Captain William Powell - Virginia

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Colony of Virginia
Surname/tag: Powell

Related Profiles

• Nathaniel Powell (abt.1577-1622)
• William Powell (abt.1577-bef.1624)

Genealogy.com Post by Powell

From Re: Captain William Powell - Virginia by Lee Powell, May 27, 2009.

I found this in my notes. Hope it will help Capt. William Powell along with the other survivors of the Sea Venture” do not arrive in Jamestown until May 23, 1610, eight and a half months after Smith leaves. There is no record of the two men having ever meet.

The next major error is that Capt. William Powell and Capt. Nathaniel Powell were brothers. They were kinsmen, not brothers, they were probably first or second cousins. This is in the London Company and the British Chancellery records. Nathaniel did have a brother named Thomas who lived in Howelton, Suffolk, England and did later inherited his estate after Nathaniel and his wife were killed by Indians March 22, 1622.

There are many false stories about Capt. William Powell and his family. The first is, he was not the son of Hugh Powell Jr. of Castle Madoc, Brecon, Wales. Hugh Powell’s son William was born in 1580 at Castle Madoc. He became a poet and remained in Wales where he died in 1620. Capt. William Powell was born 1577 in St. Olave Parish Southwark, Surry, England, son of John Powell, who is said to have been a brewer. His baptismal records are at St. Olave Parish Church.

Capt. William Powell is said to have first married Elizabeth Wells of St. Olave Parish. Some people claim that she came to Jamestown with William in 1609/10 and brought their children and that she died there in Jamestown. This is not true, as records indicate she died in 1626 in her home town of St. Olave Parish. Neither her name or the names of her children appear in the London Company Records, (another point later). William took a so called second wife in Jamestown named Margaret Stitt. I say so called, as in the Chancellery records there was a suite filed by a Thomas Powell against a William Powell for bigamy. There is no way to directly tie this to Capt. William Powell, but it fits.

When Capt. William Powell died in January 1623, (note I said died not killed), The London Company repossessed his estate on the grounds that he had no heirs. If he had been legally married to Margaret, she and/or their children would have inherited the estate. If his first wife, Elizabeth and their children had of come to Jamestown, the company would been aware that he had heirs in England as well as his fellow colonist.

More false hoods! In his book Smith says that Capt. William Powell was killed by Indians. This was just a story to make the book more exciting. Letters in the London Company records report William’s death by disease after being weakened by low rations. The winter of 1622/23 was known as the starving time when many, many people died. Not long after William Powell died Margaret married Edward Blaney and then she died shortly after that, 1624.

Another error that I have found, is that some people claim, William and Margaret had children. The 1624 Mustard list (census) only one child with the name Powell, and that was John Powell, Jr. son of John Powell, Sr. and his wife Katherine. Another laughable error is that many of these people claim that these children were born in 1626 and dates after that. Please check your dates, as dead people cannot have children.

I hope this will help those people who find these errors in their family trees to correct them. Please do not take offence as is not pointed at any one person and is meant to help those who have received the misinformation and taken it as fact.

Enjoy your research into your family history, and have a good day,

Doug Collins, [email address listed on original site, but deleted here per WikiTree guidlines]

Genealogy.com Post by Webb

From Re: Captain William Powell - Virginia by tracy webb, June 8, 2009.

Actually your notes are also incorrect:

"Capt. William Powell along with the other survivors of the Sea Venture” do not arrive in Jamestown until May 23, 1610, eight and a half months after Smith leaves. There is no record of the two men having ever meet."

Thomas Powell was on the "Sea Venture"...he was the cook of Sir George Somers.While shipwrecked on the island of Bermuda he married Elizabeth Persons, the maid of Lady Horton.

Capt. William Powell did not arrive until 1611 with Captain Thomas Gates on his return from England.

"The next major error is that Capt. William Powell and Capt. Nathaniel Powell were brothers. They were kinsmen, not brothers, they were probably first or second cousins. This is in the London Company and the British Chancellery records. Nathaniel did have a brother named Thomas who lived in Howelton, Suffolk, England and did later inherited his estate after Nathaniel and his wife were killed by Indians March 22, 1622."

The records state that Capt. Wm Powell had filed for letters of administration on the estate of Nathaniel Powell; then he died and his widow Margaret remarried Edward Blaney.Blaney, as the now administrator of his wife's estate/assets attempted to claim the estate on her behalf; in the meantime, the heirs of Nathaniel Powell wrote a letter of complaint to the Virginia Company stating that they were in no way related.Because the Virginia Company had such a high regard for Capt Nathaniel Powell, and because he was a Gentleman, they interceded on the behalf of his brothers and sisters (in England), and sent a letter to Virginia with explicit instructions on handling the estate properly, remarking it was especially important because they were poor.

