Once a Knight is Enough

Knight Genealogy

by Laura Knight

A Gathering of Angels and Devils

As I transcribed the records of Virginia, and began to notice the repeating associations of certain families, I went back to the beginning and tried to find when some of these associated families first appeared. After a time, as I read about the interactions and fates of many of these individuals and their descendants, I started to think of the initial colonizing of Virginia as a sort of "gathering" and the expression "A Gathering of Angels" came to mind. The only problem was, it was clear that some few of these people were devils! But there was enough of the angelic kind, good, hard-working, decent and kind people, to keep the reference. The end result, as you will see, is a collection that includes more than just members of Knight families; this can be useful because the Knights that went to Virginia somehow tended to "fly under the radar" much of the time and the only way we may be able to capture them, and have some idea of what they were up to, is by tracking those people with whom they were known to associate or with whom they earlier or later intermarried.

Knight Records 1620 - 1629

See Knight Records 1166-1549 for key.

1620 – Feb 10 – UK Hampshire Chawton – Will – John Knight, Esq – This will is long, the image is muddy, the script is messy, so I’m going to resort to the History of Parliament here. This John Knight was the son of Nicholas Knight of Chawton; his mother was Elizabeth Standen, daughter of John Standen, Yeoman, of Sussex. He married Mary Neale, daughter of William Neale of Warnford.

“Knight’s call to the bar is mentioned in the Middle Temple records in June 1603, but it was not confirmed until the following February, over 20 years after his admission. During the next few years he was fined for not attending vacation readings, and in May 1612 he was fined £5 for not reading himself. By 1615, when he surrendered his chamber, he was styled ‘a master of the utter bar’. Clearly he did not need to make a living as a lawyer.

“Although family disputes over his father’s will were not settled until 1596, he inherited several manors in Hampshire, and between 1593 and 1611 he bought more land, mainly in the neighbourhood of Alton. He rebuilt Chawton house, where his initials and the date 1588 appear on one of the firebacks, and founded ‘Knight’s Charity’ with a £6 rent charge on Amery farm, Alton.”

The charity is discussed in the first part of the will. His heir was George Gunter, son of his daughter Joan Knight Gunter. There are detailed bequests of money, plate and rings to relatives and friends and he gave 5 or 10 pounds to numerous servants. The residue of the estate went to his brother, Stephen Knight, Clerk, who was executor. It is through Stephen that the estate ultimately passed. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1599-1623, Piece 137: Dale, Quire Numbers 1-63 (1621))

1620 - Mar – VA Jamestown – Info – Census - Virginia's first muster, or census, was compiled in March 1620, at which time the population included 892 Europeans and, among "Others not Christians in the Service of the English," four Indians and thirty-two Africans. Fifteen of the Africans were male and seventeen were female. Although it is uncertain where the Africans lived, some probably resided at Jamestown in the households of Sir George Yeardley and Captain William Peirce, both of whom later were credited with having black servants. (Coldham and others)

1620 – May 12 – UK Kent Maidstone – Bap – William Knight – s/o Gabriel Knight (Tyler)
Note: Appears to say “twins” and the other child, a dau named Francis, was bur Oct 8 that year.

1620 – Jul 2 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Peter Knight - s/o Peter Knight & Cicely (London Met Arch)
Note: This is, most likely, the birth record of Capt. Peter Knight of Northumberland County VA.

1620 – Jul 15 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Mary Knight - d/o Arthur Knight & Ursula (London Met Arch)
Note: The scribe wrote “Ann” instead of the recently married Ursula, by mistake (see marriage bond above); however, this error surely gives us the name of the first wife.

1620 – Aug 10 – UK Kent Tenterden – Mar – John Knight & Sara Lunsford (Tyler)

1620 – Aug 13 – UK Kent New Romney Hope – Bap – Peter Knight - s/o Peter Knight (Tyler)

1620 – Aug 30 – UK London St Bride – Bap – David Knight - s/o Edward Knight & Elizabeth (London Met Arch)

1621 - Jan – VA Warrasquioake / Isle of Wight – Admin - Nathaniel Basse - Land patent to Nathaniel Basse, Arthur Swayne, and associates: 300 acs. (McCartney 2007, p. 51)

1621 – Feb 10 – UK Kent Harrietsham – Bap – Thomas Knight – s/o John Knight (Tyler)

1621 – Apr 14 – UK Kent Hythe – Bur - Mrs Knight, wife of William Knight - Monumental Inscription: Here lieth interr’d the Body of Mrs ……../KNIGHT, late Wife of William Knight, Gent. Daughter of Thomas TOKE, near Dover, Gent deceased. who died after she had completed 60 Yeares. The 14th Day of April, Anno Dni. 1621. And, also, here lieth interred the Body of Julian KNIGHT, Daughter of John KNIGHT, Gent. who departed this Life the 27th Day of May, Anno Dni. 1639 being ye Age of 10 Yeares. (Monumental Inscriptions  Noted by Rev Bryan Faussett in 1757, transcribed by Christine Pantrey)

1621 – Jul 1 – UK Hampshire Alresford – Admin – John Knight, Miller - Counterpart lease for 21 years from Sir Daniel Norton of Southwick to John Knight of Alresford, miller, of the Lower Mills or Andrewes Mills in New Alresford together with the fishing of the mill waters, reserving right of access to Sir Daniel to fish for trout; paying £20 yearly. (Hampshire Archives and Local Studies, Ref: 5M50/1091)

1621 – Jun 5 – UK Kent Benenden – Mar – Robert Knight & Hester Reader (Tyler)

1621 – Jun 23 – UK Sussex – Ox Alum – John Knight – Of Sussex, pleb. Magdalen Hall, matric. 23 Jun 1621, aged 17; B.A. 21 Oct 1624, rector of Elsted, Sussex, 1626, and of West Itchenor 1641.  See Foster’s Index Eccl. (Oxford University Alumni 1500-1886, p. 861)

