments: Hello,

I am contacting you, because, almost 200 years ago (July 16, 2021), Antoine Leclerc aka Milfort Tastanegy died on the property of friends in a small village in France, Villevallier (Yonne). He was born in Thin le Moutier (Ardennes-France).

In the meantime, this colorful character went to the USA for almost 20 years. He lived among the Creek Indians near Little Tennesse in Alabama, where…

I have just stumbled upon a family tree of the pirate, Long John Silver. Whilst I know about many ne'erdowells amongst our extended family (see: www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/articles/rogues&vagabonds.htm ) the…

William

My apologies at having to sign in again but I was having difficulty with the old e mail address.

You will probably recall some time ago, a debate about the Douglas footprint in Cockpen and adjacent parishes,

My personal interest in this is in Newbattle but having returned to the subject recently I think that I may have some information  which may be of more general interest. From that comes some issues with the research I was doing…

I have just seen an advanced copy of the CDSNA newsletter - all 86 pages of it!

If you are not on the mailing list, now would be a good moment to join.…

The heart has always been important in Scottish history, but nowhere is it more important than in Douglas history.

In 1298 when Lord John Balliol died, his grieving widow, Dervorguilla of Galloway, had his preserved heart placed in an ivory casket which she then carried everywhere with her. When she died, she was laid to rest at Sweetheart Abbey clutching her husband's heart. That's not the only heart-wrenching tale though, Melrose Abbey was so beloved by Robert the Bruce that it was…