William Giles (abt. 1649 - bef. 1694)

Born about Jul 1649 in Henrico Parish, Virginia

Husband of Bethania (Knowles) Giles — married 9 Mar 1683 in Henrico County, Virginia

Descendants

Died before 2 Apr 1694 before about age 44 in Varina, Henrico, Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Ashley Jones [send private message] and M Nason [send private message]

William Giles was a Virginia colonist.

Disputed Origins

There is no proof to date that William Giles was the son of John Giles and Philarette Woodward. Source document analysis places their ages closer to possible brothers or cousins than father and son.

Biography

Birth

William's parents are not known, but he was born between April 1 and October 1, 1649. This range is determined from his age as given in two depositions found in Henrico County Records:

• “Ages as given by deposition in County Records, 1677-1705” (p89) 1 Apr 1679, William Giles 29^[1]
• “Ages as given by deposition in County Records, 1677-1705” (p 90) 1 Oct 1689, William Giles 40^[2]

Court and Land Transactions

1654: A William Giles was a headright of Alexander Madocks who patented land in Northampton County, June 10, 1654, but it is not known that he removed to Henrico County.

A William Giles who lived in Henrico County next to Capt. John Knowles, previous to 1680, had land on the south side of Chicahominy Swamp, (Burton's Chronicles-166). Capt. Knowles had formerly lived in Jamestown. The location of his house is shown on the map of "Old Jamestown" (1607-1698).

28 Sep 1681, William Giles, 100 A Henrico Co (p 108) Escheate of land of Henry Alford; inquisition under William Byrd, Esch’r, Ac. ^[3]

29 Mar 1683, William Giles & Bethaniah his wife of Henrico Co, planter to William Byrd of same, Esq, for 10,500 lbs tob, land on lower side of Falling Creek, formerly belonging to Capt John Knowles, late of this county, dec’d, bounded by the creek, James River, & Mr Richard Ward, 200 A also a tract between Falling Crk & Gringalls Run, 100A. Wit John Farrar, Thomas Cocke, William Randolph. Signed William Giles, Bethaniah (#) Giles, recorded 2 Apr 1683. ^[4]

On November 29, 1683, William and wife, Bethenia deeded lands on Falling Creek, on the south side of James River, to William Byrd.

Feb 1685, William Giles and Bethaniah his wife, only daughter and heiress of Capt John Knowles, late of Varina Parish, Henrico dec’d for 2200 lbs tobacco to John Crowley of Varina Parish, 125 A called Gardners. ^[5]

1 Feb 1688, Bethaniah wife of William Giles, daughter and heiress of Capt John Knowles dec’d relic dower right in land sold to John Crowley by her husband when in her minority Feb 1685.^[6]

12 Oct 1688, Hon William Byrd Esq formerly purchase of William Giles who married Bethaniah Knowles daughter and heiress of Capt John Knowles, dec’d, 2 pieces of land, 300A on Falling Crk 29 Mar 1683. At the time Bethaniah was in her minority. This day she appears and relinquishes her dower right being of full age. Hen. Randolph, Cl Cnc.^[7]

Marriage

William married Bethenia, daughter of Capt. John Knowles, on March 9, 1683.^[8] She is named in the 1675 will of her father, and would come to be his sole heir after her only brother died in childhood.^[9]

She died before 1709, just before the age of 42. Her age and death were proven posthumously, in a law suit concerning title to the Falling Creek land, brought in the County Court of Henrico on April 30, 1711. John Giles, their eldest son, gave a quit claim deed attesting to the facts.^[10]

They had four known surviving children:

• ~1684-1727?: William
• ~1686-1760?: John, m. Mary Moseley?
• ~1688-1769: Mary, m. Thomas Harding
• ~1690-1767: Nicholas, m. Phoebe Hancock

Death and Will

William died before April 2, 1694, about 45 years old. His will was dated July 11, 1692, and entered into probate on April 2, 1694, in the parish of Varina, in Henrico County, Virginia. Witnesses: Eliz. E. (x) Pezzin, John Allday, Tho E (x) Bayly, Abraham Bayly^[11]

William's wife is listed as "dear wife, Betheny," and she is given custody of the underage children. Assuming they are listed by order of age, William is first born, John is second, Mary is third, and Nicholas is youngest.

11 July 1692, William Giles of Varina Parish. All to dear wife, sole executrix. To son William 12 pence. To son John, daughter Mary, son Nicholas 12 pence each. Son William to wife until he's 16, Sons John and Nicholas until 17 or 16 if she marries.

Research Notes

I adopted this profile and have not seen most of the cited sources. Work is needed to determine if there are public copies of these documents available online for citation and easy reference.Jones-102730 23:10, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ Henrico Co VA Deeds 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 147
2. ↑ Henrico Co VA Deeds 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 152
3. ↑ Early Families Along the James River, Vol 1, Henrico, Gouchland, Louise Pledge Foley, 1979, p 26
4. ↑ Henrico Co VA Deeds, 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 19
5. ↑ Henrico Co VA Deeds 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 32
6. ↑ Henrico Co VA Deeds 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 49
7. ↑ Henrico Co VA Deeds 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 47.
8. ↑ 9 Mar 1683, William Giles and Bethenia Knowles, daughter of Capt. John Knowles dec'd. Deeds Wills etc, 1677-1692, p 32; Marriages of Henrico County Virginia, 1680-1808, Lindsay, p 36
9. ↑ Colonial Wills of Henrico Co VA, 1654-1737, Weisiger, 1976, p 159.
10. ↑ (Henrico "Old Records, pp. 10-159).
11. ↑ Probate: "Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900"
    Henrico County, Virginia, Court Records; Author: Virginia. County Court (Henrico County); Probate Place: Henrico, Virginia
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62347 #2018183 (accessed 17 May 2022)
    

• [1] The Cabells and Their Kin: A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy Alexander Brown January 1, 1895 Houghton, Mifflin & Company: Wife, Birth, Death, Cild page 455

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Giles-837 created through the import of LHH WIKI.GED on Jun 17, 2011 by Lee Hoffman. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Lee and others.