William Downing Jr. (1649 - 1712)

Born 1649 in Northumberland, Virginia

Descendants

Died 1712 at about age 63 in Northumberland, Virginia

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Biography

Native Virginian

William Downing Jr. was born about 1649 in Northumberland County, Virginia. He was the son of Captain William Downing Sr. and his wife Margaret ("Margery") Downing [see William for discussion on this].

William's father, William Sr., was a sea captain, a planter, and a justice of the local county court. He is mentioned in the Northumberland County records on 20 January 1655 when John Edwards assigned his interest in a patent for land to Downing.

William Jr. had a brother named John, a brother named Thomas and a sister, Mary. He grew up on his father's farm and attended local schools. Other siblings included George, Charles, and Patience.

On January 27, 1668, "William Downing of Great Wicocomoco River, planter" deeded property to his children as follows: To his eldest son, William, and his son, John, 600 acres of land up the north side of horse-path and bounding east upon Wm. Wildy and west upon Richard Nelms. Two cows to [name indecipherable] and to his daughter, Mary Downing, one cow.

On the same day, Capt. William Downing Sr. was sworn a Justice of the Court, an office he held until his death in 1683.

Having received a large tract of land from his father in 1668, William Jr. became a farmer and soon married. He and his wife, Mary (Norton) Downing, had three children: Elizabeth, Ann and Margery.

Elizabeth was born 23 September 1670 and baptized 30 December 1670 (St. Stephen's parish records). She married to William Smith.

Anne was born about 1671 and married to Richard Nutt. They are named as co-heirs in William Downing Jr.'s probate case, dated 26 July 1712.

Marjery was born about 1673.

William Downing Jr.'s father, William Sr., died in 1683. The captain's will was dated 9 February 1682 and probated in September - October 1683.

William Jr.'s mother Mrs. Margaret Downing, widow of Capt. Downing, married secondly in 1684 to Mr. Edward Typton, and they had a son, Joseph Typton, ca. 1685. Thus William Downing Jr. gained a small step-brother named Typton when he himself was age 35.

William Jr.'s youngest daughter, Marjery, married Joseph Hudnall ca. 1688. They had at least four children: John, Joseph, Ann and Mary Hudnall are clearly named in Joseph's will. After Joseph's death, Marjery (Downing) Hudnall married secondly (around 1710) to Samuel Blackwell.

William Downing Jr. died in 1712.

Because he had no sons, his land went to his youngest daughter Marjery, her children, and her husband, Samuel Blackwell. See the articles in Williams and Mary Quarterly, below, for more details.

Sources

See also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 12 December 2016, 14:52), entry for William Downing(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:MYDD-F11); contributed by various users.

• Keach, Mrs. O.A. "The Downings of Northumberland County" William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 24 (1916) pp. 189 - 193. William Downing Jr., his wife Mary, and their daughters Elizabeth, Ann and Margery are mentioned on page 190.

• Keach, Mrs. O.A. "John Downing of Fairfields, Northumberland County, Virginia, and His Descendants," William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 25 (1916) pp. 41 - 51.

• Keach, Mrs. O.A. "John Downing of Fairfields, Northumberland County, Virginia, and His Descendants (continued)" William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 25 No. 2 (October 1916) pp. 96 - 106.

Acknowledgements

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