1621 – Jul 8 – UK Norfolk Norwich – Bap – Peter Knight - s/o Nicholas Knight (London Met Arch, Norfolk Arch)

1621 – Sep 8 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Alice Knight - d/o Peter Knight & Cicely (London Met Arch)

1621 – Sep 13 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Alice Knight - d/o Peter Knight & Cicely. (London Met Arch)

1621 - Oct 4 – VA Warrasquioake / Isle of Wight – Admin - Edward Bennett – Land patent to Bennett and Associates granted by the Virginia Company. The first contingent of 120 of Bennett’s settlers arrived with Capt. Ralph Hamor before Feb. 1622. Fifty of these would be dead in the upcoming Indian attack.  An African named Antonio arrived in Virginia aboard the James. The following March, he was one of only a handful of people who managed to survive the attack on the plantation of Edward Bennett. (Dorman)

1621 – Nov 9 – UK London – Will – Robert Knight, Sailor – Died abroad; Ship: James Royal. Small bequests to numerous fellow sailors then estate to be divided between sisters Katherine Knight, Elizabeth Harrison, Alice Harrison, brother-in-law Thomas Harrison of London, Scrivener, they to be executors. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1599-1623, Piece 138: Dale, Quire Numbers 64-109 (1621))

1621 – Nov 18 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Arthur Knight - s/o Arthur Knight & Ursula; (London Met Arch)

1621 – Nov 19 – UK Kent Harrietsham – Mar – John Knight & Anne Wilkinson (Tyler)

1621 – Nov 25 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Arthur Knight - s/o Arthur Knight (London Met Arch)

1621 – Nov 26 – UK Sussex Pevensey – Mar – Peter Knight & Elizabeth Gower (London Met Arch)

1621 – UK Warwickshire – Admin – Francis Knight - Bond between Francis Knight, John Knight, Obadiah Sharpe and Thomas Saunders to fulfil the covenants of a lease.  (Warwickshire County Record Office, Ref: CR 1291/134)

1621 – UK Kent Hythe – Chancery – Peter Knight - Jane Cranmer, widow vs. Thomas Hudson, William Knight, William Reeve, William March, David Gorham, Thomas Browning, John Knight, Peter Knight, John Browning, Guy Langdon, Lawrence Wigmore, William Kitchin.: Bailiwick of the town and port of Hythe (Hethe alias Hithe), one of the cinque ports. Touching the rights, possessions, &c., of the mayor, jurats, and commonalty of the town. Survey. Demise to them of the manor by Reginold Knatchbull, and by them after to Robert Cranmer, plaintiff's husband. What quit-rents, &c., Robert received for his lands in the port? Meets and bounds of Saltwood Heath, Kent. (National Archives, Kew England, Ref: E 134/19Jas1/Mich25)

1621 – VA Jamestown – Info - William Claiborne (b. c. 1600 in Kent), a son of Thomas Clayborn, alderman and lord mayor of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, was offered a position as a land surveyor in the new colony of VA in 1621. The position came with a 200 acre land grant, a salary of 30 pounds a year, and the potential of fees paid by settlers needing surveying services. Within four years of his arrival he had secured grants for 1,100 acres (445 hectares) of land and a retroactive salary of £60 a year from the Virginia Colony's council. He also managed to survive the March 1622 attacks by native/Indian Powhatans on the Virginia settlers that killed more than 300 colonists. His financial success was followed by political success, and he gained appointment as Councilor in 1624 and Secretary of State for the Colony in 1626. Around 1627, he began to trade for furs with the native Susquehannock Indians from further north on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and two of its largest tributaries, the Potomac and Susquehanna Rivers. To facilitate this trade, Claiborne wanted to establish a trading post on Kent Island in the mid-way of the Chesapeake Bay. (Wikipedia and Hist of VA online)

1622 – Jan 19 – UK London St Dionis – Mar – Leonard Knight & Constance Benbowe (London Met Arch)

1622 – Mar 21 – UK London St Giles Cripplegate – Bap – Christopher Knight – s/o Yonge Knight, Joiner. (London Met Arch)

1622 - Mar22 – 1632 – Virginia Colony – Info - Second Anglo-Powhatan War - Indian massacre of the inhabitants of Virginia colony. On March 22, 1622, Opechancanough led a series of coordinated surprise attacks that concentrated on settlements upriver from Jamestown and succeeded in killing nearly a third of the English population. At the end of the day, an estimated 347 men, women, and children reportedly were dead. Perhaps assuming that the English were sufficiently humiliated, he did not pursue a final destruction of the colony. What followed, then, was a ten-year war in which the English repeatedly attacked the Indian food supply. After the conflict's only full-scale battle, fought in 1624, colonists estimated that they had destroyed enough food to feed 4,000 men for a year. Peace finally arrived in 1632, but by then the balance of power in Virginia had tipped toward the English.   (McCartney 2007, p. 35; Also see: James Douglas Rice, Encyclopedia Virginia, Library of Virginia, online)

1622 – Virginia Colony – Info -  Governor Sir Francis Wyatt - Establishes military commanders to administer the various settlements; these commanders in turn set up monthly courts to transact official business.  The General Assembly passed a bill to establish lower courts in the various settlements throughout the colony to help relieve the governor and his Council from certain responsibilities.

1622 – UK Cambridgeshire Cambridge – Camb Alum – Richard Knight - Matric. pens. from CLARE, Easter, 1622; B.A. 1625-6.

