1. Adam Lutley, of Bromcroft Castle, Shropshire, fl. 1584. m. Elizabeth Cressett, da. of Robert Cressett, of Upton Cressett. Adam Lutley’s sister, Joyce Lutley, m. John Holland Sr., enfeoffed in Lamberhurst, Kent, father of John Holland Jr., of Lamberhurst, who m. Mary Barham; having issue: David Holland, who m. Anne Burton; their elder son John Holland (PAR/498/37/14. Oct. 23, 1654), being John Holland of Nansemund, father of Michael Holland of Goochland.

The overseers of John Holland’s Will were Edward Burton, his br.-in-law, and Gregory Dyne (Dene). Marriages of Goochland Co., 1733-1815 (Williams), p. 12, Nov. 2, 1763: “Charles Burton and Mary Holland, da. of George Holland. Sur. George Holland and Michael Holland. Wit: John Miller and George West”.

B.T. Shannon adds:  “the relationship between Michael and George Holland can be supported: The will of Michael Holland (proved 17 March 1746) states, ‘I give devise and bequeath to my son George Holland, etc.’.  The will gives evidence of the marriage of George to (1) Sarah, da. of Wm. Ford. He m. (2) Mary Coleman (Mary Holland’s mother); of the family associated with  the Green and Marston families, as follow”.

Elizabeth Cressett’s sister, Thomasine Cressett, m. (2) Francis Holland of Burwarton (fl. 1606), younger son of William Holland of Burwarton, and Alice Ditton.

1.1. Richard Lutley.
1.2. John Lutley, d. 23 Jan. 1644, m. Mary Packington, da. of John Packington, of Chadesley Corbet.
1.2.1. Adam Lutley, of Diddlebury, Shropshire.
1.3. William Lutley.
1.4. Robert Lutley, of Burwarton, m. Mary Holland, da. of Francis Holland, whose br., Thomas Holland of Burwarton, was the husband of Alice Cocke, aunt of Richard Cocke of Bremo, bapt. December 13, 1597 at Sidbury, Shropshire; obit. Bremo Bluff, Henrico, 1665, whose son, Thomas, was also named as a ‘friend’ in the Will of Major William Harris. (‘Colonial Wills’, 1677-92, p.68).

The said William Holland was the cousin of Alice Holland, d. 1662., who m. Henry Baugh of Aldencourt, whose niece, Margaret Baugh, b. January 24, 1613, St. Lawrence, Ludlow, m. John Harris (son of Rowland Harris), bapt. March. 16, 1604, St Lawrence, Ludlow; their issue being (1) William Harris, b. January 13, 1627/8, St. Lawrence, Ludlow. (2) Mary Harris, bapt. 3 April 1625, at St Lawrence. In 1689, Mary (Harris) Ligon gave a deposition stating her age to be 64. She m. Thomas Ligon. Major William Harris held land adjacent that of his sister, Mary (Harris) Ligon, on Curles Swamp. John Harris was the br. of Thomas Harris, bapt. Sept. 4, 1603, father of Thomas Harris, bapt. July 24, 1627.

Richard Cocke, uncle of Richard Cocke of Bremo,  was probably he who was designated ‘Richard Cocke of Stafford‘ in Treswell’s Visitation of Shropshire, 1623. This seems the more likely in that his da., Joane Cocke, m. John Rabon. The Rabons were an established Shropshire family. Major William Harris made his Will on April 20, 1678: “I give & bequeath to my sonne Thomas all my land below the Ware to keep the Ware runn for his Bounds till he shall come to ye spring at ye hed & then to follow a bottom on ye lower side of the clearing of John Rabon”.

Major William Harris was a neighbour of his kinsman, Thomas Baugh, on Ware Run. (Berkeley land grant, March 15, 1672). Of the Baughs: Their Arms: gules a fesse vair, three mullets argent; crest, out of a ducal coronet or, a talbot sejant sable. These are the armorials of the Horne, Pulleston, and Hunt families, and show close association to the Hoptons. (Hopton. Harl. 1396, fo. 162b. Harl. 1241, fo. 16b. Harl. 615, fo. 265b. S., ff. 107b—108).

