Richard Foster (1619 - aft. 1691)

Born Oct 1619 in Essex, England

Husband of Anne (Jackson) Foster — married 19 Nov 1640 in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia

Husband of Susannah Anne (Garnett) Foster — married 1642 in Elizabeth City, Gloucester County, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died after 7 Oct 1691 after age 72 in Elizabeth City, Gloucester County, Virginia

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Biography

Richard Foster was a Virginia colonist.

Richard Foster migrated from Essex, England to Colonial Virginia.

This profile is part of the Forster Name Study.

Richard Foster^[1][2][3] (b. 1619 - d. c. 1681/91 Gloucester Co., VA)^[4] (alias: Richard Hoskins)

alias: James?^[3][5]

On 10 August 1635 Richard Foster sailed from London on the "Safety,"^[6][1] for Jamestown, Virginia. He was 16 years-years-old.^[7]

bur. Colonial Virginia ^{[citation needed]}

Parents

• Father: [...] Foster (d. btw 1619/28).^[3]
• Mother: Dorcas [...] (remarried to Hoskins in 1628 possibly at Dunstan, Stepney as "Dorcas Foster of London")
• Step-father: Bartholomew Hoskins

Marriage

He married to...

1. Ann Jackson.^[3]
2. (c.1642 Elizabeth City, Virginia) Susan (Susannah) Garnett.^[3][8]. Issue:

Children

Susan Garnett is the mother of:

1. Robert^[3]
2. John^[3]

Immigration

• 10 Aug 1635, Sailed On The Ship Safety To Virginia^[9][10]
• Arrival: 1635 Virginia (Age: 16)^[11][2]

There were 144 passengers on the manifest kept by Master John Graunt (Grant).^[12] Accompanying Richard Foster on this voyage were:^[10]

• his stepfather: Bartholomew Hoskins^[12]
• John Gloster (probably Foster) age 23^[7]
• Robert Frister (probably Foster) age 20^[13][14]
• Robert Piscer (possibly Foster) age 44^[15]
• Elizbeth Piscer (possibly Foster) age 16.^[16][14]

The assumption that these names were possibly the name of Foster,^{[citation needed]} is made because in subsequent documents the name Foster appears instead of the names of Piscer. There is also a possibility that Elizabeth Piscer (Foster) was a twin sister to Richard and that Robert Foster, age 20, was an older brother of Richard.^{[citation needed]}

Residence

Richard lived in Lower Norfolk County as documented in numerous court records.

At a Court Holden the 2nd Day of March 1639 at Capt John Sibsey's Lower Norfolk County Richard ffoster saith that his father Bartholomew Hoskins did buy 200 acres of land from Henry Hawkins and Robert Taylor for one cowe with calfe and two yearlings about five weeks before Christmas was two yeares and that he gave six pence in earnest of the said bargain to the said Henry Hawkins^[17]

Capt. Richard Foster was Burgess from Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Colony at the Assembly of 1655-1656.^[18]

Marriage Scandal

Richard Foster married one Anne Jackson. This is well documented due to what was considered by the church authorities as scandalous at the time. It was common for the church to bring charges against people for their conduct. During one court session a number of couples were charged with fornication including Richard and his wife,based on events prior to their marriage.

To paraphrase the court record, Anne confided in a friend, Anne Gaskine, that she had first slept with Richard the night that one John Lanckfield had been buried, this being some two months prior to their marriage. She confided this because the night of their wedding she miscarried, and Anne Gaskine was a witness to this. This was told to Anne Gaskin's husband Savill, to whom she was newly married as well. This was repeated to different people, and Savill made known his feelings on the matter. The result was public shaming of Richard and Anne, which ususally consisted of standing in contrition during Sunday service. The Gaskins were both publicly whipped, because they had defamed Anne by discussing it.

