Or, Subtitled: When London Is Transplanted to Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Now to end our chronicle of the life of Richard Nottingham, the immigrant ancestor of that family in Northampton County, Virginia: Richard made his will 24 September 1692, and it was proven in Northampton court on 29 November 1692.[1] Here’s my transcript of the will:

In the Name of God Amen I Richard Nottingham Senr of the County of Northampton in Virginia Planter being very Sicke and weake in body But of good Sound and perfect minde and memory (praised bee to God) for the same and Callinge to minde the Uncertainty of this life and how fraile wee are and that all flesh must yeild to death when ever it Shall please the Lord to Call. Imprimis I comit my soule unto the hands of almighty God who gave it me and to my Savior Jesus Christ who Redeemed me trustinge that by and through his meritts I Shall Inheritte Everlasting life and my body to the Earth from whence it came to bee buried in Christian buriall by my Executrix hereaftter Named.

Item Whereas my Plantation that I now live on Containes two hundred & forty acres of Land: my will & desire is and I doe hereby give it wholly to my two Sons Richard & Robert Nottingham to them and their heires for ever to bee Equally Divided betwixt them My sonne Robert to have the priviledge of the whole Decision as to gettinge of Timber and loggs for the use of his part of the Dividend, as also the priviledge of the pasture not molestinge Each other in the least and the Line to bee Run betwixt them from head to foot as Equally as may bee: In Consideracion whereof they my two Sons aforesaid beinge by this my last will and Testamt. [?] bound Jointly and severally their several heirs & assignees to pay or cause to be paid to my other three Sons (Viz) Benja: John & William — Nottingham to their heirs &ct the Just [Sum? Settlmt?] of Seven Thousand pounds of good Tobacco & casket (that is to say) two thousand three hundred fifty & three pounds of tobacco & caske for three years next after my Decease to be paid successively until the seven Thousand be fully paid and Satisfied: and if in case that my son Robert shall not think it Convenient to live with his mother that then hee Shall have the liberty to [Settle?] on any part of the one hundred & seventy acres not damnifyinge Each other in the least.

Item my will and desire is and I Doe hereby give to my Said Son Robert Nottingham one ffeather Bed with what belongs to it which said Bed is the Second best in the house; one Iron pott of about six Gallons also that my mill my Saw and Iron Wedges shall bee & remained where they are for the Sole use of my Said Son Robt. Nottingham. As also I Doe give him one little gunne wch. was Wm. Evans.

Item my will and desire is and I Doe [devise?] to my two Sons Jno: & William Nottingham Each of them one Gunn my son John to have that Gunn called by name Papscutt & Williams Gunn called by Name Saly.

Item my will and desire is that my Tender & Lovinge wife Elizabeth Nottingham Shall bee my whole & sole Executrix wch. hopinge that she will fulfill this my last will & Testmt. in every thing to her power. Shee Enjoyinge the moveable part of my Estate for her Naturall life with her part of the Plantacion also and at the Expiracion & End of this her Naturall life what is then Remaining Shee harboring have a Component living out of the Same: or if Shee Should marry before that at the day of death or at the day of marriage I say the Remainder then to bee Equally divided betwixt my wife my Sons & Daughters:  That this beinge the whole and Sole intent & meaninge of this my last will and Testamt. and this to be taken for the Same utterly Revokinge all other will & wills heretofore by me made and this to be my last In Testimony whereof I have hereunto sett my hand & Seale this twenty-fourth day of September anno Dom. 1692.

Now before signinge & sealinge hereof the Marke of Richard Nottingham (R).

that Roberts Land is to be on ye South Side of the Said Dividend where I now live the bed & pott to bee delivered with one Cuttlass presently after my Decease as also the words (In Consideracion whereof) Interlined att the same time.

Sealed Signed & Delivered in the presence of [viz?] the marke of

Jno Granger [mark]

Hanna Capell [mark]

Nath. Capell

The 29th day of November anno dom 1692

The said day the aforewritten last will & Testamt. of Richard Nottingham Senr. decd was proved in open Court by the Corporall oathes of  Jno. Granger, Hannah Capell & Nathaniell Capell and [declared?] of as an authentick Probate & ordered to be Recorded.

