Edward Bland | |
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| Born | |
| Died | late 1652 |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant, explorer, writer |
| Notable work | The Discovery of New Brittaine |
| Spouse | Jane Bland |
| Children | Edward Bland Jr. |
| Parent(s) | John Bland Susan Bland |
| Relatives | Theodorick Bland of Westover (brother) John Bland II (brother) Giles Bland (nephew) |
Edward Bland (died ca. 1653) was an English explorer and merchant. [1] [2]
Bland was born in England to the wife of John Bland, a London merchant and investor in the Virginia Company. His mother was named either Mary, [3] or Susan. [4] He was baptized on February 5, 1614 in the Saint Stephen Coleman Street parish. He had several brothers and sisters, of whom John Bland II, Theodorick Bland and Adam Bland also emigrated to Jamestown, where they became merchants, trading Virginia tobacco and other goods for items essential for the colony's well-being as well as luxury goods. [3]
Around 1634 Bland married his cousin Jane Bland, the daughter of his uncle, Gregory Bland. They had one child together, Edward. [4] [5]
His father sent him to Virginia in about 1646, following the death of their younger brother Adam, to help his older brother, John, to look after the family's land and mercantile interests there. Adam Bland had a plantation known as Kimoges in Charles City County and also owned a lot at Jamestown. Once in Virginia, Edward Bland began to acquire more land, including a 3,000 acre plantation on the south side of the James River known as Chippokes which he purchased from Thomas Hill of Jamestown. [6] By 1652, when he was named his late father's administrator in Virginia, Edward Bland owned a substantial amount on both sides of the James River. [5]
During the summer of 1650 Bland accompanied Abraham Wood, Sackford Brewster, Elias Pennant, and an Appamattoc guide named Pyancha on an expedition of lands to the south of Virginia. [7] The group hoped to travel up the Roanoke River and surpass the terrain explored by Ralph Lane, but were unsuccessful. [8] Bland kept a record of the journey, which marked the first time that the Occaneechi tribe was mentioned in the English historical record. [9] He also kept notes of the land, vegetation, and other landmarks. [4] The group is believed to have traveled as far as Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, an area that Bland dubbed "New Brittaine". [5] Upon his return he published a pamphlet entitled The Discovery of New Brittaine and successfully petitioned the General Assembly to colonize the area. [10]
Bland died around 1653, likely in his home. However, he died within months of that appointment, as well as his marriage, and his widow repatented the land, then married John Holmwood. [11] His brother Theodorick then travelled to Virginia to assume control of the family's interests, and became politically powerful. [5] Not long after Theodorick's death more than a decade after that of this man, their nephew Giles Bland (son of John Bland II) also emigrated to Virginia, where he acted as his father's attorney in collecting debts and sorting the tangled business affairs of his uncle Theodorick Bland. He ultimately became involved in Bacon's Rebellion and was executed. [12]
William Randolph I was an English-born planter, merchant and politician in colonial Virginia who played an important role in the development of the colony. Born in Moreton Morrell, Warwickshire, Randolph moved to the colony of Virginia sometime between 1669 and 1673, and married Mary Isham a few years later. His descendants include many prominent individuals including Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Paschal Beverly Randolph, Robert E. Lee, Peyton Randolph, Edmund Randolph, John Randolph of Roanoke, George W. Randolph, and Edmund Ruffin. Due to his and Mary's many progeny and marital alliances, they have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia".
William Drummond was a Scottish indentured servant in Virginia who became the first colonial governor of Albemarle Sound settlement in the Province of Carolina, but alienated Virginia governor William Berkeley, became a ringleader of Bacon's Rebellion and was executed after his capture.
Abraham Wood (1610–1682), sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood, was an English fur trader, militia officer, politician and explorer of 17th century colonial Virginia. Wood helped build and maintained Fort Henry at the falls of the Appomattox in present-day Petersburg. He also served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and as a member of the Virginia Governor's Council.
Jordan Point is a small unincorporated community on the south bank of the James River in the northern portion of Prince George County, Virginia, United States. It is about 20 miles from Richmond and 30 miles upstream from Jamestown on the James River. It was the location of extensive archeological research between 1987 and 1993. This research provided substantial information about human existence in the area from the prehistoric to the late colonial eras. In particular, the research extensively studied the Jordan's Journey settlement that existed between 1620 and 1640 during early years of the Virginia colony.
