Thomas Chamberlayne (1653 - 1719)

Born 1653 in Maugersbury, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1719 at about age 66 in Henrico, Colony of Virginia

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Biography

Thomas Chamberlayne was a Virginia colonist.

Thomas Chamberlayne is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society

Thomas Chamberlayne was born in Gloucestershire, England.

This profile is part of the Chamberlayne Name Study.

Thomas Chamberlayne^[1] was born in Maugersbury, Gloucestershire, England in 1653, the son of Edmund Chamberlayne of Maugersby, and Eleanor Coles (Colles) of Catteslade (also known as Castlet or Chattreland), Gloucestershire, England^[2] and was one of their eleven known children, five daughters and six sons.

The 1683 Visitation of Gloucestershire states that Edmund Chamberlayne, of Maugersbury, had a son “Thomas of Virginia who married Mary, daughter of Abraham Wood of Virginia.”^[3]

Maugersbury was the seat of the Chamberlayne family from1563 to the end of the 19th Century. It is a hamlet and a township in Stow-on-the-Wold parish, Gloucestershire, half a mile SE of Stow-on-the-Wold. Maugersbury House was once a meeting-lodge of the abbots of Evesham.^[4]

Life Events

Thomas emigrated to the Virginia Colony, arriving before 1672,^[5] and married Mary Wood, daughter of Abraham Wood. No records have been found to prove that he and Mary Wood had any children.^[6]

In 1678 he was commissioned a sheriff of Henrico. ^[6]

He was Major in the Henrico County militia at the age of twenty-seven years, a member of the Commission of the Peace, from which he was dismissed "as he had" highly and contemptuously affronted the said Court." (Henrico Rec., Vol. I, p.101).

Major Chamberlayne was one of the most lively characters with whom we meet in the records of Henrico; he was a hard swearer, a hard drinker, a hard fighter, and records show that he was not alone in his turbulent behavior. ^[7]

He practiced as an attorney in Henrico County as there are instances at this time of his being retained on cases but he had quite a temper, threatening to thrash a man's jacquett calling him loggerhead, blockhead and other names. He carried out some of these threats and was often reported for fighting usually when in his cups. However, in spite of all this his standing was such that he was commissioned as High Sheriff of Henrico County by Gov. Jeffreys 26 March 1678.(Henrico Rec., 1677-92, p. 28).

After 1692 he moved to Charles City County and evidently settled down to a more sober lifestyle. In 1695 he became a member of the House of Burgesses for that county. ^[6] He married Elizabeth Stratton in 1709 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth, born in 1710, and Dorothy, born in 1712. ^[7]

Death

Thomas died in 1719 in Henrico, Colony of Virginia.^[3] His will was probated in Henrico County in December of that year.^[7]and his widow Elizabeth was named as executrix.

Research Notes

The 1683 Visitation of Gloucestershire gives as fourth son of Edmund Chamberlayne of Maugersbury "Thomas, of Virginia, who married Mary, dau of Abraham Wood of Virginia", This Thomas Chamberlayne settled in Henrico County.

Data from Chamberlain Association of America, Annual Report 1906-07, p. 75, which gives a good, detailed description of the Maugersbury line and the position of Thomas Chamberlayne in the lineage. The source of that information is essentially the Heraldic Visitation of Gloucester, 1682-3, augmented somewhat by additional investigations of the author. York Wilson calls this son Maj. Thomas Chamberlayne and says he was living in Henrico Co., Virginia in 1670; was a member of Virginia House of Burgesses in 1692; was an attorney; High Sheriff in 1678. The death in Virginia is presumed. The birth dates of 1655 and 1677, given in the LDS Ancestral File, are incorrect.

Sources: Welton Chamberlain, founder of Chamberlain Association of America 1898 - 1940 and World Chamberlain Genealogical Society, 1996. Phillip Chamberlain, cofounder, president and historian of the World Chamberlain Genealogical Society. https://worldchamberlaingenealogy.org/index.php

Sources

1. ↑ Chamberlain, Thomas - A1508; Charles City Co.: 1695-96 (Burgess). accessed 13 September 2021
2. ↑ Fenwick, T. Fitz-Roy and Walter C. Metcalfe. The Visitation of the County of Gloucester begun 1682... and finished 1683. (Exeter, 1884): page 38.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Fothergill, Augusta B. PETER JONES and RICHARD JONES GENEALOGIES, Old Dominion Press, Richmond, Virginia, 1924. View online: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/265158-peter-jones-and-richard-jones-genealogies?viewer=1&offset=0#page=1&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=
4. ↑ UKGenealogy Archives.https://ukga.org/index.php?pageid=4516
5. ↑ Torrence, William Clayton. Henrico County, Virginia Beginnings of Its Families. https://archive.org/details/jstor-1914683
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} "Virginia Gleanings in England." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 23, no. 2 (1915): 156-61. Accessed January 12, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4243432.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Torrence, William Clayton. "Henrico County: Virginia: Beginnings of Its Families: Part III." The William and Mary Quarterly 24, no. 4 (1916): 262-83. Accessed January 12, 2021. doi:10.2307/1914683.

See also

• Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1660-1800
• U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
• Genealogies of Virginia Families from the William and Mary College Quarterly. Vol. V. Thompson-Yates