Richard's wife was named Anne 12th of April 1641 as noted in the following court record.

the Deposition of John Webb aged 35 years or thereabouts Sworn and Examined sayeth that he heard Thomas Davis report that Savill Gaskine should say that the wife of Rich. Foster had a mischance, a child or the like and that the said Gaskine said he could not endure such base whores and further this deponent saith not^[19]

Whereas it appeareth to this court by the depositions of several persons that Savill Gaskine and Anne his wife hath scandalously and defamously reported and asserted that Anne ffoster wife unto Richard ffoster concerning her being delivered of a child and that the said child was privately made away the which the said Gaskine nor Anne his wife can bring any testimony or proof: it is ordered the said Savill shall receive 20 lashes upon the bare back and Anne his wife 10 lashes of the like kind presently to be executed by the sheriff and also that the said Savill Gaskine shall make payment of the charges of this court concerning these proceedings in this suit and otherwise &c^[20]

In October of 1641 Richard brought testimony of two others regarding some acreage he had planted with corn, which he claimed was eaten by hogs belonging to the same Gaskine.^[21] Richard Foster was granted 250 acres of land in Lynhaven Parish in Lower Norfolk Cty, Va on 26 Nov 1653 beginning at the neck of the Broad Creek running Southwest near a swamp, thence West., for transport of Dorcas Foster, Sr. and Dorcas Foster, Jr.^[22] (possibly his mother and half-sister whose names were now Dorcas Hoskins and her daughter by Bartholomew Hoskins, Dorcas Hoskins) and Richard Foster, Richard Street and Henry Williams.^[22]

In 1655 James moved his family to Gloucester County, Virginia where he received another 200 acres for the transport of four person to Virginia, Ellen Foster, Mary Foster, Sarah Davis, Robert Bynum and Fra. Bignall.^{[citation needed]}

Note: Jamestowne Society Qualifying Ancestor

This profile does appear to qualify for the Jamestowne Society Qualifying Ancestor Sticker. Richard Foster arrived in Virginia in 1635 and was a Burgess for Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Colony at the Assembly of 1655-1656. However, he is not included on the list of Seventeenth Century Qualifying Ancestors nor on the individual lists. He is included as QA Richard Foster A2807 as an ancestor of Jarvis, Foster III on the Lineage Papers, so he is included on the WikiTree Checklist of Jamestowne Society Qualifying Ancestors. (Shirley Dalton 16:31, 21 September 2021 (UTC))

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Hotten, 1874, 121–2
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Filby, 2009
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Our Foster/Morgan Ancestors, (2011, July 26). Rootsweb.[1]
4. ↑ Alt death: about 1691, Elizabeth City, Gloucester County, Virginia
5. ↑ NOTE: There are references to James Richard Foster and Richard James Foster in the Bio. I'm only aware of Richard Foster. Middle names weren't commonly used until late 18th century England and its colonies. Here's a good discussion of the topic. Partridge-944 00:21, 28 May 2014 (EDT)
6. ↑ https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Hotten, 1874, p. 122
8. ↑ West, E. (n.d.) Family Data Collection - Marriages. Ancestry.com
9. ↑ https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Hotten, 1874, pp. 121–3
11. ↑ https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Hotten, 1872, p. 121
13. ↑ https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Hotten, 1874, p. 123
15. ↑ https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
16. ↑ https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
17. ↑ Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records, Book "A", 1637-1646 & Book "B", 1646-1651/2 by Alice Granberry Walker page 23
18. ↑ Stanard, William G. and Mary Newton Stanard. The Colonial Virginia Register. Albany, N. Y.: Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers. 1902. Page 72
19. ↑ Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records, Book "A", 1637-1646 & Book "B", 1646-1651/2 by Alice Granberry Walker page 58
20. ↑ Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records, Book "A", 1637-1646 & Book "B", 1646-1651/2 by Alice Granberry Walker page 57
21. ↑ Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records, Book "A", 1637-1646 & Book "B", 1646-1651/2 by Alice Granberry Walker page 84
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} Nugent, 1934, p.249

Bibliography...