1623 – Feb 27 – UK London St Bride – Bap – William Knight - s/o Arthur Knight & Ursula (London Met Arch)

1623 – Mar 21 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Adria Knight - d/o John Knight & Adria (London Met Arch)

1623 – May 26 – UK London St Andrew - Bur – Francis Knight (London Met Arch)

1623 – May 27 – UK Kent Chillenden – Bap – John Knight – s/o John Knight (Tyler)

1623 – Jul 20 - UK Worcestershire Upton upon Severn – Admin - John Knight, Yeoman - Recognizance before Robert Bamefylde by John Knight of Upton upon Severn Yeoman William Williams of the same Yeoman and William Sandlans of Severn Stoke Yeoman for the appearance of the said John Knight at Sessions.  (Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, Ref: 1/1/47/11)

1623 – Jul 9 – UK Kent St Margaret at Cliffe – Mar – Peter Knight & Margaret Wilcocke (Tyler)

1623 – Jul 11 – UK Kent Old Romney – Bap – Susan Knight - d/o Walter Knight (Tyler)

1623 – Oct 8 – UK Middlesex High Holborn – Will – Elizabeth Knight, Widow – To my mother Sapperton, 5 pounds; to son Ferdinando Leonard, 5 pounds to be deducted out of such moneys as he is to pay for divers parcels of goods and household stuff which he has of mine to furnish his house etc; to daughter, Winefred my best gown and other items, and to her son, Michael, 50 shillings; all other of my goods, household stuff, plate, and whatever else is mine, I give to my two children, Onesiphorus Knight and Anne Knight equally. Onesiphorus shall enjoy his land after the death of his grandmother by his father’s will, that then he shall make to his sister Anne her portion 34 pounds; to William and Michael Walker, sons of my sister, Mary Walker, late deceased, 20 shillings apiece; son Onesiphorus to be executor. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1599-1623, Piece 142: Swann, Quire Numbers 67-130 (1623))
Note: The name, “Onesiphorus”, gave me fits until I read the clerical note in the margin where it was written more legibly. Apparently, there was a first husband and children from a first marriage, i.e. Ferdinando and Winefred Leonard. Testator does not name her deceased Knight husband.

1623 – Oct 19 – UK Kent Bicknor – Bap – Mary Knight – d/o Ingram Knight (Tyler)

1623 – Dec 9 – UK Cambridgeshire Little Gransden – Will – William Knight – Entire estate to his son, John Knight. ( PROB 11: Will Registers, 1599-1623, Piece 142: Swann, Quire Numbers 67-130 (1623), Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858)

1624 – Jan 4 – UK Kent Bicknor – Bap – Richard Knight – s/o James Knight (Tyler)

1624 - Jan 12 – VA James City – Admin - John Johnson, Yeoman -  “an ancient planter of James City” patents 100 acres… His first personal dividend…(Nugent I, p. 4)

1624 – Feb 13 – UK Kent Old Romney – Bap – Peter Knight - s/o Peter Knight (Tyler)

1624 - Feb – Virginia Colony – Info – Census - The population of Europeans in the Virginia colony was 906. A muster, or census, listed twenty-one Africans, down from thirty-two in 1620. Twelve of the Africans were identified by name, suggesting they had been baptized.  Some of the Africans probably had succumbed to summertime diseases which killed a majority of new residents during the colony's first few decades. For this reason, Virginia leaders periodically requested that ships carrying new servants arrive during the winter months, as opposed to August, when the White Lion had landed. Research suggests that some Africans may have been carrying a blood parasite that transmitted malaria, while their close contact with the European slave traders likely exposed them to other infectious diseases. They would have been susceptible to the various agues and fevers common to the Chesapeake Bay region, and probably suffered through the unfamiliar winter cold. And those Africans who did not die of disease may have died in the massacre of 1622. 

*   Four of the eleven Africans living at Flowerdew Hundred—a plantation on the upper reaches of the James River that leading merchant Abraham Peirsey had purchased from Governor Yeardley—were identified by name: Anthony, William, John, and another Anthony.

*   Three Africans resided at Jamestown, but only one was listed by name: a woman named Angelo (sometimes Angela) belonging to William Peirce.

*   An African named Edward lived in the Neck O'Land, the mainland behind Jamestown, and was part of the household headed by Richard Kingsmill, guardian of the late Reverend Richard Bucke's children.

*   Peter, Antonio, Frances, and Margaret resided on the lower side of the James River at Edward Bennett's plantation near the former Indian town of Warraskoyack, while Anthony and Isabella were members of Captain William Tucker's household in Elizabeth City (formerly Kecoughtan). One African was listed among the dead at West and Shirley Hundred, in the corporation of Charles City.

*   John Woodson and Sarah his wife are mentioned as living at Flowerdew Hundred , or as it was later called, Piersey’s Hundred, on the south side of James River, in what is now Prince George County.  Again and again I read in accounts of this family that “Dr. John Woodson purchased six African slaves in 1620 and that these were registered in 1623 as part of his household.” This is false as can be seen from the records above. The Muster record shows John Woodson and wife Sarah with "Corne, 4 bushells; Powder, 1 lb.; Lead, 3 lb.; Peece fixt, 1; Sword, 1".  (Coldham) No slaves, no medical title, nothing that sets them apart from the ordinary settlers.  For comparison, see the muster entry for Dr. John Potts below.

1624 – Feb – VA James City – Admin – Muster -  Doctor John Potts is enumerated along with “his men” and “servants”.  A Randall Holt was listed as one of “Doctor Pott’s Men in the Maine.”  He was apprenticed to Dr. Potts, the physician general to the colony. There is a theory that Holt was a relative of Dr. Potts as they both accompanied Sir Francis Wyatt to Virginia on the ship George, in 1621.  Dr. Potts served as governor of Virginia from 5 Mar 1628 to 9 Mar 1629. (Dorman 1, p. 28, 31; Dorman 2, p. 311) Note: The important point I would like to make here is the difference between the documentary survival regarding Dr. Potts and that of the alleged “Doctor” John Woodson. Had Woodson actually been a doctor, it is unlikely that the person(s) making the muster list, would have failed to note that fact; had he actually been the educated doctor that his descendant have claimed, his trajectory in the society of the colony would have been quite different. “Ancient Planters”, as they were termed, were entitled to land patents by virtue of their status as survivors. There is no record of the Woodson’s (John and Robert) acquiring land that would have been theirs by right as sons of an Ancient Planter; nor are the alleged sons, John and Robert Woodson noted as being sons of an Ancient Planter and having such rights when they finally do appear. That they didn’t suggests that their status was not what has been claimed.