Richard Bennett was an English planter and Governor of the Colony of Virginia, serving 1652–1655. He had first come to the colony in 1629 to represent his uncle Edward Bennett's business interests, managing his plantation known as Bennett's Welcome in Warrascoyack.
Captain Thomas Harwood was a Virginia soldier, landowner and politician. He founded a family which like him for generations often represented the area now known as Newport News, but which in his day was known as Mulberry Island, and later Warwick River and still later Warwick County. Despite coming into conflict with royal governor Sir John Harvey in 1635, and a gap in legislative service, Harwood became the 5th speaker of the House of Burgesses.
Edward Major was an English religious dissenter who emigrated to the Virginia where he became a planter, military officer and politician who represented the area variously called Upper Norfolk County or Nansemond County and became Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Theodorick Bland, also known as Theodorick Bland of Westover, was a planter, merchant and politician in colonial Virginia who served as Speaker of the House of Burgesses, as well as in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. The founder of the Bland family of Virginia, his son and grandson of the same name also served in the Virginia General Assembly before the American Revolutionary War, and later descendants sharing the same name would become a federal judge and congressman.
Henry Soane (1622–1661) was a Virginia politician, real estate investor and landowner who served in the House of Burgesses 1652–55, 1658, and 1660–61, and was its Speaker in 1661.
William Powell, was an early Virginia colonist, landowner, militia officer and legislator. Considered an Ancient Planter for living in the Virginia colony during its first decade, he was one of two representatives from what became James City County, Virginia in the first Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619. His former plantation, now across the James River in Surry County, Virginia is now within Chippokes State Park.
Samuel Sharpe, sometimes referred to as Samuel Sharp was an early Virginia colonist who settled in the area that became Charles City County, Virginia. He came to Virginia in 1610 with most of the passengers and crew of the Sea Venture as they made their way to the colony after 10 months in Bermuda. They had wrecked in a storm there and built two small boats to complete their journey to Jamestown. Along with Samuel Jordan, he represented Charles City as a burgess in the first general assembly of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. He was a representative for Westover, an incorporation of Charles City, in the 1623/24 assembly and signed a letter along with several burgesses at the time of that assembly.
William Spence was an early Virginia colonist on Jamestown Island. He was member of the first assembly of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Spence became an ensign in the local militia and is thus sometimes identified as Ensign William Spence or Ensign Spence. He was an early farmer on Jamestown Island, a tobacco taster and landowner at Archer's Hope. He, his wife and his young daughter, Sara, or Sarah, avoided the Indian massacre of 1622, but Spence and his wife were reported "lost" at the census of February 16, 1624.
William Spencer was an early Virginia colonist on Jamestown Island, who was an Ancient planter and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Jamestown, Virginia for Mulberry Island in 1632/33.
William Sharpe was an early Virginia colonist, soldier, ancient planter, and Virginia Company shareholder who settled in the Bermuda Hundred area that became part of Charles City County, Virginia. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses in Jamestown, Virginia in 1629.
John Pollington was an early Virginia colonist who was a member of the first assembly of the Virginia House of Burgesses at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 for the "Citie" of Henricus, Virginia. In 1624, he was a burgess for Warrosquyoake Shire sometimes shown as Warresqueak and other variations, now Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He also was a landowner and merchant.
St.Leger Codd was a militia officer, lawyer, planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia and the Colony of Maryland who sat in the Virginia House of Burgesses and the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly.
Thomas Swannn was a planter, tavernkeeper, militia officer and politician in the Colony of Virginia who sat in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and survived Bacon's Rebellion.
William Cole emigrated from Essex, England to the Colony of Virginia in 1618, and in 1629 was one of the two men who represented Nutmegg Quarter in the House of Burgesses.
George Jordan (1620-1679) was a British attorney who also became a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. He twice served as the colony's attorney general and at various times represented James City County and Surry County in the House of Burgesses, and may have served on the Virginia Governor's Council.
William Peirce, emigrated with his family to the new Colony of Virginia, where he became a valued soldier, as well as a planter, merchant and politician. Although Peirce fought in several skirmishes with Native Americans and served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly as well as helped topple governor John Harvey, today he may best be known as one of the first slave owners in the colony.
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