I thought that some of you researching the Cornelius Whittington - Gilliam line would be interested in three emails sent to me by a Gilliam researcher. His work is ongoing at the Gilliam list and not everything is set in stone. He has consented to share his emails to me on the Whittington line. Fanny Crabb of Crosby Texas was among some Whittington researchers tracing the Cornelius Whittingtons back thru the Gilliam line to a French Count Gillaume at the Battle of Hastings centuries ago. Feel free to contact him if you have questions, corrections or further information. His name is Don Collins and his email address is <A HREF="[email protected] (Don Collins)">[email protected]</A> Tim Hashaw Houston, Texas #1Hello Tim, I just saw your message on the GILLIAM-L. I'm always glad to find someone who is working on the same branch of the family that I am. I descend from John Gilliam, born 1614, who married Marjorie Henshaw, through their daughter, Elizabeth Gilliam who married: 1. Mr. West (two sons); 2. William Bevin (three more children); and finally, 3. Francis Maybury by whom she had seven more children. I have reason to think that the father of this John Gilliam (b. 1614) was not the John Gilliam who was born in Wales in 1571 in Wales. Or, more accurately, that the Capt. John Gilliam who died in Lower Norfolk County, VA in 1651, was probably not the John Gilliam who was born in Wales in 1571. I have records indicating that several Gilliams (variant spellings) came to Virginia in 1635. Among these were the elder John, who died in 1651, John and Thomas, who came together on the George. There was also a William Gilliam, age 27 who came aboard the Constance in October 1635. Yet another record tell us that the ship, Abigall set sail from England on 1 July 1635 and listed among its passengers was Ann Gilliam, age 28, and her son, Ben. I have no idea if or who all these were related. However, I have just found new information about our John Gilliam (b 1614) which is much more specific and indicates that he was a French Huguenot who came first to London and apparently lived there for a time before sailing for Virginia. The specific neighborhood and parish in London are given. All this comes from a paper researched by an attorney who was trying to trace the descent of land in his immediate neighborhood in the lower Appomattox valley (just above the point where the Appomattox flows into the James River. I had known that our John Gilliam owned 1300 acres of land on the Appomattox including the precise location of that land and also that his son John, bought additional land including several islands in the River, one of which is still on modern maps as Gilliams Island. This paper gives the names of additional islands and other landmarks, all of which were named by John Gilliam (1614) for streets and places in his old London neighborhood. His home, for example, was called Monte Alto and stood, until it burned during the Civil War, on a site not occupied by the home of the superintendant of a Federal prison which occupies the old Gilliam 1300 acres. All of this raises several questions. I have a researcher in England working on my Maybury family and also on the family of Marjorie Henshaw. I have just asked her to take on a third project to find additional information on our Gilliam family. I do not have the information you reference in the book by Lottie Crabb. Can you tell me more about that. I'll be glad to send you a copy of my latest information on John Guillaume who came from France to London and then to Virgina. Don Collins Bailey, Colorado #2Hello Tim From: Appomattox Frontier by Richard Jones, p. 31ff. Jones is an attorney who studied the history of the descend of ownership of land in the locality in which he began to practice law (the lower Appomattox Valley, just below the James River). He researched primary sources such a patents, deeds, wills, parish records, maps and plats.p. 31-34Francis Osborne patented 1300 acres on the south side of the (Appomattox) River lying on the west side of Charles City and bounded on the west by William Farrar. The Charles City records of 1664 reveal that Francis Osborne’s land escheated to the Crown, and Governor William Berkeley conveyed the same 1300 acres (surveyed later as 1385 acres) to Captain Edward Hill, who, in turn, conveyed the same to John Gilham. On October 20, 1689, John Gilliam acquired 261 acres at a point of rocks on the south side of the Appomattox. On December 23, 1714, John Gillum II patented numerous islands in the Appomattox River containing 324 acres. John Gilham, Gillom, Gillum or Gilliam as the name is now called, in Petersburg and Prince George, was originally John Gillaume (b 1614 – about 1672. He was a French Hugenot who emigrated from London between 1635 and 1642. Due to