Francis (Moryson) Morrison (1601 - 1681)

Born 1601 in Cork, County Munster, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1681 at about age 80 in Bishops Waltham, Hampshire, England

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Biography

Francis (Moryson) Morrison is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society

Francis (Moryson) Morrison was a Virginia colonist.

Colonel Sir Francis Moryson^[1] (aka Morrison) was a prominent Virginia planter, soldier and political official between 1649 and 1677. Born in Munster, Ireland, where his father held the office of Vice President of Munster, in 1601, he was the son of Sir Richard Moryson (aka Morrison) and his wife Elizabeth Harrington, daughter of Sir. Henry Harrington. In 1615 the family returned to England, settling in Leicestershire where his father was a Member of Parliament in 1621.^[2]

A member of the English aristocracy, Francis was a professional soldier and career administrative official like his father. Having fought for King Charles I in the first years of the English civil war, he left London with his fellow loyalists, Colonel Henry Norwood, Major Richard Fox and major Francis Cary, bound for Virginia, on September 23, 1649, landing in November. Later, he was shipwrecked on June 12, 1650, among the islands of Assateague Bay, off the Atlantic coast of Eastern Shore, Virginia.

Colonel Moryson, with several of his companions, landed on an island and eventually managed to cross over to the main shore where he was kindly received by Governor Sir William Berkeley, who gave him the command of the fort at Point Comfort. He then brought his wife and children to Virginia in about 1652. By 1655 he was elected the Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, was Deputy Governor of Virginia from April 30, 1661 to 1662, and when Governor Berkeley visited England in 1662, he named Francis Moryson Acting Governor until the fall of 1663.^{[3] [4]}

After the return of Berkeley to Virginia, in 1663, he sent Col. Moryson as the colony's agent to England at an annual salary of £200 to protest against a grant of the Northern Neck to several favorites of King Charles II. He remained as agent in England till 1677, when he returned to Virginia as one of a commission to enquire into the disturbances known as Bacon's Rebellion. The commissioners held court at Swann's Point, across the James River opposite Jamestown, which had been destroyed. Their very-complete report opposed Governor Berkeley's point of view. Soon after, Francis Moryson returned to England, and died at his home in Hampshire in 1681.^[5]

Francis Moryson/Morrison married Cecilia Rawlins, sister of Giles Rawlins, exact marriage date unknown. They had a daughter, Edith, born in 1631 and a son Henry, who in 1699 was Colonel of the Coldstream Foot Guards in England.^[6]

NOTE: Some genealogies suggest that Col. Moryson had a first wife before Cecilia Rawlins and that she, Mary Winston, was the mother of his daughter Edith. ^[7]As far as I can tell, such genealogies suggest Mary Winston was from Virginia and that Edith therefore was born in Virginia. This is possible but no proof has been found of this relationship or that Francis Moryson traveled to Virginia before 1649 when he fled England that had just executed King Charles I.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Moryson/Morrison, Francis - A5607; living in 1678, Jamestowne: 1656 (Speaker of House of Burgesses); 1660-63 (Councillor); 1661 (Deputy Governor). accessed 8 October 2021
2. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Moryson
3. ↑ http://vagenweb.org/tylers_bios/vol1-05.htm
4. ↑ Francis Moryson, New River Notes, Colonial Virginia Register
5. ↑ See Note 3 above and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Moryson.
6. ↑ http://www.geni.com/people/Francis-Moryson-Governor-of-Virginia/6000000001322198040
7. ↑ http://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Winston/6000000001322198053?through=6000000008933500084 and http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=tlhenryfamily&id=P2234 or http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=buffhistorybuff2&id=I75676
8. ↑ Added by Chet Snow December 4, 2014.

• http://www.geni.com/people/Francis-Moryson-Governor-of-Virginia/6000000001322198040
• http://vagenweb.org/tylers_bios/vol1-05.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Moryson
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Moryson

• http://genealogytrails.com/vir/governors.html
• http://www.virtualjamestown.org/exist/cocoon/jamestown/fha/J1025
• https://www.geni.com/people/Governor-of-Virginia-Francis-Morrison
• https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:EB1911_-_Volume_28.djvu/141oryson/6000000001322198040

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Travis Wagner for creating this WikiTree profile on May 16, 2012.

Thanks to Chet Snow for researching, editing and writing the biography section and adding sources.