Jabez Whitaker (1595 - aft. 1651)

Born 6 Dec 1595 in Lambeth, Surrey, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Bourchier) Whitaker — married 16 Jul 1619 in Lamb's Chapel, Monkwell Street, London

Descendants

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Biography

Jabez Whitaker is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society

Jabez Whitaker was a Jamestown colonist.

Earlier Life

Jabez was the son of William Whitaker and Joan Taylor.^[1] He was born on 6 December 1595^[1], within days of his father’s death, and baptised at St Clement's, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England on 11 December 1595.^[2][3]

He married Mary Bourchier, on 16 July 1619, at Lamb's Chapel, Monkwell Street, London.^[4][5] She was the daughter of John Bourchier, Knt., of Hanging Grimston, Yorkshire and Lambeth, Surrey, by Elizabeth, daughter of George Verney, Esq.^[1][6] Jabez and Mary had one son, William.^[1]

Virginia

Jabez Whitaker went to Virginia in 1619 soon after his marriage, under the auspices of the Virginia Company, and settled in Elizabeth City.^[1][7] He was Lieutenant of the Virginia Company's men in 1620.^[1]

Like his half-brother Alexander Whitaker, Jabez was involved in missionary activity among the Indians. He was in charge of tenants at College Land, an area set aside by a November 1618 Order for the endowment of a College "for the training of the children of those Infidels in true Religion, Moral Virtue, and Civility."^[8] Jabez had 50 colonists under his command, and was based near Jamestown.^[9] The Virginia Company was told in 1620, that he gave a "good account of the trust reposed in him".^[10] A letter dated May 1621 to the Virginia Company treasurer Sir Edwin Sandys, reported on Jabez's activities for the Company.^[11][8]

At the request of the Virginia Company, Jabez built a guesthouse for the sick and for those who "came weak from the sea". This is a very early example of a hospital set up by English colonists in North America. In recognition of this, of his planting vines, corn and other crops, and his having "railed in" (fenced) 100 acres, the Virginia Court resolved, in July 1621, to send him "two boys" and to confirm the award of tobacco granted him by the Governor of Virginia.^[8][12]

By March 1622, Jabez had been promoted to Captain^[13], and he was often named in contemporary records as "Captain Whitaker"^[1]. That year his father-in-law sought permission on his behalf for him to come to England, leaving his wife and child in Virginia, in order to acquire "necessaries" but not staying long in England.^[14]

He was a member of the Assembly of Virginia in early 1624,^[15] representing Elizabeth City^[8][16], and was appointed to the Council of Virginia on 4 March 1626^[1][17][18].

Jabez's wife Mary, was living 5 April 1626^[1], when she was granted the administration of her father's estate.^[1]

Later Life

• Crossle's Genealogical Abstracts include a note of a Chancery Bill for the case of Richard Jordan v. Jabez Whitaker, with associated dates of 29 April 1639 and 16 June 1640.^[19]
• Jabez appears to have moved to Barbados by 1646. The will of his brother William, gentleman of Barbados, dated 20 October 1649, appointed his "loving Brother Jabez Whitaker" as an overseer of the will.^[20]
• On 23 May 1650 the General Assembly of Barbados named Captain Jabez Whitticar/Whiticar (the name is spelled both ways) as one of those who might be asked to investigate recent disturbances of the peace on the island.^[21]
• On 11 June 1651 Jabez Whitaker proved the will of Richard Vines of Barbados.^[22]
• "Jabez Whittaker" was one of the members of the General Assembly of Barbados who, on 5 November 1651, subscribed to a Declaration of the General Assembly that they would continue to back the then royalist Francis Willoughby (5th Baron Willoughby) in resisting the Parliamentarian Navy.^[23]