• Complete listing of Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666. (Citing Greer, 1912).
• Greer, G.C. (1912). Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666. Richmond, VA: W.C. Hill Printing Co.
• Hotten, J.C. (1874). The Original List of Persons of Quality: Emigrants; Religious Exiles; Political Rebels; Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children Stolen; Maidens Pressed; and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700, (pp.121- 122). NY: Empire State Book Co. Google Books.
• Nugent, N. M. (1934). Cavaliers and Pioneers. Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666, (Vol. I). Richmond, VA: Press of the Dietz Printing Co. archive.org.

See Also...

• Dr. B.G."Bill" Foster, The Immigrant Foster. NOTE: analysis of men named Richard Foster.[2]
• Filby, P. W, (2009). Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research.
• Geni.com.[3]
• N.a, (n.d.). Virginia Land Records. N.p.
• https://packrat-pro.com/ships/safety.htm
• The following is somewhat redundant information, provided to include comprehensive information on the research conducted regarding this family:

Researcher Doug Garnett provided the following information on Elizabeth Garnett and Robert Foster. (7) He stated: I am pretty sure that this particular Elizabeth Garnett who married Robert Foster was the daughter of a man named Thomas Garnett.

According to the information I have, Elizabeth was born in about 1660 at Gloucester County, Virginia. Because there were several different Thomas Garnetts living around Virginia at that time frame, no one has yet satisfactorily proven which of these various Thomas Garnetts was Elizabeth’s father.

In any case, Robert Foster was apparently also related to the Garnett family since his mother is believed to have been Sussan [or Susannah] Garnett. But again, the predecessors of Robert Foster are also rather uncertain and unproven.

Robert Foster was married first to a wife named Sarah Biggs. He married second to Elizabeth Garnett in about 1681 or 1682.

Robert and Elizabeth (nee Garnett) Foster had eleven children: John Foster, who married Isabella Golding; Robert Foster, who married Ann Lloyd; James Foster, who married a wife named Martha; Barbara Foster, who married Richard Loving; Richard Foster; Thomas Foster, who married Elizabeth Meadors; George Foster, who married Mary Singleton; William Foster; Margaret Foster; Elizabeth Foster, who married William Golding; and Anthony Foster, who married Martha Taliaferro.

After Robert Foster died in 1716 at St. Anne’s Parish, Essex County, Virginia, his widow Elizabeth (nee Garnett) Foster remarried Robert Charlesworth. Their names are mentioned in several land deeds and transactions that took place between 1718 and 1745. Robert Charlesworth died in 1745 and Elizabeth (nee Garnett, formerly Foster) had probably already predeceased him a few years earlier in 1742-1745.

Doug Garnett also stated: (8) According to the information that I have in my files, Elizabeth Garnett was born in 1660 (not 1663) and she died in 1716 (not 1744). Elizabeth Garnett married Robert Foster in 1682 (not 1684). Robert Foster was born in 1651 at Essex, Virginia (not Gloucester) and he died in Essex County during the year proceeding his wife’s death in 1716.

Robert Foster was the son of Richard Foster (born 1619 in Durham, England and died about 1681 in Gloucester County, Virginia). His mother was Sussan Garnett, daughter of Thomas Garnett who had arrived in the early Jamestown colony of Virginia on the good ship Swan in 1610.

Sussan Garnett was born at Elizabeth City, Virginia in about 1620, and she lived until about 1660. Sussan Garnett and Richard Foster married at Elizabeth City in the year 1642. They had six sons: Richard Foster, born 1643; James Foster, born 1645; William Foster, born 1647; Robert Foster, born 1651; Thomas Foster, born 1656; and John Foster, born 1660.

It is possible, I think, that Sussan [nee Garnett] Foster actually died during childbirth or as a result of complications following the birth of her last son John Foster in 1660 when Robert was just eleven years old.