1624 - Feb – VA Elizabeth City – Admin – Muster - A John Knight is listed as having died in Virginia between April 1623, and February 16, 1623/4, at Elizabeth City. (Coldham)

1624 - Feb – VA Warrasquioake / Isle of Wight – Admin – Muster -  Capt. Nathaniell Basse and his muster: Nathaniell Basse, aged 35, two other men; no wife, no children. (Dorman 2004, p. 46)

1624 - Feb – VA James City – Admin – Muster -  a Richard Knight, listed twice, among the dead. (Coldham 1987, p. 39)
Note: Was that two Richard Knights, or just one listed twice by mistake.  Probably the former.

1624 - Feb – VA Accomack / Northampton– Admin – Muster -  Benjamin Knight, aged 28, servant to Captain William Eppes, arrived on the ship Bona Nova from the Port of London, in 1620, listed in the Muster of Capt. William Eppes, inhabitants of the Eastern Shore, over the Bay.  (Coldham)  Mordecay Knight is found living in Hog Island as a servant of Capt. Ralph Hamor.  His age and date of arrival are unknown. He said that he arrived in Virginia as a passenger on the ship William & John from the Port of London.  (Coldham) Note: Mordecay “Knight” will appear further on with a will. Regarding Hog Island, it is first mentioned in the writings of John Smith (1580-1631) in respect of the Starving Time of 1609: "...but the hogges were transported to Hog Ile, where also we built a blocke house with a garrison, to give us notice of any shipping,..." (A map of Virginia With a description of the countrey, the commodities, people, government and religion.  Written by Captaine Smith, sometimes governour of the countrey.(1624))

1624 – Mar 6 – UK Kent Tenterden – Bap – Bartholomew Knight - s/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1624 - May 24 – UK London / Virginia Colony – Info - Following a yearlong investigation into mismanagement headed by Sir Richard Jones, justice of the Court of Common Pleas in England, the Crown revoked the Virginia Company of London's charter and assumed direct control of the Virginia colony. (VA Hist online)

1624 - Jun 3 – VA Elizabeth City – Admin – William Claiborne, Gent – Of James City. Land Patent for 150 acs. in the Corp. of Eliz. City…Due for trans. out of England at his own costs of 3 servts: William Harris in the George 1621, William Morris & John Pipps in the Tyger 1621. (Nugent I, p. 6)

1624 – Jun 7 – UK Kent Tenterden – Mar – Sarah Knight & William Baker (Tyler)

1624 - Aug 11 – VA Elizabeth City – Admin – Dr John Pott, Esq - Land Patentfor 3 acres. “Doctor of Physicks and one of the Councel of State. Lying about his house in the backstreete being part of his first devident for his personal adventure. Renewed Sept. 20 1628. Land laid out by William Claiborne (Clayborne). Fee Rent: 3 pence.” (Nugent I, p. 3)

1624 - Aug 14 – VA James City – Admin - Ralph Hamor, Esq – Land patent for 1 ½ acres, One of the Councell of State”for the better convenience and more comoditie of his howse by him erected and builded in the New Towne within the precincts of James City,” adj. Georg Menifee (Menefey), Richard Stephens & John Chew. “This ground was laid out by mee William Claiborne (Clayborne) it lacketh about 14 po. of one acre and a halfe.” (Nugent I, p. 2)

1624 – Aug 22 – UK Kent Lympne – Bap – Alice Knight - d/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1624 – Aug 25 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Sara Knight - d/o John Knight “an infant” (London Met Arch)

1624 – Sep 15 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Sarah Knight - d/o Thomas Knight & Sarah (London Met Arch)

1624 - Sep 20 – VA Elizabeth City – Admin – John Taylor – “Of Newport Newes, Yeoman & Ancient Planter”; Land patent for 50 acs…”This patent is resigned in Court 28 Nov 1635 & his whole devdt. for his owne person, being an old planter, 100 acs, was granted him to take it up where hee shall find convenient;  50 acs. more granted for his wife Rebecca Ravening whoe came in the Bonny Besse about 1623 and as hee saith paid her owne passage which hee is to make proofe of.” (Nugent I, p. 5) Note: The Taylors are associated with Knights and others in Uk and the colony, however, I am including this patent mainly as an example of how they were written with reference to being an “ancient planter”.

1624 - Sep 20 – VA Elizabeth City – Admin - Capt. William Tucker – “now Commander of Kiccoughtan, 150 acs. within the Corp. of Eliz. Citty… For his first devdt. & trans out of England at his own charges of George Tompson, Paule Tompson & William Tompson his wives bretheren.” (Nugent I, p. 5) Note: Tuckers are associated with Knights and related families; notice that the headright system used family members, relatives, friends as often as it used persons who were actually imported as indentured servants.

1624 – Sep 23 – UK Kent Stelling – Mar – Dennis Knight & James Spicer (Tyler)

1624 – Oct 4 – UK Wiltshire Westbury – Mar – Christopher Knight & Sybilla Hale (Wiltshier Council)

1624 – Oct 5 – UK Kent Goudhurst – Bur – Margaret Knight - w/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)
Note: I read this register back to 1602 (burials) and no other Knights appear. Baptisms begin 1558 and big chunks of the register are mixed up or missing, but found no other Knights prior to this one.

1624 – Oct 5 – UK Hertfordshire Sawbridgeworth – Mar – Peter Knight & Jane White (London Met Arch)

1624 - Oct – VA Charles City – Admin - Capt. George Yeardley – Sale of Weyanoke and Flowerdew Hundred to Abraham Peirsey. He had acquired the land in 1618., on the lower side of the James at a place called Tobacco Point.  (McCartney 2007, p. 62)

1624 – Nov 24 – UK Nottinghamshire Barton in the Beans – Admin – John Knight - Bargain and sale by William Stanhope to John knight of Elvaston, for £650, of land at Barton in the Beans including Adenbor ..., meadowe ground called Boots Steynard, and fishing in river Trent. (Derbyshire Record Office, Ref: D518M/T557B)

1625 - Jan/Feb – Virginia Colony – Info – Census - The population of Europeans in the Virginia colony was 1,232 at this time. The 1625 muster listed twenty-three Africans and a single Indian, all servants, who resided on plantations scattered from the mouth of the James to Flowerdew Hundred. As servants, they probably lived in houses separate from their European masters. And while the 1625 muster included, for most Europeans, the years in which they arrived and the ships on which they came, little such information was provided for Africans.