Research Notes

Douglas Richardson does not give a death date for Jabez Whitaker. Harry Culverwell Porter, in the footnote at the end of his article on Jabez’s half-brother Alexander, states that Jabez died in 1624^[8], but that is clearly wrong. The “Later Life” section of this profile gives evidence suggesting to his being alive in late 1651.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Douglas Richardson Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), volume IV, page 332 WHITAKER 14.ii
2. ↑ Cambridgeshire Baptisms, FindMyPast. Surname spelled Whittekers in the transcript.
3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N8KV-CM6 : accessed 21 March 2016 and 29 January 2019; citing Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, reference - 2:2JR3GQW; FHL microfilm 1,040,438. Surname spelled Whittekers in the transcript.
4. ↑ Parish register of Lamb's Chapel, London - image elsewhere on this profile page
5. ↑ "Boyd's marriage index", 1538-1850, in the collection of the Society of Genealogists, London, transcript can be viewed at FindMyPast
6. ↑ Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, volume I, pages 290-291 BOURCHIER
7. ↑ Frederick A Virkus, editor. Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964, repr. 1986, p. 72
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4} Harry Culverwell Porter. Alexander Whitaker: Cambridge Apostle to Virginia, The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3 (July 1957), pp. 342-343 (footnote 71) - can be viewed at JSTOR, (free) account signup required
9. ↑ Susan Myra Kingsbury (ed.). Records of the Virginia Company, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1906-35, vol. III p. 226
10. ↑ Records of the Virginia Company, vol. I p. 370
11. ↑ Records of the Virginia Company, vol. III pp. 441-443
12. ↑ Records of the Virginia Company, vol. I p. 508
13. ↑ Records of the Virginia Company, vol. III p.571
14. ↑ Records of the Virginia Company, Vol. II p. 50
15. ↑ Whitaker, Jabez - A8703; died 1628, Jamestowne Island: 1626-28 (Councillor). accessed 8 November 2021
16. ↑ Records of the Virginia Company, vol. IV p. 585
17. ↑ Nomination by the Council of Virginia of Sir George Yardley to be Governor, quoted in Nath Butler, Virginia Carolorum, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, July 1885, pp. 157-158, can be viewed at Internet Archive
18. ↑ Martha W McCartney. Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007, p. 740, page can be viewed at Google Books
19. ↑ "Crossle's Genealogical Abstracts - genealogical abstracts of Irish documents, many of which have since been lost", by Dr Francis Crossle and his son Philip Crossle in the late 19th century. Image at FindMyPast
20. ↑ Will can be viewed at UK National Archives. Image of Will also at ancestry.co.uk
21. ↑ Nicholas Foster. A brief relation of the late horrid rebellion acted on the island Barbados, in the West-Indies, 1650, pp.71-73, facsimile published by the Royal Colonial Institute, 1878, viewed on 1 February 2019 at Internet Archive.
22. ↑ Joanne Mcree Sanders., Barbados Records: Wills and Administrations, volume 1, Sanders Historical Publications, 1979, p.366: snippet can be viewed at Google Books
23. ↑ Full text of the declaration, including the list of subscribers, quoted in N Darnell Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads in Barbados, Argosy Press, pub. Georgetown, British Guiana 1887, pp.217-219, viewed on 1 February 2019 at Cavaliers and Roundheads in Barbados

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013, Vol. I. page 492 and Vol. V. page 360. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.'
• Porter, Harry Culverwell Porter. Alexander Whitaker: Cambridge Apostle to Virginia, The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3 (July 1957), pp. 342-343 (footnote 71) - can be viewed at JSTOR, (free) account signup required

Acknowledgments

Magna Carta Project

Jabez Whitaker is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry as a Gateway Ancestor (vol. I, pages xxiii-xxix) in a Richardson-documented trail to Magna Carta Surety Baron Robert de Ros (vol. IV, pages 331-332 WHITAKER). This trail was developed for the Magna Carta project by Michael Cayley and was reviewed and approved by Gordon Warder Jr in October 2019. The trail is outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of his brother's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".