The traditional accounts of Edmund Prime are simply that, traditional – without substance. Find an immigrant with the same name, and he becomes the ancestor of the Prime family of Virginia. No questions about his associations in Virginia, about their region of origin being different from his supposed one. The Edmund of tradition provided a grandiose ancestry. The more “probable” Edmund is hidden beneath a surname variation – Prynne.

1. James Prime, m. Elianor Mansell, Nov. 27, 1622, in Wiveliscombe.
1.1. Edmund Prime, m. Ann, dau. of Peter Ridley.

WATKINS

1 John Watkins, d. 1655 in Surry County, m. (1) Alice …
1.1. George Watkins, d. 1673 in Surry Co., m. Elizabeth, dau. of Edmund Prime, and Ann, dau. of Peter Ridley. She m. (2) Robert Ruffin; their dau., Elizabeth Ruffin, m. Mathew Kinchen, whose Will was probated Aug. 23, 1736. Mathew Kinchen was the br. of William Kinchen Jr., heir in the Will of John Gibbins: Prob. rec. Sept. 25, 1721, IOW. William Kinchen Jr. m. Mary Gibbins, dau. of John Gibbins, and relict of James Adkins. Mathew Kinchen’s wife was a great-granddau. of Ann, dau. of Thomas Taberer, and sister of Ruth, wife of John Newman, br. of the 2nd wife of Thomas Harris, d. 1672.
1. John Watkins, m. (2) Elizabeth …
1.1. John Watkins, d. 1708, m. Elizabeth, dau. of Robert Spencer and Anne Taberer.

TABERER

1. … 1.1. William Taberer. 1.1.1. Thomas Taberer. In his Will, proved Feb. 9, 1694, Thomas Taberer mentions his plantation of “Basses Choice”, bought from John Bland, br. of Theoderick Bland, son-in-law of Governor Richard Bennett, second-cousin of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. Thomas Taberer witnessed a land deed in 1658 between the said “Thomas Harris of Chipoaks in the County of Surry” and Christopher Benn. Thomas Taberer was the father-in-law of John Newman, husband of Ruth Taberer, and John Newman was the future br.-in-law of the said Thomas Harris, who m. (2), Alice, dau. of John Newman Sr. 1.1.1.1. Christian Taberer. “Robart Jordan the son of Tho: Jordan of Chucatuck in ye county of Nanzemund and Christian Outland ye daughter of Tho. Taberer of the Isleaweight county did publish their marriage at a meeting of men & women friends at William Sanders his howse in ye county aforesd on ye twelft day of ye eleventh month last past And coming before ye meeting the second time in his fathers house they did publish their marriage againe on ye ninth day of this instant month and were married in the house of his father on this ninth day of ye twelft month in ye yeare 1687. Robert Jordan was a Quaker minister, who m. (2), July 7, 1690, Mary, dau. of of Edmund Belson of Nansemond”. 1.1.1.1.1. Christian Jordan, m. (2) William Scott*. 1.1.1.2. Ruth Taberer, m. John Newman Jr., 1692, p. 350, br. of the 2nd wife of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. John Newman was a signer with Joseph Bridger and others, of the “Petition of the Loyalists” in 1677. 1.1.2. Ann Taberer, m. Robert Spencer, who m. (2) Elizabeth*, relict of William Corker; (3) Jane, dau. of Col. William Browne, who m. (2) Thomas Jordan, who had m. (1) Lucy Corker. In May 1660, Thomas Harris (d. 1672) appointed Thomas Culmore of Surry Co. as his attorney to receive of Robert Spencer all tobacco due him in that county. On Nov. 5, 1666, the said Thomas Harris appointed his “loving friend Robert Spencer” as his attorney in Surry Co., to collect a debt owed by William Corker of that county. 1.1.2. Ann Taberer, m. Robert Spencer.

RIDLEY

1. Peter Ridley.
1.1. Ann Ridley, m. Edmund Prime.
1.1.1. John Prime, “was left William Ridley’s plantation at the expiration of Captain Barham’s lease. John Prime died in Isle of Wight County in 1726 and left a legacy to his nephew, Robert Ruffin”. (The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vols. 48-49, 1940).
1.1.2. Elizabeth (Prime) Ruffin, m. Robert Ruffin. “Elizabeth Prime, a daughter of Edmund Prime, was a legatee of the 1671 Will of William Ridley in Isle of Wight County. Robert held 850 acres on the Blackwater Swamp with William Newsome in 1678, got 2,250 ac. in Lawnes Creek Parish, Surry Co., in 1685, and was a tithable in Surry County from 1675-91, ibid.
1.1.3. Mary Prime.
1.1.4. Jane Prime; “married a Wright and was the mother of Thomas Wright, mentioned as “nephew ” in John Prime’s Will”, ibid.