persecution;;; dsthe French Hugenots emigrated to Queen Hethe (Heath) Ward, London, and soon filled a number of Parishs, including St. Mary’s de Monte Alto and Stephney Parish in London. Lord Monte Laurie, who came to London at his own expense, enlarged his family chapel and gave it to the Hugenots. The chapel, commonly called St. Mary’s de Monte Alto, stood on Bread Street Hill, London, until destroyed in the great London fire in 1666. It was surrounded by Pye Alley, Crooked Lane and Rosemary Lane. A bold spring loated near the Church flowed downhill to the Thames near Thorny Point, on one side of which was Hals or Halstead Wharfe, named for King Henry VIII; on the other side of the stream was a Puddle Dock. John Guillaume I took his oath of allegiance before the Minister of Stephney Parish before leaving for Virginia. His memory of London was transferred to the Appomattox River Valley when he constructed his home, Monte Alto, on the bluff overlooking the River, where the residence of the Superintendent of the Federal Reformatory now stands. The London names of streets and wharfs of John Gillaume’s boyhood found their way to Prince George County where they remain today. Perhaps it was his way of preserving in Virginia, what the great fire of London had destroyed in 1666. Below Mount Alto, on the Appomattox, are the London islands and channels, Hals, or Halstead Island, Thorny Point Island, Pye Alley Channel, Batne Creek Island, Crooked Land Channel and Island, Rosemary Island and Channel and Breadstreet Island. The great Appomattox River flood of 1662 created two new islands, namely, Harris Marsh and another unknown by name, which has since disappeared. John Gilliam (Gillaume) married Margaret Henshaw (Hinshaw). Their son, John Gilliam II, who obtained the patents for the River Islands in 1714, changed the name Gillaume (Gillom, Gilham, Gillum) to the present Gilliam, although the other variations can be found throughout other sections of Virginia and the nation. John Gilliam II married Ann Bathurst, daughterof John Bathurst, businessmanof Fleet Hill, Bread Street, London. Monte Alto burned shortly after the Civil War. The descendants of John Gilliam I and II included the Clerk’s of the Circuit Court of Prince George County and the Hustings Court of the City of Petersburg, Mayor of Petersburg, manufacturers, attorneys, doctors, naval officers and distunquished citizens and vestrymen in Bristol Parish. Monte Alto subsequently was subdivided among the heirs and grantees of John Gilliam I and included smaller plantations called Tusculum, Spring Hill, Buchannan’s Mount Airy and Arlington. A living descendant of John Gilliam I enjoys the friendship and respect of his fellow advocates. His excellence before the highest tribunal of the Commonwealth has seldom been excelled in our Appomattox “London” Valley. #3Hello Tim, I don't remember if I sent you my notes about the various Gilliams who came to Virginia, almost all in1635: In 1635 John Gilliam, 21, and Thomas Gilliam, 19, came to America on the "George". Their transportation was paid by Joseph Royall. There is another tradition found in The Mecklenburg Signers that a John Gilliam was sent by the King of England to survey the Colony of Virginia. This John Gilliam is supposed to have come in 1635 with his brother Devereau (or William Devereau) Gilliam on the ship "Constance". A letter from Mrs. L. G. Dixon in 1975 states that: Capt. Lieut.John Gilliam was commissioned by the King of England to survey the province of Virginia and that he and his brother Devereaux landed and settled in what is now Norfolk, VA in 1635, having come to Virginia on the ship Constance. Mrs. Dixon further states that "John Gilliam, eldest son of Capt. Lieut. Gilliam, was granted land in 1663 not far from Norfolk, VA. This younger John Gilliam married Margery Hinshaw and was the father of John, Hinshaw and Elizabeth Gilliam. She appears to be quoting the "Mecklenburg records" (The Mecklenburg Signers by Worth S. Ray). 21 August 1635. Persons to be transported to Virginia by the George, Master John Severne: [inter alia] John Gillam [age] 21 Thomas Gillam 18 Thomas Bullard 32 George Fox 14 William Hinshawe 20 24 October 1635. Persons to be transported to Virginia in the Constance, Clement Campion: William Gillam 27 On board the ABIGALL on 1 July 1635 was Ann Gillam, age 28, and her son, Ben.(These are the dates when they set sail from England.) It seems to me that the elder John Gilliam must be the one who came in the Constance (1635). This, of course, is not documented in The Mecklenburg Signers. I have asked my researcher in England to look into the Gilliams since we now have a locality in London. But I would guess that I will not hear anything soon as she seems to be behind on her assignments. Don Collins