Robert Robin Povall (abt. 1650 - abt. 1728)

Thanks for starting this profile! Just FYI, a transcription of Robert Povall's will, signed 16 Sept. 1728, and abstracts of various other court records that cite Robert Povall are visible in The Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers, Vol. III, Povall-Woodson (families), published by The Valentine Museum, Richmond, Virginia, in 1927. The info for Robert Povall is near the beginning of Volume III. The Valentine Papers are now visible to read online. You can get to them via HathiTrust's links to several university websites.

Images of the clerical copy of Robert Povall's will can be seen in the old Henrico County records on the Family Search website, film #007645095, online image 297/548, page 221. The transcript in the Valentine Papers, Vol. III, pages 1303-1304 (online images 19-20 of 792 images in the online version I viewed) is a little easier to read.

Robert Povall's will lists sons Robert and John, daughters Sarah Roach and Mary Carter, and Giles Carter (no relationship specified, but many think he was Robert Povall's son-in-law, husband of Mary). Four enslaved people are named in the will: "negro Daniell [sic] and Jenny..." were bequeathed to son Robert; negro girl Sarah, already in his daughter's possession, was bequeathed to daughter Sarah Roach; and "negro girle Molley [sic]" was bequeathed to daughter Mary Carter. The will is listed as proved in court on the 1st Monday in Jan. 1728. I read that at the time, the legal new year started in March, so January 1728 followed 31 December 1728, and the following 25 March was the start of the new year of 1729--I hope my explanation makes sense and that others will correct me if I am wrong. This narrows down Robert Povall's death date to between 16 Sept. 1728 and the 1st Monday in January following the writing of his will. Many people think his wife Elizabeth died before Robert wrote his will because there is no mention in it of his wife or any provision for her maintenance. The surviving Henrico County deeds, wills, court records, etc. are now visible on the Family Search website. If you select Search, then Catalog, then type in United States, Virginia, Henrico County and select the Online option, it will give you a list of photographed records to choose from. The surviving records are not complete, but are a great help to family historians. With a son also named Robert Povall in Henrico County, care is needed when analyzing the old Virginia records. It is hard to know if the county clerk always differentiated father and son with "Senior" and "Junior" designations. I think Robert Povall, Jr. died in 1732 or before the 1st Monday in July 1733, when his wife/executor Judith Povall presented his will in court. After his father's death in 1728, the suffix of Junior, Jun., or Jr. would not have been needed in legal records. I have not researched the family enough to know if there were any other boys or men in the extended family named Robert in the 1720's-1730's.

There is a deed in the Henrico County records dated 7 Oct. 1685 for Robert Povall's purchase of 150 acres from William Humphreys (or Humphrey) for £90 sterling, or the equivalent in goods, whichever William Humphreys chose. The land is described as 150 acres, more or less, on "Malborn hills" (also? later? called Malvern Hills or Malvern Hill). Humphreys maintained the right to 2 years accommodation on his old property. Humphreys was an old man who understandably did not want to relocate. Humphreys was not able to come to court, so the matter was handled by his attorney. In Robert Povall's will, his land was divided between his sons Robert and John. The Henrico County deed/record from Humphreys to Povall is visible on the Family Search website, film #007645093, online image 156/650, pages 338-339. Malvern Hill shows up on several good maps which were drawn to illustrate the Civil War battle that was fought there. One Colonial era map (1751-1755 Fry-Jefferson map) identifies it as Malbon Hills. The Thomas Cocke family had a plantation there as well. As the site of a Civil War battle, the land is protected and available for the general public to visit.

Some very interesting research was generously shared by Patricia Dunford (including the discovery of court record Povall v. Gregory, 1683, by Gaynor Guth) to explain some of the info about Robert Povall's wife Elizabeth Hooker and the old family story that she was the heir of a relative (her father Joseph's brother Gideon Hooker) in England. See the website http://oregonpalmerfamily.org/Povall%20Hooker%20Ancestors%20Jun%202018.pdf

Baxter-1845 and Povall-24 appear to represent the same person because: seem to be the same person