Recorded Test Dan. Neech

As I noted in my previous posting, two of the witnesses to Richard’s will, Hannah and Nathaniel Capell, were husband and wife, and Hannah was a granddaughter of the London immigrant Nicholas Granger, who was shipped to Virginia along with a group of boys and “wenches” from Bridewell Royal Hospital in March 1618/9 with claims that they had been “running wild” in the streets of London before they were placed in Bridewell.[2] The group arrived in Virginia in May 1619 aboard The George, of which William Ewen/Evan/Evans/Evins/Ewins was shipmaster. We also looked at William Ewen in my last posting, noting that he had a contract with the Virginia Company of London to bring colonists to Virginia aboard The George,[3] and that he married Margaret Clement on 10 February 1612/13 at St. Dunstan church in Stepney in the east end of London.

It’s important to note: William Ewen had ties to Stepney where, as we will see in subsequent postings, the father of Richard Nottingham, an older Richard Nottingham (1587-1640/1650), was a merchant, and where, as we’ll also see, the diary of Phineas Pett, brother of Richard Nottingham’s mother Mary Pett, states that Mary lived with her brother until she married Richard Nottingham (1587-1640/1650) in 1617….

I also suggested to you that the William Ewen who appears in an assortment of records in connection to Richard Nottingham in Virginia, who died at Richard’s house in Northampton in November 1678 (again, see the previous posting about this), was very likely a close relative of the older William Ewen who was a shipmaster, though I am inferring this without solid proof. It’s the younger William Ewen who is mentioned in Richard Nottingham’s will (as William Evans): Richard wills to his son Robert William Evans’ gun.

Clearly, all these records reinforce the conclusion that Richard Nottingham and his family were closely connected in Northampton County to a number of other families with ties to London. The immigrant Nicholas Granger was born in London in 1610 and shipped by Bridewell from London to Virginia in 1618/9.[4]

The three signatories of Richard Nottingham’s will all have Granger connections. Both Hannah Capell and the John Granger who witnessed the will are children of Nicholas Granger’s son Nicholas (abt. 1627-1678), who, as saw in the previous posting, appears in records involving Richard Nottingham in Virginia.[5]

Nathaniel Capell made several depositions in Northampton County indicating that he was born about 1654. As M.K. Miles’ summary of what’s known about his life in Virginia states, he deposed on 28 October 1680 that he was aged 26, and on 30 July 1694 that he was aged 40, and again on 28 November 1695 that he was aged 41.[6] Nathaniel Capell of Northampton County is almost certainly the Nathaniel, son of Edward and Winnifred Caple, who was baptized 27 November 1653 at Saint Olave church in Hart Street, London.[7] Yet another London connection….

The Edward Caple who was father of Nathaniel Capell was baptized 16 August 1635 at St. Olave Hart Street.[8] His parents were an older Edward Caple and Mary/Marie Harwood, who married 28 October 1634 at St. Dunstan and All Saints church in Stepney.[9] In his 1 April 1639 will in Northampton County, Virginia, Nicholas Harwood names Goodman (Nicholas) Grainger, who was one of the will’s witnesses. The will notes that Nicholas Granger had taken care of Nicholas Harwood, and makes a bequest of money for Nicholas Granger’s son Nicholas, godson of Nicholas Harwood, to buy a calf.[10]

The Grangers and Capells were, as noted previously, neighbors of the Nottinghams in Northampton County. So we have, living in close proximity to each other in Virginia and interacting with each other, members of several families with ties to London, ties the Nottinghams also had, since Richard Nottingham’s father was a merchant there and his wife Elizabeth Watson appears to have been born there: the Grangers, Capells, and Ewens/Evans…..