1.4.1. Anne Lutley, m. (at Burwarton, in 1634) William Lewis, of Diddlebury, the half-brother of Thomas and John Harris; his father, Edward Lewis of Diddlesbury having m. Jane Langford, the relict of Rowland Harris, which evidences a typically interbred kinship network of this time.

1. John Marston of Stanton Lacy, d. 1561 (Hereford Wills, Bundle M., 1555-1561), m. Mary, the da. of Baugh of Aldencourt, and had issue, Elizabeth, who m. (2) John Heath.
1.1. Thomas Marston, of Bitterley (Will proved 8 Oct. 1584), m. Margaret, the da. of William Lucy, of Charlecote, Warwick.
1.1.1. William Marston, m. (Ludlow, 5 March 1571), Katherine, the da. of Thomas Blashfield of Ludlow. Jane Langford, m. Edward Lewis, of Sutton Magna, Diddlebury, who had firstly m. Anne Blashfield, da. of Thomas Blashfield.
1.2. Ralph Marston, of Stanton Lacy, was bur. there 26 Nov. 1584. He m. Joan, the da. of Richard Hopton, of Hopton, by his wife, Jane, da. of John Langford (see Pedigree of Hopton in Visitation of Salop, 1623).

The continuation of association between the Marstons and their Shropshire kin continued in Virginia, as given by B.T. Shannon:

“Elizabeth Marston (d. 11 Aug. 1759) m. Thomas Green, their daus Martha Green and Lucy Green m. the brothers Rev. Charles Clay and Henry Clay, sons of Henry Clay (d. c. 1760); another brother, Rev. John Clay, m. Mary Watkins; they were the parents of Rev. John Clay (d. 1781, Hanover Co.) who m. Elizabeth Hudson, their son being the statesman Henry Clay. Elizabeth Hudson, da. of George Hudson, son of John Hudson (d 1732) of Hanover Co. and his wife Elizabeth Harris, granddau of Maj. William Harris. Another son of John Hudson and Elizabeth Harris was William Hudson of Prince Edward Co. whose da.,  Sarah, m. George Harris, her second cousin. George Harris’ father was William Harris of Wolf Swamp, son of George Harris, whose sister was the said Elizabeth Harris , wife to John Hudson. All of which evidences the same patterns of interbred kinship continuing in Virginia”.

It is probable that William Lewis and Anne Lutley were the parents of John Lewis, granted 400 ac. on the north side of the James River adjacent to William Humphries for transporting 8 persons, 7 Nov. 1673; he the father of William Lewis, husband of Elizabeth Woodson, as follows, they the parents of Joseph Lewis, who m. Elizabeth Pleasants.

Thomas Lewis, son of Edward Lewis by his first marriage, aged 23 in 1623, is most likely recorded here: Hannah Boyse, da. and heir of Luke Boyse, late of Henrico, decd., patented in Nov., 1635, 300 ac. in Henrico adj. land of her mother, Alice Edlowe (which adj. ‘Longfield’); 200 ac. of which was for transportation of servants, viz.: Thomas Lewis, Robert Hollum, Joseph Royall.

Major William Harris and his sister held land near to John Woodson, Sr. of Henrico Co. In 1707, Robert Woodson, Sr., of Henrico, br. of John Woodson afors., made a deed to his grandsons, William and Joseph Lewis, children of his da., Elizabeth Woodson, and William Lewis. ‘Robert Woodson, Sr. of Henrico Co. For good causes to my loving grandson’s, William & Joseph Lewis, 450 ac. patented to me and Richard Farris, Giles Carter, William Harris,* and Roger Cummings, 21 Oct. 1687, on White Oak Swamp. Dated 30 Arp 1707. (Henrico Co. Land Deeds (microfilm), no. 21, p. 34).*Son of Major William Harris. It is strongly suggested that William Lewis was a descendant of Edward Lewis, afors., second husband of Jane Langford, and a close kinsman of Major William Harris and his son, William.

