Jamestown to England ship records?

Question

We know from Virginia records that some Jamestown colonists must have traveled between Jamestown and England after their initial arrival in the Colony, some even claimed additional headrights for a return journey. Some are believed to have returned to England permanently (or may have died and thus been unable to return, about as permanent as it gets).   Are there ship manifests or other records to confirm who made the trips and when?  Where would we look for such records?

Comments

Looks like some good stuff is here:

http://www.virtualjamestown.org/siteindex.html

Answer 1

It takes some reading but there is an online copy of Virginia Gleanings in England, and another of the Perogative Court of Canterbury, which had control of estates of the colonists if there was a will and it was contested. I'll add the link. Another good source is the muster of 1622 and 1625, as well as three historical fiction books, which are based 90% of facts, but cannot be listed as factual as it fallows the life of a wife of one of the soldiers arrivvng in 1607. She is documented as being there, out living her husband by a number of years. She did go back to England at one point, but returned to the Colony.. Three books are great reading, though the day to day conversation would be fiction. They are •Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky,  When the Moon Has No More Silver.  &

The Sun is Nothing but the Morning Star By Connie Lapallo 

There is an open JSTOR site with the  Gleanings of Virginia on Familysearch.org here : https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Virginia_Emigration_and_Immigration#Virginians_in_English_archives

All are worth a look. I know Jospeh Royal went back 3 times, as well as Robert Povall and Elizabeth Hooker. She had been sent as an indentured servant only to find she was owed her father's estate which was being claimed by a cousin. She quickly married John Povall, and they returned to England to fight and regain the estate. Eventually they settled and sold what was there and returned to what is now Henrico Co in the mid 1600. 

George Yeardsley , Gov, went back, along with his wife, as did Gov, Thomas Gates and wife. These two were in the 1619-1635 range. The books will bring them to life. The events are documented, just not the conversations. 

Answer 2

I heard of one person who returned to England from Jamestown. I remember reading last year about a man who was a Jamestown settler, who then returned to his wife in England.  He then became one of the Mayflower passengers and ended up in Plymouth.  I can't seem to locate his name, but the article came out last summer during the 400th anniversary celebration.

Comments

That would be Stephen Hopkins. He was on a supply run to Jamestown, and they were shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609. A narrative of that voyage is considered a primary source reference that Shakespeare used for the opening scene of The Tempest.

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Thank you Barry!

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There is no hard evidence that the Stephen Hopkins of the Sea Venture and the Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower were the same man. The case is circumstantial, and fairly strong as circumstantial cases go, but it is less than conclusive.

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Stephen Hopkins' profile makes a good case for it though; see the research notes.

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As I said: as circumstantial cases go, it is a strong one.

Answer 3

Good question.  It would be nice if there was a reference for returnees.  As for the early immigrants, some relevant resources:

• https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Virginia_Emigration_and_Immigration#English_Immigrants
• https://guides.libraries.wm.edu/genealogy2/passenger-lists

Comments

Lots of info on arrivals to Jamestown, it seems like there should be information on travelers in the other direction but in England.  I have no idea where to look there.

Answer 4

Check this out:

SHIPS & PASSENGERS TO AMERICA

Many ships, passenger lists, and immigrants can be found in the
New England Historical & Genealogical Registers

https://firstsettlers.genealogyvillage.com/ships.html

Answer 5

Check out:

https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm

Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's
 Over 7100 families and 290 ships

Answer 6

A fairly good source, "Jamestown an American Legacy" by Marta W. McCartney. She mentions Captain Christopher Newport  going back and forth between England and Jamestown. Also Captain John Smith died in England. I have several ancestors who went back and forth. What a long ride in the 1600's

Answer 7

I appreciate everyone’s efforts and suggested sources, but my question was about passenger lists FROM Jamestown TO England before 1635 or so.  We know (mostly) who was in Jamestown, we think we know that some people went back to England and never returned to Virginia, we know at least a few people made more that one trip each way, but I’m hoping to find records that show who went and when.

Comments

Hi Kathie! I have been studying Jamestown recently myself and hope I can offer some help. Jamestown, Martin's Brandon, Martin's Hundred, and others were settled by Adventure Merchants of England granted by King James I. Taking a closer look at what was happening at the time, especially at Martin's Brandon, where at least John Martin was travelling back and forth from the colonies to England quite frequently, on one occasion to obtain a better patent, and another to defend his patent. His Martin's Brandon Plantation on the James River down the river from Jamestown caused issues, ranging from problems from the neighbors about what kind of people were living and associated with the property, to his business associate, George Bargrave (Bargrave-4) using his extensive trading charter patent to bring in the first slaves to America.

In order to make sense of the records available, it really makes sense also understand the people, the time, and the situation going on: These people were wealthy merchants, and in many cases, Captains. Where you see "Captain" and the Virginia Company, just know you are looking at THE world travelers of the day, who also went to Bermuda Trinidad and Jamaica amongst other places, and certainly went back and forth to England, mostly for business purposes, only to sail off again. To find the the records, you have to know what you are looking for so you know it when you find it. In this case you are looking for candidates in Jamestown with the ability to sail back and forth: John Martin, John Smith, and John Rolfe to name 3.

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My particular interest is women, especially well-off ones.  The Crowshaw men have missing wives, it’s highly likely they were alive and in England, so either they came to Virginia and returned to England, or their husbands went back and forth.

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My particular interest is in the women as well, because they are the key to what happened in the next generation. So for example, I find that Mary Brandon, John Martin's wife, had a daughter, Dorcas who married in England to George Bargrave. John Martin was disinherited from his father's will for marrying a "commoner", even though she was well connected in Virginia. This begs the question, how did Mary Brandon and John Martin's marriage certificate get recorded in London? Why does her son in law die in England? There are two women in this story found in England, with strong connections to Jamestown. I only found this information by studying the lives of the men connected with them, and can then go on to find where they would possibly have been and records that could support that further. Passenger lists are just that: lists. I've gone over these lists over and over and glean very little... it's only until I have thoroughly educated myself about the people in the lists in general: why they came over, their family connections, relationships to one another, business or family, or both, etc. Connections are revealed in unexpected places, and then we can add that to what we are looking at when we review passenger lists. The husbands definitely went back and forth, and the wives, likely maintained property in England, because the siblings that didn't go to the colonies would have stayed back supporting the mother, and the mother staying as a base of operations for the husbands to return to. I am not studying the Croshaws personally, I am just trying to share what has helped me get further in my research because I certainly have been stumped in a similar way navigating passenger lists.