One final note about the family of Richard Nottingham and his descendants: they were communicants of Hungars Episcopal parish in Northampton County, and have long been associated with that church, of which Richard’s son Benjamin was a vestryman.[11] Hungars parish was formed in 1634, with the first Hungars church being built, in all likelihood, around that time. The present Hungars church dates from 1751.[12] In a previous posting telling you what I know of the life of Richard Nottingham’s son William (1669-1717), I presented an excerpt from Jennings Cropper Wise’s Ye Kingdome of Accawmacke, in which he has the following to say about the Nottinghams of Northampton County:

After two hundred and fifty years of association with the social and political life of the Eastern Shore, the Nottingham family continues to-day to be one of the most prominent families on the peninsula. Yet the name is practically unknown elsewhere in America. So numerous are the branches of this ancient family, that it has been said that one can make no mistake by addressing an Eastern Shoreman, if a gentleman, by that name, for if it is not his own name, it will probably be that of a near relative; and if he happens not to be a gentleman, he will be flattered.[13]

In conclusion, a brief account of the children of Richard and Elizabeth Watson Nottingham with the exception of their son William, whom I’ve already studied in detail:

• Richard (1651-1729) married 1) Mary, step-daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Clarke, who is said to have had the surname Bundick (m. 29 July 1672); 2) Lydia, widow of Peter Smith (m. abt. 1711); and 3) Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Johnson and Ann Kelly (m. abt. 1721)[14]
• Robert (abt. 1652-1698), married Jane Johnson (m. bef. 28 February 1692, prob. abt. 1685)[15]
• Benjamin (abt. 1656-1716), married 1) Sarah?; 2) Mary?[16]
• Ann/Anne (abt. 1660-1717), married 1) Charles Parks/Parkes (m. abt. 1680); 2) Thomas, son of Benjamin Cowdrey (m. 29 March 1697); 3) John Davis (m. abt. 1700); 4) Robert, son of Bartholomew and Mary Mears (m. bef. 30 May 1709); and 5) William, son of Thomas and Ann Scott (m. 2 July 1709)[17]
• John (abt. 1664-1719), married Sarah DuParkes, widow of Thomas Tatham (m. bef. 1 March 1702)[18]
• William (1669-1719), married Mary — discussed in detail previously
• Sarah (abt. 1668-aft. September 1692), married John, son of John and Margaret Haggoman (m. abt. 1686)[19]
• Elizabeth (abt. 1670-aft. September 1692), married John, son of William Abdell and Elizabeth Teague (m. abt. 1692)[20]

[1] Northampton County, Virginia, Orders and Wills Bk. 13, pp. 210-211.

[2] See Martha W. McCartney, Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary (Baltimore: Genealogical Publ. Co., 2007), pp. 335-6; and citing John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, vol. 2 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publ. Co., 2005; 4^th ed.), pp. 119-130. (Granger Family),

[3] See Susan Myra Kingsbury, ed., Records of the Virginia Company of London, vol. 3 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1935), pp. 465-466.

[4] See MilesFiles, p. 534, citing  Adventurers of Purse and Person, p. 119, on Nicholas shown as age 15 in the Jan.-Feb. 1624/5 muster.

[5] See MilesFiles, p. 603.

[6] Ibid.

[7] See the database “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, “at the FamilySearch website, abstracting and indexing the original parish records.

[8] See ibid.

[9] See the database “England Marriages, 1538–1973,” at the FamilySearch website, abstracting and indexing the original parish records.

[10] MilesFiles, p. 534, citing James Handley Marshall,  Northampton County, Virginia, Abstracts of Wills and Administrations, 1632-1802( Camden, Maine: Picton, 2001), p. 4.

[11] See Jennings Cropper Wise, Ye Kingdome of Accawmacke, or, The Eastern Shore of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century (Richmond: Bell, Book, and Stationery Co., 1911), p. 278.

[12] On the history of Hungars, see Susie Ames, Studies of the Virginia Eastern Shore in the 17^th Century (Richmond: Dietz, 1940).

[13] Kingdome of Accawmacke, p. 71.

[14] See MilesFiles, p. 546. On 15 May 1711, William and Sarah, children of Peter and Lydia Smith, acknowledged receipt of their inheritance from their father, held by step-father Richard Nottingham, who had married the widow Lydia: see Northampton County, Virginia, Order Bk. 15, p. 16.

[15] See MilesFiles, p. 546.

[16] See ibid. Benjamin was a Virginia burgess: biographical information is in Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, vol. 2 (NY: Lewis, 1915), p. 299.

[17] See MilesFiles, p. 546.

[18] See ibid.

[19] See ibid.

[20] See ibid.