Dales Gift

[Henry Barraud Hunt, Jr.]

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 awarded his patent at the same time as Robert  Drake, that is in1636. Robert Drake was born in Ashe, county Devon, England. In 2017 I discovered a new line of descent for Robert Drake and shared it with others, including 'The Order of the Crown of Charlemagne'.

I think I was discussing William Shrimpton of Whitchurch in Hampshire County, England when I found a need to address the lineage of Isabella Douglas. Less than a mile from Whitchurch is a Hamlet called 'Cheriton'. It is fascinating to find the first hamlet in Dale's Gift in Northampton County Virginia is also called 'Cheriton'. This certainly implies that Sir Thomas Dale spent some of his early years in Hampshire County, England.