When old books about English peerages are consigned to the bin, and the principles on which English kinship groups operated is understood – their associations were of a continuous nature – some progress may be made in constructing reasonably accurate lines of descent from British settlers in Virginia.

Parish records are fertile grounds for enquiry, none more so than those of Wiveliscombe, Somerset, from whence the family of Governor Bennet of Virginia came. It was a small, rural community, in which families were very adept at the rearing of livestock, the growing of crops, the making of cheese, the erecting of fences, and woodworking, in general. They were not the gentried class, although they aspired to be, and the quickest way to achieve this goal for most was to hitch their waggon in intermarriage with the up-and-comings, such as the Bennets, as did the Harris family.

Marriages were a gateway to other families, and the security and opportunities they might bring. It was of great importance who the family you were intermarried to married. An endless and dense chain of second-cousins, of blood or marriage ties, colonised Virginia.

What follows is a Wiveliscombe kinship chain, which includes the family of Forte. When considering their possible ancestry, it can be noted that other families of the same name in Somerset, which have been credited with the ancestry of Elias Forte of Virginia, were, by the 1630’s, quite gentrified, as many archive deeds testify, and do not fit the profile of Elias Forte.

it is almost certainly the case that he was of Wiveliscombe, perhaps a son of John Forte, bapt. 12 Dec. 1602, as follows, who continued to be associated with his kinsfolk in Virginia.

Elias Fort was on a jury on Oct. 9, 1667, when he signed his mark on a document of a coroner’s jury investigating the death of William Persons, in IOW. His son, Elias Forte, was left a calf in the will of Joseph Poole, his stepgrandfather, in 1668.

WIVELISCOMBE RECORDS

1.
1.1.Thomas Forte.
1.1.John Forte, bapt. 2 Feb. 1567.
1.2. John Forte.
1.2.1. William Forte, bapt. 24 May 1576.
1.2.1.1. Richard Forte, bapt. 20 Jul. 1597, m. Marie Tolmer, 25 Nov. 1622.
1.2.1.1.1. Francis Forte, bapt. 26 Aug. 1631, m. Mary Payne, 24 May 1655.
1.2.1.2. George Forte, bapt. 19 Feb. 1604.
1.2.1.3. Henry Forte, bapt. 21 May 1614.
1.2.2. Robert Forte, n. Alice Lovell, 8 Aug. 1605.
1.3. Christopher Forte.
1.3.1. Thomas Forte, bapt. 11 Nov. 1600 m. Emiline Baker. 1628.
1.3.2. John Forte, bapt. 12 Dec. 1602.

Elizabeth Tolmer/John Cridle, 8 Aug. 1625.
Elizabeth Webber/William Cridle, 21 Apr. 1621.
Agnis Lovell/ John Clowter, 7 Feb 1568.
Johan Westbrooke/John Clowter, 23 Sept. 1559.
Johan Upham/ Henry Westbrooke, 10 Dec. 1569.
Elizabeth Hill/Andrew Upham, 29 Jan. 1575.
Johan Upham/ Christopher Newton, 30 Jun. 1575.
Elizabeth Hill/ John Upham, 28 Apr 1588.
Tampsin Hancocke/ John Hill, 20 Apr. 1581.
Cicely Dier/Thomas Hancocke, 1 May 1646.
Johan Hill/John Woode, 1 Feb. 1587.
Johan Hill/ Robert Bowringe, 10 Jan. 1590.
Elizabeth Bowringe/Edward Hill, 10 Jan. 1590.
Jane Hill/ Richard Gardiner, 17 Jan. 1596.
Johan Clowter/John Bowringe, 29 Nov. 1565.
Gartrude Lovell/ George Webber, 25 Jun. 1608.
Elizabeth Baker/ Thomas Webber, 9 Feb. 1566.
Sara Baker/Thomas Upham, 30 Oct. 1640.
Mary Webber/Richard Vincent, 11 Sep. 1611.
Elianor Edney/George Vincent, 13 May 1563.
Elizabeth Edney/Robert Bennet, 10 Jul 1558.
Elianor Bennet, dau., bapt. 5 Mar. 1568.
(1. William Harris, m. Dorothy Westbrooke, 31 Aug. 1562.
1.1. Richard Harris, m. (8 Oct. 1594), Eleanor Bennett, sister of (1) Thomas Bennett, who had issue: (1) Thomas Bennett, b. Nov. 11, 1603 at Wiveliscombe, father of Alice Bennett, who m. John Hardy. Nugent, C&P vol. 1, p. 569; their da., Lucy, m. Hodges Council; her sister m. Richard Jackson, their da., Mary Jackson, m. Capt. George Hardy, appraiser of the estate of Edward Harris, d. 1677.
1.1.1. Thomas Harris, m. Judith Blake, 20 Nov. 1623, probably he who d. in Virginia in 1672. Thomas Harris was the cousin of Richard Bennet, whose first wife was Anne, who was Charles Barham’s sister (see Douglas Richardson, ‘Plantagenet Ancestry’).
1.1.1.1. John Harris. William Groves, appraisal by John Harris, Edward Brantley, Elias Fort and Edward Grantham; recorded 9 Feb. 1678. (B. 2, p. 172). John Harris m. a da. of Francis Hobbs, who sold Edward Brantley 675 ac. adj. Thomas Tuke, in 1669.
1.1.1.1.1. Thomas Harris, d. 1730: Thomas Harris 290 ac. IOW, on the Maherin River and both sides of Herbert’s Branch adj. Edward Brantley (son of Phillip and Joyce Lewis), and William Simmons line, 24 March 1725. Edward Brantley, John Thorpe, and Thomas Purcell appraisers).
Mary Vincent/George Dyer, 1 Feb. 1588.
Elizabeth White/Daniel Vincent, 25 Sep. 1596.
Willmot White/ John Poole, 23 Oct. 1578.
Elizabeth Vincent/ Gardner Hawkings, 19 Jun. 1608.
Sidwill Davis/Andrew Hawkings, 20 Nov 1586.
Johan Webber/Robert Burke, 20 Apr 1612.
Elizabeth Burke/Humfrey Stone, 5 Aug 1565.
Anstise Rogers/William Burke, 28 Nov 1610.
Johan Hawkins/Thomas Webber, 3 May 1615.
Charitie North/Henrie Webber, 3 May 1634.
Agnis Priest/Richard North, 24 May 1610.
Agnis Bowring/John North, 8 May 1641.
Grace North/Samuel Stone, 22 Jun. 1643.
Grace Priest/Thomas Stone, 1627.
Mary Westbrooke/Robert Stone, 1 Mar. 1650.
Margaret North/John Bowring, 20 Apr. 1646.
Alice Dale/Robert Lovell.
Johan Person/Henry Dale, 21 Nov. 1636.
copyright m stanhope 2017