*   Three male and five female Africans lived in Yeardley's household at Jamestown; at Flowerdew Hundred, there were four African men, two women, and a child. An African man named John Pedro lived in the household of Francis West, of Elizabeth City, and the same Edward from 1624 still lived with Richard Kingsmill at Neck O'Land.

*   Captain Peirce's female African, Angelo, was said to have come to Virginia on the Treasurer in 1619. By 1625, Captain Tucker's Anthony and Isabella, in Elizabeth City, had produced a son, William; all three had been baptized.

*   Among the African slaves owned by the Bennett family in 1625 was Antonio (also listed in 1624), who had arrived on the James in 1621. In March 1622, he was one of just a handful of people who managed to survive Opechancanough's attack on the plantation, and he eventually gained his freedom. At some point, Antonio wed a woman named Mary, who had come to Virginia in 1622 on the Margaret and John, and the two lived as Anthony and Mary Johnson in Northampton County on the Eastern Shore. There, they raised four children and by the 1650s owned 250 acres of land. Their two sons owned adjoining farms of 450 and 100 acres each before the whole family moved to Maryland, in the 1660s. Anthony Johnson's grandson, John Johnson Jr., purchased a 44-acre farm there in 1677 and named it Angola.

*   On September 19, 1625, the General Court ordered Captain Nathaniel Basse to provide clothing for an African man named Brass (or Brase), who had come to Virginia with a Captain Jones and been sold to Captain Basse. The same decision awarded temporary custody of Brass to Lady Temperance Flowerdew Yeardley, the wife of Sir George Yeardley and a resident of Jamestown, who was then ordered to pay forty pounds of good tobacco per month for his labor "so long as he remayneth with her." On October 3, the court ruled again, this time transferring Brass to the custody of Governor Francis Wyatt and voiding the original sale Captain Jones had made to Captain Basse.

*   By 1628, the African population in Virginia jumped dramatically when the ship Fortune, out of Massachusetts Bay, captured a Portuguese slaver carrying about 100 Angolans, whom the captain sold in Virginia for tobacco. A muster planned for 1629 either did not take place or the records did not survive. (VA Hist online)

1625 – UK London – Info - There were 35,000 deaths due to plague in the City of London during this year.

1625 – Jan 2 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Sarah Knight - d/o Thomas Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Jan 8 – UK Kent Goudhurst – Bap – Ellen Knight – d/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1625 – Feb 5 – UK Kent Aldington – Bap – Richard Knight - s/o Richard Knight (Tyler)

1625 – Feb 18 – UK Dorset Weymouth / Melcombe Regis – Will – Robert Knight, Merchant – Wife, Prudence, use of everything during her life; sons, Henry Knight, Thomas Knight, Owen Knight, Francis Knight, Matthew Knight; daughters, Margaret and Joan. Considerable estate, detailed instructions. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 148: Hele, Quire Numbers 1-56 (1626))

1625 – Mar 6 – UK Kent Hythe – Bap – William Knight - s/o John Knight (Tyler)

1625 - Mar 6 – UK Kent Tenterden – Bap – Bartholomew Knight – s/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1625 – Mar 27 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Katherine Knight - d/o Arthur Knight & Ursula (London Met Arch)

1625 – May 1 – UK London St Bride – Bap – William Knight - s/o Peter Knight & Cicely (London Met Arch)

1625 – May 10 – VA James City VA – Admin - Francis Eppes (Epes) - Of Ashford, Kent, baptized 14 May 1597, was in Virginia by April 1625 when he was elected from Shirley Hundred to sit in the Assembly at James City on 10 May.  He was not in the census of 1623/4 or 1624/5, though he testified in a lawsuit on 9 Jan 1625/6.  He was appointed commissioner for the Upper Parts in 8 Aug of the same year. There is no record of him in Virginia between 1628 and 1631/2 and he apparently had returned to England where his son, Thomas, was born in London. He was back in Virginia in 1632 and a member of the House of Burgesses. (Dorman, pp. 854-866)
Note: Francis Eppes was the great-grandfather of Elizabeth Eppes who married John Knight of Sussex County VA, who left a will probated in February 1762.

1625 – Jul 18 – UK London St Andrew – Bur – Harris Knight - s/o John Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Aug 7 – UK London St Michael Wood St – Bur – Christopher Knight – s/o Christopher Knight, Chandler. (London Met Arch)

1625 – Aug 17 – UK London St Andrew – Bur – John Knight - s/o Nicholas Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Aug 31 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Margaret Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Sep 3 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Dau to Peter Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Sep 6 – UK London St Andrew – Bur – John Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Sep 20 – UK London St Andrew – Bur – Robert Knight - s/o John Knight (London Met Arch)

1625 – Oct 3 – UK Kent Goudhurst – Mar – Thomas Knight & Ellen Dawkins (Daukines) (Tyler)

1625 – Oct 22 – UK Middlesex Stepney – Nunc Will - Christopher Knight – Begins with an accounting of monies owed to himself:  “Mr. Browite oweth me 157 pounds and I have divers bonds of his in my trunk in the nest of boxes… I purpose to deliver him all his bonds and give him a release…” ; he is holding bonds from a G. Paunsfoote, for 250 pounds; Canby Hand, 160 pounds; Abraham van Hoegarden, 82 pounds; Manfred Lyons, 36 pounds; Peter Arthur owes 6 pounds; Wm. Leonard (Lennard) 15 pounds; Symon Durt, 15 pounds; Bastian Arian, 18 pounds; “and the other Bastian for 2 mo wages, 44 shillings”; some dealings with a Mr Lowe and Alexander Van Enis (?), Lowe owes 40 pounds; items about a Mr Errington and a ship and ships cargo (it appears); something about his land in Flanders; all these debts to him other than the two he released, he leaves to his brother, Leonard Knight and Leonard’s son, Richard, and something to be divided to his brother’s three children, Richard, Susan and Sara and to give something to the poor at his brother’s instruction; brother Leonard Knight to be executor. Signed 9th July 1625. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 147: Clarke, Quire Numbers 103-147 (1625))