Edward Lewis was the br. of Margaret Lewis, wife of Edward Moore, the uncle of Thomas Moore, who m. Margaret Ligon. She was the great-granddau. of Richard Ligon and his first wife, Mary, da. of Sir Thomas Russell. The granddau. of Richard Ligon and his second wife, Margaret, da. of Sir John Talbot, was Katharine Ligon, who m. Fleetwood Dormer, Esq.; who m. (2) Mary Harris, as given henceforth. Richard Ligon’s br., Thomas, m. his cousin, Frances Dennys; their grandson, Col. Thomas Ligon, m. Mary Harris, who was almost certainly the second-cousin of Fleetwood Dormer’s second wife.

The said John and Thomas Harris were first-cousins of (1) the said Mary Harris, who m. Fleetwood Dormer, whose cousin, Henry Isham (who resided at Bermuda Hundred, Henrico Co.), m. Katherine Banks, relict of Joseph Royal, and was the father-in-law of William Randolph, named as ‘friend’ in the Will of Major William Harris. (2) Thomas Harris, Esq., of Prescot, m. (1632), Alice Holland, da. of William Holland, aforesaid, d. 1642.

1.5. Frances Lutley, m. Thomas Littleton.
1.5.1. Sir Adam Littleton, of Stoke Milburgh, m. Awdrey Poyntz, d. 1648, da. of Thomas Poyntz, of Ockenden, and Jane, da. of Sir William Periam, and relict of Thomas Docwra Esq., of Putteridge, by who she had issue: Jane Docwra, wife of Captain John Powell, merchant adventurer, who, in 1627, with his brother, Captain Henry Powell, landed with a party of 80 settlers, and established Jamestown, Virginia.
1.5.1.1. Mary Littleton, m. (1663), Thomas Walcot, of Bitterley Court, son of Humphrey Walcot, Sheriff of Shropshire, 1631, and Anna Docwra, da. of Thomas Docwra, 1548-1628, Sheriff of Hertfordshire, and Ann Perriam, aforsaid.
1.6. Cicilie Lutley, m. George Holland, of Purslow (br. of Thomas and Francis Holland aforesaid), of Bal. Coll. Oxon, in 1583, aged 20, and of Clement’s Inn in 1595. He held an estate in Purslow (Clunbury), and was bur. at Clunbury in 1645, his Will being proved the following year (P.C.C. Twisse 41). They had a son, Walter Holland of Purslow, who m. Elizabeth, da. of Edward Lutwyche.

Thomas Langford, cousin of Thomas Harris of Ludlow, b. 1603, and John Harris of Ludlow, b. 1604, m. Jane Jurden: Deed declaring the use of a fine levied by Edward Lutwyche: ‘1. Edward Lutwyche of Lutwyche, Esq. 2. William Jurden of Felhampton, Thomas Langford of Stone Acton. 3. Edward Jurden of Wooston. Whereas Edward Lutwyche by deed of 30 April 5 Charles I (1629) demised to William Jurden a messuage in Stone Acton and buildings and lands, then or late in the tenure of John Worde (Ward), John Fox and common of pasture for all manner of cattle belonging to the premises. To hold to William Jurden for 99 years if Richard Jurden and Edward Jurden, sons of William Jurden and Jane, daughter of William, so long live at the yearly rent of £4. Whereas Edward Lutwyche by deed of 10 July 21 James I (1623) demised to Thomas Langford, Alice his wife and William their son a house in Stone Acton with buildings and lands belonging in Stone Acton, and common of pasture there. To Thomas Langford, Alice and William for their lives at the rents specified. December 27, 1632.

