My ggGramma's account [Rebecca Ann (BRADSHAW) VAUGHN] has it that the first Bradshaw (at least of our line) was thought to be William, who came from England. She also wrote in her Bible that "he came with the son (or sons) of... " someone named "...HARVEY and had with him at least 7 sons and four daughter's, but no wife". (Another account quotes her as saying "at least one daughter"). According to Greer's book, the Bradshaw who came with a man named Harvey and his son was a Robert Bradshaw. Interestingly, the name "Harvey" continued to be used as a given name by members of her family for quite some time, in her lifetime, anyway. She wrote that three of the 7 sons were: William, John, & Jeremiah. (This seems to fit your entry of John Bradshaw & Anne (Hamblin) - seven sons and four daughters). She says only that this is according to "family tradition". (She was born in 1822). Another relative wrote that the first Bradshaw had been an English Lord sometime in English history. She wrote regarding the first "immigrant": Jacob BRADSHAW, an Englishman, married Ellen TURNER. They had at least seven sons and a daughter named Ellen. Three of the sons were John, William and Jeremiah. (Interestingly, I found a record of a Jacob Bradshaw in 18th century England married to an Anne Turner, who may have come to America) Having found the record showing that indeed a Bradshaw did come over with a man named Harvey and his son, which I previously posted on the List, I begin to wonder how Ann had all these stories in her head, and was so close in every account to the truth (just from her memory as a small child), if these stories aren't also based on some element of truth. Who the first Bradshaw immigrant was is not as important to me as "When" my ancestor came over. I find the conflicting opinions of arrival dates a maddening tangle of data. One author may claim 1621, while another says it was 1640. Perhaps what we are actually seeing here is that these early Bradshaws were travelling back and forth from Virginia to England, on business, or perhaps bringing over other colonists, workers, indentured servants, slaves, etc. This was fairly common and England was collecting revenues and raw goods from the Virginias from the very beginning. Reports were sent to England (had to be hand-carried back then...no e-mail), and if someone wanted to start a new colony, they had to go back to England to get a new Patent and the approval of the Crown. England was rolling in Dough from the Tobacco coming out of Virginia alone. Smoke shops were all the "rage" in London as were coffee houses. Also, it has been suggested that the first Bradshaw(s) came to Virginia to escape the persecution of the crown. Unless they had been "exiled to the Americas" by the Crown, I find it highly unlikely that they would "escape persecution" by going to the Virginias which was ruled by the Crown and governed by English governors. The early records show that the men who brought the early Bradshaws over from England were rewarded handsomely for the task with lands. The early Bradshaws went immediately into tobacco production which required laborers and lots of money, besides land patents. The Crown had a good grip on the Virginias. She was the crowning jewel of all the colonies. Doesn't sound like a place for refugees to go to hide from English Rule, to me. -Of course, if they were exiled and forced to go to the "Americas", there should be some English ruling in the records somewhere, even in Virginia (unless these were destroyed in the Civil War, also). I have found records of English Lords who were exiled to "the Americas", stripped of their nobility in the homeland, but still given a position of power and authority in the Colonies, out of respect for their "once having been a man of nobility and means", it was not in "good form" for the Crown to strip him of all his dignity. But banishment to the Americas was seen as ample punishment...to be "cut off from proper civilization" as it were. England did not foresee that these former Nobles would rise up from the ashes like a Phoenix, someday, rich and powerful now in the savage colonies of America. Anyway, that's my thoughts. I posted some of this to the List for comment and discussion, but have received nothing regarding it so far. As I am new to researching the Bradshaw family, I look to you (all) who are more likely to be more knowledgeable on the subject and sources. I intend to do my own research, but need some imput, since I have not until recently had any definitive pedigree for GGGramma. ~Annie~ Teddie Anne Stueber [email protected] who writes from cool & breezy Oklahoma where the sun is shining today, and is still mowing grass and gardening in November!