"Capt. William Powell is said to have first married Elizabeth Wells of St. Olave Parish. Some people claim that she came to Jamestown with William in 1609/10 and brought their children and that she died there in Jamestown. This is not true, as records indicate she died in 1626 in her home town of St. Olave Parish. Neither her name or the names of her children appear in the London Company Records, (another point later). William took a so called second wife in Jamestown named Margaret Stitt. I say so called, as in the Chancellery records there was a suite filed by a Thomas Powell against a William Powell for bigamy. There is no way to directly tie this to Capt. William Powell, but it fits."

If Capt. Wm Powell were a bigamist it would be well known ...because he was well known in Virginia and to the Va Company in London.His heirs are also documented as you will see below...

"When Capt. William Powell died in January 1623, (note I said died not killed), The London Company repossessed his estate on the grounds that he had no heirs. If he had been legally married to Margaret, she and/or their children would have inherited the estate. If his first wife, Elizabeth and their children had of come to Jamestown, the company would been aware that he had heirs in England as well as his fellow colonist."

His estate was not repossessed.

"More false hoods! In his book Smith says that Capt. William Powell was killed by Indians. This was just a story to make the book more exciting. Letters in the London Company records report William’s death by disease after being weakened by low rations. The winter of 1622/23 was known as the starving time when many, many people died. Not long after William Powell died Margaret married Edward Blaney and then she died shortly after that, 1624."

The starving time was between Oct of 1609 to May of 1610; The settlers decided to leave the settlement when the arrival of Gates saved the colony.Gates then returned to England and came back in 1611 with 150 men and heavy provisions.It was on this return trip that Capt Wm Powell came to Virginia.

The winter of 1622/23 was known as time when retaliatory raids were launched against the Natives.Because of the colonists success in these raids, more land was made available for settlement.This would be the beginning of the end for the Native Tribes of Virginia...

Another error that I have found, is that some people claim, William and Margaret had children. The 1624 Mustard list (census) only one child with the name Powell, and that was John Powell, Jr. son of John Powell, Sr. and his wife Katherine. Another laughable error is that many of these people claim that these children were born in 1626 and dates after that. Please check your dates, as dead people cannot have children.

The only thing that is laughable is this narrative;I too have seen charts with dates that cannot work and like many others I find it annoying to see these errors because it shows that the person who created it as well as those who accept it as fact don't really care about genealogy and are happy to have a total pile of crap for their family history.

It is a fact that Capt. William Powell had heirs.Please read the following from the records of Surry County, Virginia:

1 July 1656:Indenture between William Powell, Southwarke Parish, Baker and administrator of Capt. William Powell late of Chippoakes, his natural brother, deceased,and heir unto George Powell, natural son of the said Capt. William Powell, also since deceased, and William Parke of Leadenhall Street, London, and Ann his wife, Ann grandchild of the said William Powell party to these presents of the one part, and William Batt of Chippoakes Creek, Colony of Virginia, of the other part.William Powell ...William Parke and Ann his wife for a certain consideration sell all their rights to 800 acres of land, late in the possession of the said William Powell and George Powell, his son, in Surry County;600 acres in Lower Chippoakes on the James River...and 200 acres on Little Creek, called Crouches Creek...William Powell, William Parke, Ann Parke, Ar. Bailey, John White, Robert Fox, Fra. Mayo Surry Co, DB I p. 93

Captain William Powell left two known sons:Richard and George.Richard died before George and left a daughter Mary; Thomas Warren of Surry became Mary Powell's guardian. She died about the age of 15 according to witnesses.The estate of Capt. William Powell went to his surviving heirs, which was his brother, also named William and William's daughter Ann (in Southwarke).All of the documents to back this up are to be found in the Surry Co, VA Courthouse.

"I hope this will help those people who find these errors in their family trees to correct them. Please do not take offence as is not pointed at any one person and is meant to help those who have received the misinformation and taken it as fact."

I also hope to help people correct their errors. And if anyone finds this offensive then they can check their own facts.

"Enjoy your research into your family history, and have a good day,

Doug Collins, [email address listed on original site, but deleted here per WikiTree guidlines]

If any errors are found in my version of the facts, please feel free to respond.

Tracy Webb [email address listed on original site, but deleted here per WikiTree guidlines]