It can be noted that stone Acton was the habitation of a family of Fleming.

This Samuel Jordan was likely to be of the same family of Shropshire Jordans: Will of Samuel Jordan of New Kent Co. Virginia, probated 11 June 1719 – ‘being weak of body … It is my will that my beloved friend John Fleming have the plantation of Thomas Langford, dec’d and the management of his estate and the bringing up of his son Thomas Langford as wholely to himself … executors wife Elizabeth (Fleming), friends Charles Fleming, John Fleming, Tarlton Woodson, and Thomas Pleasants’.

The lands of Thomas Langford, deceased, were determined in a report dated 26 Feb.1731 – “the line between Wm Bird esq. & Alex Cock cannot be found, Edward Hundley present for Wm Bird, present Henry Hix for Mr. Sam’l Welden, Daniel Patrick, William Harris, Jr.”, who was almost certainly the son of Major William Harris, grandson of Jane Langford.

The curls in the James River made the description of the location of a patent confusing. At a basic level, plantations were north or south of the river, but the curls made for a close east/west relationship between them. For instance, the first grant of land to a Thomas Harris on the south side of the James River, of 750 acs., at Neck of land, within Diggs his hundred (later Bermuda Hundred), dated 11 Nov. 1635, was later described in a repatent as S. E. towards Bremoes devident (north side of the river). 0n 25 Feb. 1638, it is again described as E.S.E. into the woods.

The plantation of Thomas Harris was ‘Called by the name of the Long feild’ (July 12, 1637), which was also called ‘Curles’, after its locality on the curles of the James River. In an analogical sense this is synonomous with someone from Southwark describing themselves as of London, of which Southwark was a part. ‘Curles’ was a geographical term applied to plantations within this general area, where there were two plantations called Longfield.

This has led to much confusion. On 15 Aug. 1637, 300 ac. north of the river, were acquired by Robert Craddock and John Davis, which had been assigned by ‘Jno. Baugh of Varina planter‘ to Wm. Cooke and Richd. Carpenter, 13 June 1636, and by them assigned to Jno. Davis and Robt. Craddocke, planters, 29 July 1637′(B. 1. pp. 451, 452). John Davis also called his land Longfield, a common enough English practice concerning long strips of land.

John Burton took out a patent for 700 ac. in Henrico on the ‘long field’ beside Cornelius Creek, in Lily Valley, about 7 miles from the city of Richmond. On 22 March 1665, Jno. Burton, was granted 700 acs. in Henrico Co.300 acs. Nly. on a great swamp, Sly. towards land of Alice Edlowe, Widdow, Wly. over the river and Ely. into the woods, called by the name of the old feild; 300 acs. another parte joyning on the head of the ‘Long feild pattent’, beg. at a white oake marked 4 wayes at the extent of the deviding line of Jno. Burton and Jno. Davies running along the greate slash S.E. by S. & c. 600 acs. granted to Rob. Craddock & by Hoel Prise, his Atty., sold unto Jno. Cox, who assigned to sd. Burton, and 100 acs. due for trans. of 2 pers.

Thus, John Burton became known as ‘John Burton of (this) Longfield‘; the locale of which is shown in the Perrin patent: ‘Richard Perrin, 740 a., 1 R., 24 P., Henrico Co., N. side James Riv., 13 May 1673; 474 acs. called the ‘Worlds End’; from John Burton’s house down the riv. 12 poles below Cornelius’ Cr., granted to Capt. Mathew Edloe, 2 Oct. 1656, & sold to sd. Perrin; 266 A., 1 R., 24 P. at the head &c. Trans. of 5 pers’.