It is quite likely that the Elizabeth Garnett who married Robert Foster was actually related in some way to Robert Foster’s mother, Sussan Garnett. My guess (still to be proven) is that Elizabeth was the daughter of Sussan Garnett’s brother Thomas Garnett and was therefore the niece of Robert Foster’s mother.

Regarding the death of Elizabeth, Doug Garnett stated: (9) The basic question . . . concerns the variance in the death dates reported for Elizabeth (Garnett) Foster, wife of Robert Foster that I have in my files compared to the research contained in a controversial book written by Dr. Billy Glen Foster, The Foster Family of Flanders, England, and America, as well as the research done by Marilyn herself.

To clarify the discrepancy that’s at issue here. My own Garnett database indicates that Elizabeth (Garnett) Foster (daughter of Thomas Garnett) who was the wife of Robert Foster, died in 1716 the same year as her husband Robert Foster. On the other hand, according to Marilyn Lewis’ research, Elizabeth Foster continued to live on after her husband’s death in 1716. Marilyn believes that Elizabeth Foster remarried to Robert Charlesworth in about 1718 and died subsequently in about 1741.

There appears to be a great deal of evidence to support Marilyn’s conclusion that Elizabeth lived many years after 1716. For example, Marilyn’s research provides the following points to substantiate this theory:

(1) On June 22, 1722, Robert Charlesworth received two different land patents - one a Royal land patent for 425 acres in St. John Parish, King William County, Virginia and one a joint patent with Joseph Fulcher for 400 acres in St. John Parish, King William County

(2) Court records (cited by Dr. Billie Foster) show that Robert Charlesworth and Elizabeth along with Elizabeth’s dau. Barbara Foster Loving (and family) and Elizabeth’s sons Thomas and William, and probably Margaret and Elizabeth, Jr. moved to the above mentioned land shortly after the grants were patented.

(3) Elizabeth Foster Charlesworth appeared in an Essex County, Virginia court on March 17, 1718/19 when her son James sold his land to William Taylor and she then relinquished her right of dower to the 75 acres, which had been bequeathed to James Foster in the will of his father Robert Foster in 1716. This deed was dated Dec. 12, 1718.

(4) In 1739, Thomas, son of Robert and Elizabeth Foster, sold to Richard and Barbara Loving (his sister) 150 acres of the 350 he patented in 1737. Thomas’s mother, Elizabeth (Garnett/Foster) and her husband Robert Charlesworth were also there and built a home adjacent to Thomas’ land.

(5) In 1741, Thomas Foster gave a gift of land to his mother, “for reason of the dutiful regard he hath for his mother, the said Elizabeth Charlesworth,” Thomas Foster deeded “one part of land (50 acres) . . . it being the land on which the said Robert Charlesworth now liveth.”

(6) Dr. Billie Glen Foster says that Robert Charlesworth died in Amelia before June 22, 1745 when administration of his estate was awarded to Edward Booker. Elizabeth probably predeceased her second husband, Robert Charlesworth, and died at some time between 1742 and 1745.

In the face of all this evidence supporting the added longevity of Elizabeth (Garnett) Foster beyond 1716, I retreated quickly to check my Garnett database hoping to determine if there were any citations or sources contained there for the apparently erroneous 1716 death date for Elizabeth.

I could not find any definitive source for this 1716 death date - although the same year appears correctly for her husband Robert Foster. I can only conclude that I probably found this death date recorded somewhere in one of the many Foster family genealogies that I came across during the course of investigating the links between the Garnett and Foster families of Virginia. Or, perhaps, I made a simple error in transcribing Robert Foster’s death date incorrectly into the database file for his wife as well.

My conclusion now is that there is sufficient evidence from Marilyn’s research to suppose that Elizabeth (Garnett) Foster did survive beyond 1716, remarried and continued to live with her second husband, Robert Charlesworth for another few decades. - Doug Garnett

The eleven children of Robert and Elizabeth were (listed birth order does not agree with the narrative for some of these children): (10) - Geni.com