1625 – UK Northamptonshire Abthorpe – Chancery – Elizabeth Knight, Widow - Knight v Hill.  Plaintiffs: Elizabeth Knight (widow of John Knight, gent of Abthorpe, Northamptonshire, who was son of Valentyne Knight, gent deceased late of Subberton [Soberton], Hampshire) and John Knight aged 14 years (their son) infant by his mother and guardian.  Defendants: William Hill and Elizabeth Hill his wife and William Knight.  Document type: bill and answer. (National Archives, Kew England, Ref: C 2/ChasI/K14/20)

1625 – UK Cornwall Liskeard – Chancery – Peter Knight - Marke v Knight. Plaintiffs: Richard Marke and Lore Marke, his wife (late the wife of Richard Findge).  Defendants: Peter Knight, Elizabeth Knight, his wife, Richard Scadgell and Joan Scadgell, his wife.  Subject: tenement in Market Street and land in Deane Cross in the borough of Liskeard, Cornwall.  Document type: [pleadings]. (National Archive, Kew England, Ref: C 2/JasI/M3/21)

1625 – UK Worcestershire Bromsgrove – Chancery – John Knight, Stephen Knight, Francis Knight - Tudman v Sheldon.  Plaintiffs: John Tudman.  Defendants: William Sheldon, Anthony Ludford, William Barnsley, William Langston, Roger Lowe, Thomas Fowne, Nicholas Lilly, John Lilly, Richard Barnford, Thomas Cooks, Henry Cooks, Edward Cooks, Thomas Stanley, Giles Butler, Richard Carpenter, Thomas Carpenter, John Carpenter, Nicholas Hill, John Knight, Francis Knight, Stephen Knight, William Chaunce, Thomas Flannell, Gilbert Kimberley, Walter Brace, John Westwood, Anthony Cole, Thomas Wilkes, John Tylt, Robert Cotty, Robert Newey, John Rastell, William Ashwell, Anthony Parshull, Nicholas Shalard, Robert Brooks, Gervase Penn, William Parr, Daniel Higgs, George Harding, Henry Taylor, Walker Rose, Roger Orford, Edward Harris, Kenelm Greete, Francis Stubbs, Edmund Hornblower, John Crab, John Harvey, Robert Harvey, Thomas Brace and William Tomes (inhabitants of Bromsgrove).  Subject: payment for the bells of Bromsgrove church, Worcestershire.  Document type: [pleadings] (National Archives, Kew England, Ref: C 2/JasI/T8/17)

1626 – Jan 2 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Sarah Knight - d/o Thomas Knight (London Met Arch)

1626 – Feb 16 – UK London Steyning – Admin – Christopher Knight – In Latin. Mentions Leonard Knight, Anne Gough, “alias Knight”; Henry Marten; George Sayre, Otto Weaverell. It appears that Anne Gough is the sister and Leonard Knight is the brother (see Leonard’s will). It’s a longish probate document. ( PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 151: Skynner, Quire Numbers 1-59 (1627), Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858)

1626 – Mar 12 – UK Kent Hythe – Bap – Elizabeth Knight - d/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1626 – Mar 16 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Thomas Knight - s/o Arthur Knight & Ursula (London Met Arch)

1626 – Apr 16 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Katherine Knight - d/o Thomas Knight & Sara (London Met Arch)

1626 – Apr 27 – UK London St Martin Ludgate – Will – Leonard Knight, Cit. & Grocer – Wishes to be buried in the church of St Martin Ludgate in the vault where his first wife is buried. Then, “According to the laudable custom of the City of London, divide my estate into 3 equal parts: one part to my wife Constance Knight; one third equal part to Richard Knight, Susan Knight and Sarah Knight, my children by my former wife, and any children I shall have by my current wife, share and share alike; the third part to be bequeathed as follows: to my sister Anne Gough, 20 pounds; to her husband, Edward Gough, 40 shillings to make him a ring; to brother Floyd, 40 shillings;  friend Samuel Harrison, my best black cloth cloak; remainder of estate to be divided in two parts, one half to go half to my son Richard Knight, and the other half divided between my two daughters, Susan and Sarah; all my land, tenements, appurtenances in the parish of Sutton at Hone and Wellington in the County of Kent lately came to my possession after the death of Richard Bland (or Blaney) of the County of Kent, Gent. and Sarah his wife, I give and bequeath the same to my son Richard Knight and his heirs forever and Richard to be executor; George Saris of London, Gent, overseer.   (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 148: Hele, Quire Numbers 1-56 (1626))
Note: Was his first wife a Bland? It appears that this is the Leonard who married Constance Benbowe in 1622.  He is also the son of Richard Knight, Merchant, who wrote his will in Bruges, Flanders, in 1585 and apparently died not long after.  This Leonard was apparently baptized 1577 Jul 31, and was only 49 when he died.