William Randolph purchased, from the colonial government, the escheated lands of Nathaniel Bacon in this locale, as shown in this deed: ‘Richard Ligon, of Bristol Parish, Henrico Co., is indebted to William Ligon, of Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., and bound for 200 pounds 1 Nov. 1707 … The condition is that there is a parcel of land on north side of James River, between plantation called ‘Curles’ belonging to Col. William Randolph, and plantation of John Woodson where he lives, containing 200 ac. left to Mary Ligon by her father Capt. Thomas Harris, dec’d.’ (B. 4, p. 4). This land, on Curles Swamp, was adjacent to that of Major William Harris: Henrico Co Wills & Dds. 1688-1697, p. 386: ‘John Woodson, Sr. of Henrico Co to Edward Lester, land next to Richard Cocke, next to land formerly William Harris’s on Curles Swamp, next to land given by Thomas Harris to his da. Mary Lygon’.

Neither Major William Harris nor Mary (Harris) Lygon were heirs to either of the Longfield plantations.

The Burtons continued to be involved in land transactions on the north side of the James River: Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds, 1744-1748, p. 262, 4 May 1747: John Pleasants of county and Parish of Henrico, to Benjamin Burton of same for 100 ac. on north side James R. purchased by Richard Leavins of Michael Turpin and by Leavins mortgaged to Pleasants; bounded by Cornelius Swamp, John West, Whitles Path and said Burton. Wit: John Povall, William Porter, Jr., Richard Pleasants. Signed: John Pleasants. Henrico Co. Will B. 6, p. 1777, Will of Benjamin Burton of Henrico Parish: To son John, and son Jesse, land I live on, 300 acres, divided between them on line from Col. William Randolph to Col. Eppes’ line. Wife Elizabeth to have possession of land for life. Also to James & Jesse, 300 acres on White Oak Swamp, being the lower part of a tract of 400 acres’.

The confusion surrounding the Captain Thomas Harris narrative is compounded by the Broadnax versus Soane case of 1700, the purpose of which is commonly described in an abbreviated form: ‘to establish the boundaries of Longfield’, without adding that it was a Crown property, and that the case was adjudicated by the Crown so as to clarify a grant of it at the usual rate per acre. This is the verbatim account of the judgement: (The crown) ‘hereby grants unto him (Broadnax) by patent this seventh day of May 1700, which patent is granted which appears a former patent granted with Thomas Harris being dated that of 25th day of February 1638, that the said being now called Curls, formerly Longfield‘.

This is not Bacon and Randolph’s Curles Swamp lands. The two Longfields have been confounded.

Moreso, the Crown was granting this land as an escheat, its last owner having died without issue. In Virginia, in the absence of heirs, land escheated to the Crown, which was determined by a Jury of Escheat, and it is certain that the judgement of 1700 referred to an escheat jury verdict. William Broadnax’s boundaries were given as those pertaining in 1638: ‘Thomas Harris, 820 acs. comonly known by the name of the Long feild, Henrico Co., 25 Feb. 1638, p. 615.

That Mary Harris was decribed as a da. of ‘Captain Thomas Harris’ was either due to (1) a false claim in order to establish rights to land south of the river (her son was suspended as county surveyor for unethical practice), (2) her father, John, died (after 1642, when the Ludlow registers discontinue) and she was adopted by her uncle, Thomas, who fraudently claimed to be the Thomas Harris of the Muster of 1624 when patenting his 820 acs. in 1638.

Major Harris did not inherit the Longfield estate of Captain Thomas Harris – he owned land adjacent to Mary (Harris) Ligon on Curles Swamp.

Deeds mentioning the latter’s land as a gift of Captain Harris do nor refer to the Major’s being such.

There is no record of Major Harris selling Longfield, the claim of him having sold it to Roger Green is based on nothing more than Green being recorded in Curles Neck.

An interesting aside is that the Thomas Harris of the 1624 Muster, of Buckinghamshire, would not have understood much spoken by such as Richard Cocke; the differences in regional dialect would have been profound.

In any case, the Thomas Harris of the 1624 Muster was of a totally different kinship group, as I have described elsewhere, and kinship groups tended to be ‘closed shops’.

copyright m stanhope 2016