Anne (Marriott) Gambrell (abt. 1685 - aft. 1716)

Born about 1685 in Anne Arundel County, Province of Maryland

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Acton — married 1703 in Charles County, Maryland

Descendants

Died after 1716 after about age 31 in Province of Maryland

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Biography

Anne (Marriott) Gambrell was a Maryland colonist.

Research Notes

Origin

No birth record for Ann Marriott has been found. She was the daughter of John Marriott and his wife Ann Acton and was mentioned in the 1716 will of her father as follows:

I give to my daughter Ann Gambrell the sum of £5 and the personal estate she is now possessed of except one hand mill which she now hath.^[1]

Based on the date of the will, and the typical marriage age of 16 in this era, we know Ann was born before 1700. Since she is listed near the end of legacies in the will, she was probably one of John Marriott's youngest children. Her mother would've been around 40 in 1695, so the best guess for her age is between 1680 and 1690.

Marriage to Gambrell

No marriage record for Anne has been found and the name of her husband in not proven. The index for Testamentary Proceedings shows there was a William Gambrell living in Maryland around 1697 who is a possible candidate to be her husband.^[2]

There has been speculation over the years that this Anne married first to Richard Gambra and then to Henry Acton. Richard Gambra's wife was a mother with 2 children in 1702 when Richard wrote his will, so she would have to be born about 1680 so he does not present an issue. Her marriage to Henry Acton is a problem because Henry Acton was married to a woman named Anne by a deed dated 1715 a year before she is named Anne Gambrell by the will of her father.^[3]

It is possible Anne Marriott's father didn't know of a second marriage and Richard Gambra had an unusual name which created spelling issues at the time, but the biggest argument against these two marriages is the distance between Battersea where Gambra lived and the known location of Anne's father's plantation near the Severn River in Anne Arundel County. Most travel in this era was by boat and to get to Battersea from Annapolis you would have to travel all the way south down the Chesapeake Bay to the Potomac River and then north up the Potomac. It would probably take several days. The only way the first marriage makes any sense is if Gambra settled in the Annapolis are first and so met Anne there.

Sources

1. ↑ Prerogative Court Wills of Maryland Liber 15 folio 2 msa.maryland.gov]
2. ↑ Testamentary Proceedings Liber 16 folio 33
3. ↑ Charles County Deeds Liber F 2 folio 79