1.1.4.1. Elizabeth Wright, m. William Goodwin. William Goodwyn of L.P. acknowledges receipt of legacies left to Eliz. Wright by will of her father Thomas Wright. Sept. 1666. His Will is witnessed by William Pope. William Goodwin. Leg.- son William; son John; son Joseph; dau. Sarah G …; dau. … Bridger; dau. Mary Whitehead; dau. Martha Cotton; dau. Jane. Wife Elizabeth Extx. (B. 2, p. 52. Rec. Sept 26, 1720). In August 1694, William inventoried the estate of Thomas Joyner.
1.1.4.1.1. William Goodwin, m. Ann Pitt, b. ca. 1689. John Pitt – leg. dau Martha, the land on which Capt. Joseph Bridger now lives; grandson Joseph Bridger, the land on which Ann Smith now lives, also the land on which Elizabeth Shaw lives; dau. Esther; dau. Prudence, the land on which Edward Driver and Robert Smith live; dau. Ann Godwin the land on which William Godwin and Samuel Croom live; grandson William Bridger. “Grandson Joseph Bridger” was he who witnessed the land transaction between John and Thomas Harris, sons of Thomas Harris, d. 1672 …
1.1.4.1.1.1. William Goodwin. On Feb. 1, 1749, William Goodwin and wife, Sarah, of Suffolk Parish, Nansemond, deeded land to Thomas Bullock of Newport Parish, IOW, bounding on the lands of Robert Driver, William Driver, etc., p. 295. William Driver was the father of the wife of William Harris, son of George Harris, son of Thomas Harris, d. 1688.
1.1.4.1.1.2. Theophilus Goodwin. The oft repeated account of his ancestry is completely fictional. His family had strong links to families connected to the Bridgers, and, as such, it is realistic to place him in this family of Goodwin. Without a “continuity of association” within English/Virginian kinship groups there is invariably no association.
1.1.4.1.1.2.1. Elizabeth Goodwin, it is suggested, m. Thomas Harris, son of Thomas Harris, d. 1729/30.

PRIME cont.

1.1.5. Phylis (Prime) White; the fifth child, Phyllis , seems to have married Thomas White of Surry Co. (d . 1694), ibid, p. 279.

1.1.5.1. Thomas White. His estate to be divided between his wife, Phillis and children: Thomas, Mary, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. Sister-in-law, Elizabeth Ruffin, have the land, and management of daughter, Rebecca, and her estate, and place daughter Elizabeth, and her estate with whom she please. Mr. Robert Lancaster to have the care of son, Thomas, and daughter Mary, and their estates. Makes wife, Phillis, Exerx. Elizabeth Ruffin and Robert Lancaster, overseers of the will, probated, Sept. 4, 1694. Wit: Thos. Bage, widow. Edwards, John Thompson. (B. 5, p. 20).

1.1.5.1. Thomas White, m. Ann, dau. of Thomas Moore, of Bristol.

1.1.5.1.1. Avis White, m. John Harris, son of Robert Harris, son of Thomas Harris, d. 1688.

RIDLEY cont.

1.2. Nathaniel Ridley, m. Elizabeth Day, dau. of James Day and Mary Bland, dau. of Thomas and Mary (Bennett) Bland.
1.2.1. Nathaniel Ridley Jr., witnessed the Will of Edward Harris Jr., grandson of Thomas Harris, d. 1688. Edward Harris Jr. was probably the brother of Thomas Harris, “son of Edward”, who deceased before his father, mentioned in the Will of John Gibbons, the principle beneficiary of which was Mathew Kinchen.
1.2.1.1. Daniel Ridley, m. Martha Thorpe.

