I don't have the record at hand, but there was a Henry Pace recorded somewhere or otrher as a headright. Some tried to tie him in to John of Middlesex (seems they tried to tie nearly everyone into John). But Bruce Howard said he was a come and go sailor who did not settle here, but Bruce did not cite his evidence. Maybe it was a scam and he came as headright, got some pay from the person who brought him, then went back. As you say, headrights could be all sorts of folks. And your discussion of the changes in early Virginia are interesting, Becky, if the post of Pace Society Historian becomes vacant, I would nominate you. You have a very extensive and detailed knowledge of early Virginia history. And as for servants becoming landowners--I just recalled the history of the first blacks in Jamestown. There was no permanent slavery in English law at that time (only indentured servitude), and in absence of a contract, the period of service of a servant had a statuatory limit--I think it was either 14 or 17 years. So that first shipload of blacks was relesed after their time. At least one of them became a landowner and imported white indentured servants. I don't recall the name. Roy Johnson -------------- Original message from "Becky Mosely" <beckymosely@comcast.net>: -------------- > EXAMPLE: An early arrival, THOMAS BRADFORD: ( No connection has been made to my > Richard but I am using this to show that just because someone was shown as a > headright, indentured servant that was not always the case.) > > 1635 > > Ultimo July, 1635. Theis underwritten names are to be transported to > Virginea, imbarqued in 'ye Merchant's Hope', Hugh Weston, Mr., per examinacon by > the Minister of Gravesend, touching their conformitie to the Church discipline > of England, and have taken the oaths of allegeance and supremacie. THO. > BRADFORD........Years 40 page 117, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, > 1600-1700, by John Camden Hotten > > > > 1640 > > ROBERT HOLT, merchant, 700 acs. James Cittie Co., 23 July 1640, p. > 727. On E. side of Chichahominy Riv. at the head of Checroes Cr. etc., E. from > the bounds of land of Mr. John Felgate, crossing the Nly. br. of sd. creek > etc., N. upon land of Edward sanderson etc. 500 acs. by pattent graunted to sd. > Holt & Richard Bell, 2 Mar. 1638 which said Bell hath since assigned his share > unto sd. Holt, reserving his owne per adv. & trans. of 1 servt. 200 acs. for > trans. of 4 pers. The following names appear: ROBERT HOLT, JOHN NEWHOWSE, > WILLIAM ALLEN, STEPHEN BEANE, ANTHO. LUCO, SAMLL. LUCAS, ROBERT PHILLIPSON, THO. > KEYES, THO. BRADFORD, RALPH BLAKIN, RICHARD BURGIS, JAMES DAVIS, JOHN BUDGE. > pg. 123, Vol 1, Cavaliers and Pioneers, Nugent > > > > David T. Bradford states in 'THE BRADFORDS OF CHARLES CITY COUNTY': > > "Thomas, a headright for James City merchant Robert Holt, died a bachelor > in James City in 1671. His will was filed in England in the Prerogatory Court > of Canterbury." > > > > IT IS HISTORICALLY ASSUMED THIS THOMAS WAS JUST ANOTHER 'HEADRIGHT', indentured > to HOLT. If all of this is the same THOMAS he was born in 1595 and died at 76 > years of age..... still owned property in England... no descendants... bbm > > > > "MIGRATION AND THE ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH ATLANTIC WORLD" by Alison Games > > Harvard University Press, 1999 > > > > Page 34: George Grace reversed Gibbs's travel pattern. Like several other > travelers to the colonies, Grace was a merchant. Many merchants were seasoned > colonial traders, like John Redman, John Chappell, Nathaniel Wright, Nathaniel > Braddock and THOMAS BRADFORD. [61] ............... Before his American voyage, > Grace exported cloth to Holland and owned a house in Delft where he kept his > goods. > > note: 61. John Chappell and Nathaniel Wright had imported goods from the > colonies - Virginia tobacco and muscavado (unrefined) sugar - to London in 1633. > In 1635 Chappell boarded a ship for Virginia, whereas Wright traveled to > Barbados. Three other Virginia-bound travelers, John Redman, THOMAS BRADFORD, > and John Butler, were tobacco merchants. Wright imported sugar, 25 January > 1632/3, whereas Chappell imported Virginia tobacco, 17 May 1633, E 190/38/1, f. > 12 recto, f. 59 recto, London Port Book 1632-1633, PRO. For John Redman, see > Thomas Gower v. William Anthony, 9 May 1637, HCA 13/111 (no page numbers); for > John Butler, E 190/41/5, f. 48verso, lists his tobacco imports in 1637, PRO; for > THOMAS BRADFORD, see petition, c. 1644, of merchants, grocers, and others > dealing in tobacco, Harley 1238, f. 9, BL. On the circumstances that inspired > and bedeviled these tobacco merchants, see John Pagan, "Growth of the Tobacco > Trade between London and Virginia, 1614-1640," Gu! > ildhall Studies 3 (1979): 248-262 > > > > Page 197/8: Whereas colonial residents ventured east across the ocean to > procure goods and favors for their American homes, London merchants reversed the > process. They voyaged west to secure the annual flow of lucrative colonial > products. London merchants comprised anywhere between 5 and 10 percent of the > population of travelers from England to the colonies in the early decades of > settlement. These men, or their factors and representatives, voyaged to cement > commercial ties with colonial merchants and planters and to ensure their own > share of the colonial spoils. The new American colonies required any product > that a merchant chose to export, and in return, merchants imported colonial > crops such as tobacco, sugar, cotton, and indigo in the 1630s and 1640s. > Indeed, one did not even need to be a member of a merchant guild to trade with > the colonies because the North American trade was not restricted. Thus, in > Jacob Price's words, a 'huckster horde" traveled to the c! > olonies with a motley assortment of goods to barter for colonial crops. [26] > > London merchants aboard ships in 1635 traded in both tobacco and sugar. > John Chappell was an importer of Virginia tobacco and in 1635 boarded a boat to > travel there. Nathaniel Wright had imported sugar to London in 1633: two years > later, he boarded a ship to Barbados. [27] Later records reveal three other > Virginia-bound travelers, John Redman, Thomas Bradford, and John Butler, to have > been tobacco merchants. [28] Possibly their voyages in 1635 launched their > careers. Thus we see in the case of these five men the importance of personal > trips to the colonies for those merchants engaged in marketing colonial > products. Other merchants traveled in that year, including Abraham Johnson, > George Grace, and Nathaniel Braddock, bound for Virginia. At least one of these > men, George Grace, found himself resident in Virginia for at least three years > after his entrepreneurial voyage in 1635, presumably still waiting to recoup his > fortunes.[29] > > NOTES: 26. Jacob Price, 'Perry of London' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard > University Press, 1992), p. vii. > > 27. Wright imported Virginia tobacco, 17 May 1633, f. 59 recto, E > 190/38/1, London Port Book 1632-33, PRO. Wright, of course, was not yet > importing sugar from Barbados in 1635. > > 28. For John Redman, see Thomas Gower v. William Anthony, 9 May 1637, HCA > 13/111 (no page numbers); for John Butler, E 190/41/5, f. 48verso lists his > tobacco imports in 1637, PRO; for Thomas Bradford, see petition, c. 1644, of > merchants, grocers, and others dealing in tobacco, Harley 1238, f. 9, BL. > > 29. Jacob Price has noted that these voyages back and forth formed a > family strategy for some mercantile firms and kin: unfortunately, there is not > enough evidence for these particular merchants, although clearly some families > benefited from far-flung trade and kin networks. Price, 'Perry of London', p.1. > > > > Comment: It is clear from Ms. Games research that travel between > England and the Colonies was not uncommon. bbm > > > > FURTHER from CAVALIERS & PIONEERS: > > A few facts to remember in reading Patents from Cavalier & Pioneers Vol. 1, > Nugent: Introduction: > > "The term headrights in connection with a patent for land has been subject > to no little misunderstanding. Elucidation is therefore in order. > > For the purpose of stimulating immigration and the settlement of the Colony > the London Company ordained that any person who paid his own way to Virginia > should be assigned 50 acres of land "for his owne personal adventure," and if he > transported "as his owne cost" one or more persons he should, for each person > whose passage he paid, be awarded fifty acres of land. There is, for instance, > the case of Sir Thomas Lunsford, Knight and Baronett, who on October 24, 1650 > was granted 3,423 acres for the transportation of sixty-five persons including > himself, members of his family, friends, and servants, many of whom were > doubtless indentured, or bound for a period of service. > > Among the headrights are found persons of all social classes, nobility and > gentry, yeomanry, indentured servants (some of good family and connection in > England), and negroes. > > It is not to be assumed that the claim for land in consequence of a person > transported was made immediately after the arrival of the "headright" in the > Colony. ......The head rights may have arrived in the Colony long before the > patentee had enter claim for land thereby due. Nor is it to be assumed that the > headright is necessarily an immigrant. Even men of prominence in the Colony, > through a voyage or repeated voyages to England and return, appear as > "headrights" of friends or relatives, who acquitted the cost of the passage in > order to obtain the consequent land. > > ........Before obtaining land for the transportation of "headrights" the > claimant was required to present a receipt in proff that the passage money was > duly paid. But despite all precautions fraud and deception were by no means > uncommon. > > > > > > Soooo.... from the above we don't even know what year someone may have come.... > is it their first voyage... were they born here... went back to England for > education, marriage, shopping, etc... are they merchants who travel frequently > back & to.... Who knows? Social status? > > Regards, Becky > > > ==== PACE Mailing List ==== > Be sure to check the Pace Family Genealogy Forum at http://genforum.com/pace/ > and the Pace Network at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pace >