1626 – Aug 8 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Adria Knight - d/o John Knight & Adria  (London Met Arch)

1626 – Aug 20 – UK London St Michael Wood St – Bap – Christopher Knight – s/o Christopher Knight, Carpenter, and Rachel. (London Met Arch)

1626 – Oct 31 – UK London St Mary Steyning – Will – Richard Knight, Cit & Baker – Sisters Joane Knight & Elizabeth Hall; niece, Dorothy Hall; small bequests; to the wardens of the company of Whitebakers, 5 pounds; to the poor of the parish of St Mary Steyning, 20 shillings; friends John Wilson and Thomas Love to be executors.  (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 150: Hele, Quire Numbers 109-154 (1626))

1626 – Nov 12 – UK Kent Chillenden – Bap – Mary Knight – d/o John Knight (Tyler)

1626 – Nov 14 – UK Kent Canterbury – Mar – Roger Knight & Ann Tresser (Christenings, Marriages and Burialls in St Dunstan's, Canterbury, 1559-1800; by J Cowper; 1887; Canterbury, Kent, England)

1626 – Nov 25 – UK London St Martin Outwich – Camb Alum – Richard Knight, M.D. - Adm. pens. at EMMANUEL, Nov. 25, 1626. Matric. 1627; B.A. 1630-1; M.A. 1634. Licensed to practise medicine, 1638. M.D. 1641. Professor at Gresham College, 1638-50. Admon. (P.C.C.) June 20, 1651; of St Martin Outwich, London. (Ward's Gresham.)

1626 – UK Lancashire Irlam – Admin – Peter Knight, Weaver – Licensed as alehousekeeper. (Lancashire Archives, Ref: QSB/1/19/92)

1627 – Jan 28 – UK Kent Hythe – Bap – Thomas Knight - s/o John Knight (Tyler)

1627 – Jan 31 – UK London Southwark St Olave – Camb Alum – William Knight - Adm. pens. at EMMANUEL, Jan. 31, 1626-7. 1st s. of William, of St Olave, Southwark, and Elizabeth, widow of Rev. Thomas Stoughton (1576-7). Matric. 1626-7; B.A. 1630-1; M.A. 1634. Went to New England, 1637, where he settled at Ipswich, Mass., and was for some years a preacher. Returned to England, 1643, with his half-brother Col. Israel Stoughton. Presented by Oliver Cromwell to St Matthew's, Ipswich, July 11, 1655. C. of St Mary-at-Elms. Afterwards conformed. Ord. priest (Bishop Brownrigg, of Exeter) Aug. 8, 1659, and held his livings till his death. Buried at St Mary-at-Elms, Jan. 6, 1694-5. Father of the next. (Felt, 281; J. G. Bartlett.)

1627 – Feb 2 – UK Suffolk Debenham – Will – Richard Knight alias Kott – Estate to kinsman John Sherman, Gent, and Elizabeth Lany, his sister, the wife of John Lany. Mentions land holdings in Norfolk and Suffolk; numerous bequests to persons named Kott. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 153: Barrington, Quire Numbers 1-63 (1628))
Note: Obviously not a Knight unless he adopted the name for inheritance reasons.

1627 – Feb 4 – UK Kent New Romney – Bap – Wilcocke Knight - s/o Peter Knight (Tyler)

1627 – Feb 10 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Elizabeth Knight - d/o Thomas Knight & Sara (London Met Arch)

1627 – Feb 27 – UK Sussex Eastham – Will – Lawrence Knight – Daughter, wife of Hugh Thorpe, 40 shillings; to her children, 10 pounds apiece at lawful age; son Lawrence Knight of Hindon, 30 pounds when 21; to son William Knight’s daughter, Marie Knight, 50 shillings; to John Rowell of Guildford, 10 pounds; to Mary, the wife of Thomas Moony, 20 pounds; residue of estate to be divided between sons Nicholas Knight and William Knight who are to be executors.  (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 153: Barrington, Quire Numbers 1-63 (1628))

1627 – Mar 2 – UK London St Bride – Bap – William Knight - s/o John & Adria (London Met Arch)

1627 – Mar 27 – UK London St Andrew Holborn – Mar – Leonard Knight & Katherine Jennings (London Met Arch)

1627 – Jun 12 – UK Somerset Wicke St Lawrence – Will – Thomas Knight, Husbandman – To son John Knight: my best bed and bedstead with appurtenances thereunto belonging; to son Thomas Knight, my best mare colt;  to son Edward Knight, 20 pounds; to wife Grace Knight, one chattel lease and all the rest of my goods movable and unmoveable not formerly given or bequeathed; she to be executrix.  Richard Evans and John Evans to be Overseers. ( PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 152: Skynner, Quire Numbers 60-124 (1627), Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858)

1627 – Jun 24 – UK Cambridgeshire Cambridge – Bur – Peter Knight (London Met Arch)

1627 – Jun 28 – UK Lincolnshire Grantham – Admin – Presentments and Orders of the Court -  Sessions of the Peace and General Gaol Delivery, held before Thomas Wycliffe (Wicliffe), gentleman, Alderman of Grantham, Alexander More, esquire, Peter Richardson, gentleman, Ralph Clarke, gentleman, Miles Greenwood, gentleman, Edward Coddington, gentleman, Arthur Rhodes, gentleman, Edward Fisher, gentleman, Edward Watson, gentleman, Richard Coney (Cony), gentleman, Henry Cole, gentleman, comburgesses of the town, Justices of the Peace; and also Robert Cholmeley, esquire, their lawyer. 

Constable's Grand Jury of the town of Grantham:  George Hanson, John Colby, Edward Rawlinson, Edward Towne, Urian Nuball, Thomas Baily, John Basse, Edward Still, James Walker, John Ireland, John Bracewell, Timothy Matkyn;

Presentments for selling short measures of ale: … James Walker of Grantham, victualler, William Newton of Grantham, victualler, John Elston of Grantham, victualler, John Knight of Grantham, victualler, … Henry Knott of Grantham, victualler, …Matthew Walker of Grantham, victualler, Edmund Tomlinson of Grantham, victualler, Christopher Wright of Grantham, victualler, … Alice Whitehead of Grantham, victualler,… Katherine Parker of Grantham, victualler; 

Presentments for keeping unlicensed common taverns or 'Tiplinge houses': … Anthony Middlebrooke of Grantham, slater, Christopher Richardson of Grantham, baker, Widow Poole of Grantham; 

Presentments for breaking the assizes of bread: Edward Rawlinson of Grantham, baker, … Christopher Richardson of Grantham, baker, John Knight of Grantham, baker; 

Presentments of those who "hath taken the kidneys or sewett out of the mutton which they have sold": …, Richard Butler of Grantham, butcher, …William Richardson of Grantham, butcher, …Edward Simpson of Grantham, butcher, Thomas Gosney of Grantham, butcher; 

Presentment: John Bordman of Grantham, corvicer [shoemaker], for affray upon John Basse, one of the constables of the town of Grantham.