(1. Joseph Thorpe, Sr., m. Dorothy Fenn, dau. of Timothy Fenn and Elizabeth Kae, dau. of Robert Kae, of Bristol (atty. of Theoderic Bland). 1.1. Timothy Thorpe Sr. 1.1.1.Timothy Thorpe, m Martha. 1.1.1.1. Martha Thorpe, m. Daniel Ridley, son of Nathaniel Ridley Jr. 1.1.1.2. Mary Thorpe, m. James Barham, great-grandson of Charles Barham. (Richard Bennett’s first wife was Anne Barham, sister of Charles. 1.1.2. Mary Thorpe, m. (1) Edward Harris Jr. (Will witnessed by Daniel Ridley’s father), son of Edward Harris and Mary Turner, son of Thomas Harris, d. 1688. 1.2. Thomas Thorpe, d. 1711 in IOW Co. m. (1) bef. 1686, Martha Jennings, d. 1702, da. of John Jennings, Clerk of Court of IOW Co. and Mary Seward. Edward Bennett left two daus, one of whom, Mary, m (1) Thomas Bland, of London; (2) Luke Cropley. The other, Silvestra, m. Major Nicholas Hill (witnessed the Will of Thomas Harris, d. 1672). Mary, a da. of the first-named da., Mary Bland-Cropley, m. James Day of IOW., and Mary, a da. of Silvestra Hill, the other da. of Edward Bennett, m. John Jennings, son of the clerk of the same name. Edward Bennett’s daus. were cousins of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. 1.2.1. Sarah Thorpe (by first wife), m. (1) William George, son of John George, thus cousin of the first wife of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. 1.2.2. John Thorpe, apraisee of the estate of Thomas Harris, d. 1729/1730).

1.3. William Ridley. Mr. Charles Barham Exor, Thomas Harris (d. 1672) and Thomas Tooke overseers, witnessed the Will of William Ridley, who was the br. of Elizabeth Ridley, Charles Barham’s wife. Charles Barham’s sister m. Richard Bennett, d. 1709 (second-cousin of Thomas Harris, d. 1672); she m (2), as his second wife, Robert Lancaster Sr.
1.4. Elizabeth Ridley, m. Charles Barham.

HARRIS, simplified

The Harris family of Wiveliscombe and Virginia can be divided into two broad groups, ‘a’ and ‘b’, stemming from the two sons of William Harris and Dorothy Westbrooke, William and Richard, with each group having successive sub-division. That this was not recognised (or denied, by “researchers”), was like placing a blindfold on an archer trying to hit a target.

1. William Harris, m. Dorothy Westbrooke, on Aug. 31, 1562, in Wiveliscombe, Somerset. 1.1. Richard Harris, m. (1594) Elianor Bennett, sister of Edward Bennett, and Thomas Bennett. The latter was the grandfather of Richard Bennett, d. 1709, whose first wife was Anne, who was Charles Barham’s sister (see Douglas Richardson, ‘Plantagenet Ancestry’). 1.1.1. Thomas Harris, m. Judith Blake, in 1623. 1.1.1.1. Thomas Harris, b. ca. 1625, d. 1672, in Virginia, a business partner of Joseph Bridger Sr. and John Scott Sr., in Bristol. He held 1,000 ac. in Nansemond in 1658, which was “by him deserted”, and granted anew on July 6, 1668, to Joseph Bridger. He m. (1) Eleanor George, cousin of William George. Rowland Searchfield released Col. Joseph Bridger of Virginia from all claims of three-eighths of a cargo of wines etc. shipped on the Success of London (master William Goodland) in 1654, to Virginia, in the presence of William Scott, Thomas Harris, Christopher Pitt, James Bridger. William Reaper; the witnesses, as partners, accounted for the remaining five eighths. (Bristol Record Office, Depositions). 1.1.1.1.1. Thomas Harris, d. 1712. He would have been of full age when he and his half-br., John, bought land from Joseph Bridger (in 1679) that had been that of their father. Consequently, it would be rational to assume he had a first wife before marrying Judith Edwards, after 1701.

1.2. William Harris. 1.2.1. Richard Harris, bapt. Jan. 28, 1595, “son of William”. (“Harries”). 1.2.1.1. Thomas Harris, d. 1688. 1.2.1.1.1. Robert Harris. 1.2.1.1.1.1. John Harris, m. Avis, dau. of Thomas White, and grandau. of George Moore, of Bristol. 1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Harmon Harris, appraised the estate of James Lancaster, rec. Oct. 16, 1797, p. 15. 1.2.1.1.1.1.2. Joel Harris*, m. Martha Barham, in Southampton Co. 1.2.1.2. John Harris, bapt. Feb. 18, 1624, “son of Richard”. 1.2.1.2.1. Elizabeth Harris, m. Samuel Lancaster, son of Robert Lancaster Sr.*

*Robert Lankester, bapt. Jan. 26, 1634, in Bruton, Somerset, m. (1) (ca. 1660), Lettis …, probably a sister of Thomas White, whose Will was proved Sept. 4, 1694. (“Mr. Robert Lancaster to have the care of my son Thomas and daughter Mary and their estate”). (2) Sarah widow of her 2nd husband, Richard Bennett Sr., second-cousin of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. Thomas White’s widow m. (2) Thomas Edwards. “A commission of administration is granted William Edwards (as greatest creditor) of the estate of Thomas White, deceased (with the Will annexed), the said Will being proved in Court by the oath of Mr. John Thompson and ordered to further proved at the next court … the said Edwards giving security according to law. Robert Lancaster,entering himself in Court security for William Edwards due performance of his administration on the estate of Thomas White with annexed is accepted and ordered that they give bond accordingly”.

Although the origins of Thomas White cannot be known, his family would certainly have been of the same social class as the Lancasters and Bennetts, and may have been of a family from the same area, and known to them, a social norm concerning marriages of this time; thus, a reasonable suggestion is as follows:

A RECOMMENDATION

1. Thomas White, vicar of Monksilver (5 miles from Wiveliscombe, held that office of the patronage of Rev. Humphry Sydenham, invariably, from some familial connection. Rev. Humphry Sydenham, 1591–1650, “Royalist Divine” known as “Silver-Tongue Sydenham” was the brother of John Sydenham (b. 1590), who d. without male children. He m. Margery, dau. of Sir Anthony Paulett (1562–1600), of Hinton St George, Somerset; sister of (1) John Paulet, 1st Baron Paulet (1585–1649); (2) Captain Thomas Paulet, who, on Jan. 15, 1637, received a patent for some 2,000 ac. on Westover Plantation, he beqeathed to his brother, Sir John Pawlett, who sold it in 1665 to Theodrick Bland, husband of Ann Bennett, dau. of Governor Richard Bennett.

BENNETT, simplified

1. … 1.1. Thomas Bennett, bapt. April 2, 1570. 1.1.1. Thomas Bennett, bapt. Nov. 5, 1603. 1.1.1.1. Richard Bennett, d. 1709, whose first wife was Anne, who was Charles Barham’s sister (see Douglas Richardson, ‘Plantagenet Ancestry’). Richard Bennett, m. (2) Sarah, who m. (2) Robert Lancaster Sr. (B. 5, p. 22). 1.1.2. Governor Richard Bennett, bapt. Aug. 6, 1609, d. 1675, in Virginia; his Will bequested two thousand pounds of tobacco to the wife of “Mr. Thomas Taberer”, whose dau., Ruth, m. John Newman, br-in-law of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. 1.1.2.1. Ann Bennett, m. Theoderick Bland. 1.2. Edward Bennett, bapt. Feb. 2, 1577, in Wivelscombe; later of of St Olave, Southwark, London, and Lawn’s Creek, Virginia. 1.2.1. Sylvestra Bennett, m. Nicholas Hill, security for the estate of Thomas Harris, d. 1672. 1.3. Elianor Bennett, m. Richard Harris.

Thomas White m. (1) Dorothey Catford, on Nov. 24, 1634. The Catfords were a substantial family of yeomans, tenants of the Sidenhams. (C 3/303/3). Monksilver manor was leased, from 1567 until 1716 to the Sydenhams. (B.L. Harl. MS. 79, f. 23; St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, MSS. XV. 27. 34, 37; XV. 50. 6). The Sydenham family presented (between 1572 and 1711), the advowson of the church. (S.R.S. xiii. 56; lx, p. 83; Som. Incumbents, ed. Weaver, 402–3; St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, MS. XV. 50. 15). ). “Thomas White, Clerk of Monksilver”; his Will was probated on May 16, 1648, naming two sons, John and Thomas, who were to receive £20 when reaching the age of 21. Neither John or Thomas White are recorded in the Monksilver registers up to 1720.

1.1. Thomas White, bapt. Feb. 25, 1635/6, d. 1694, in Virginia, it is suggested. To repeat: His estate to be divided between his wife, Phillis and children: Thomas, Mary, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. Sister-in-law, Elizabeth Ruffin, have the land, and management of daughter, Rebecca, and her estate, and place daughter Elizabeth, and her estate with whom she please. Mr. Robert Lancaster to have the care of son, Thomas, and daughter Mary, and their estates. Makes wife, Phillis, Exerx. Elizabeth Ruffin and Robert Lancaster, overseers of the will, probated, Sept. 4, 1694. Wit: Thos. Bage, widow. Edwards, John Thompson. (B. 5, p. 20).

Put simply, the wife of Thomas White was the sister of Elizabeth Ruffin.

1.1.1. Thomas White, b. ca. 1665, m. a dau. of George Moore, of Bristol.

1.1.1.1. Avis White, b. ca. 1690, m. John Harris, grandson of Thomas Harris, d. 1688. The Harris and White families were probably those who lived within walking distance (betw. Wiveliscombe and Monksilver), in Somerset.

Perhaps not far off the target?

by m stanhope, copyright B.T. Shannon 2024