Constables' Jury of the Soke of Grantham:  … Richard Marriott of Denton, Thomas Jackson of Denton, Henry Askew … Thomas Robarts of Gonerby, …William Thompson of South Stoke, Thomas Collyn of Easton, … Robert Clarke of Great Ponton, Francis Wilborne of Manthorpe, …John Chamberlayne of Sapperton;

Presentments for selling short measures of ale: …Henry Glover of Manthorpe, victualler, … John Hill of Harlaxton, victualler, John Dale of Harlaxton, victualler, Zachary Thompson of Harlaxton, victualler,…Robert Smithson of Belton, victualler, Valentine Dixon of Belton, victualler, William Clarke of Londonthorpe, victualler, … John Richardson of Colsterworth, victualler, …

Presentments for breaking the assizes of bread: Francis Hill of Barkston, baker, John Hill of Harlaxton, baker, Zachary Thompson of Harlaxton, baker; 

Presentment: Elizabeth Perkins, wife of Richard Perkins of Harlaxton, for profane cursing. 

Presentment:  Valentine Dixon of Belton, labourer, for keeping an unlicensed common tavern or 'Tiplinge house'. 

Jury of "preter illos" of the Soke of Grantham:  William Goldinge of South Stoke, Thomas Fretwell of Denton, William Woodroffe of Denton, George Lord of Harlaxton, John Parker of Woolsthorpe, John Allen of Easton, Vincent Pinder of Easton, Simon Johnson of Manthorpe, Henry Wright of Londonthorpe, John Askew of Great Ponton, Thomas Askew of Great Ponton, William Holdernes of Gonerby, Francis Goodwyn of Gonerby, Henry Roberts of Gonerby, Thomas Armeson of Belton, William Arrowsmith of Belton, John Lord of Harlaxton,

Presentments:  Nothing to present which the Constable's Jury of the Soke has not already presented. 

Orders of the Court:  George Edlyn of Denton, weaver, to pay for the maintenance and education of his bastard child by Mary Wislington.  Henry Brothwell of Harlaxton, labourer, to take into his custody the bastard child begotten by him of Abigail Peake.  Robert Andrew of Grantham, sadler, committed to gaol until he can find securities for his good behaviour "for that the said Robert Andrew did in open court with reviling speeches abuse Mr Edward Watson, one of the King's Majestie's Justices of Peace."  William Thompson of South Stoke fined for assault and battery of Vincent Scochey the younger.  John Darby of Belton fined for victualling without licence, but the fine remitted on account of his poverty.  (Lincolnshire Archives, Ref: GBQS/11/4)

Note: I’ve included a great deal of the above record though severely abbreviated,  because of the amazing collection of names in one place; all of the names I’ve put in bold show up more or less in association with one another, in the VA Colony.

1627 – Jul 6 – UK Dorset Bradford Abbas – Will – John Knight, Husbandman – To grandchildren, Elizabeth and John Trashe (?), 20 pounds apiece when 18; to Bridget Knight my kinswoman and servant, 20 shillings; to S__ Turke, my shepherd, 20 shillings; residue of estate to John Trashe, son-in-law who is to be executor. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 152: Skynner, Quire Numbers 60-124 (1627))

1627 – Aug 9 – UK Hampshire Chawton – Will – Stephen Knight, Gent -  To the poor of the parish of Chawton, 10 pounds; to the poor of the parish of Alton, 10 pounds; to daughter, Anne Knight, 600 pounds; to daughter Dorothy Knight, 500 pounds; to daughter Francis Knight, 500 pounds; aannuities for underage daughters until they can claim their inheritance;  to son Richard Knight, 600 pounds at 21; annuity until son is of age; if any children die, their share to be divided equally among remaining heirs; leaves a house and some lands in Suffolk to son Richard but wills that each daughter shall have free access to house and their chambers to be maintained. Brother (in-law) Richard Turner and nephew Christopher Muschampe (?), executors during the minority of son John Knight who then becomes sole executor and heir of the rest of the estate.  Brother John Knight, and a lot of other people get small legacies at the end, including friends and servants. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 152: Skynner, Quire Numbers 60-124 (1627))

1627 - Nov 1 – VA James City – Admin - John Southerne, Gent - Land patent for “24 acs. in the Island of James Citty… adj. land of John Johnson, Tuckers Hole, Mary Holland, wife of Gabriell Holland, Thomas Passmore… to be accounted part of his first devdt. of 50 acs. due for trans. of William Soane, whoe came in the George in 1621.” (Nugent I, p. 8)

1627 -Dec 12 – VA Accomack – Admin - Hannah Savage (Savadge) – Land patent for “50 acs. on the Easterne Shoare within the precincts of the Plantation of Accomacke … for her first per. devdt., she having defrayed the charges of her own transportation & came in the Sea Flower with Capt. Ralph Hamor in 1621, as by good certificate appeareth &c.” (Nugent I, p. 9)

1627 – Dec 28 – UK Devonshire Dartmouth – Bap – Peter Knight - s/o Miles Knight (London Met Arch)

1628 – Jan 2 – UK London St Stephen Coleman – Nunc Will – Sarah Knight, Widow – Estate to sister, Priscilla Bullock. Wit: Anne Hobson, Mary Pratt. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 155: Ridley, Quire Numbers 1-59 (1629))

1628 – Apr 11 – UK London St Bride – Bap – Nicholas Knight - s/o Arthur Knight & Ursula (London Met Arch)

1628 – Apr 20 – UK London St Andrew – Bur – Francis Knight - s/o Francis Knight (London Met Arch)

1628 – Apr 23 – UK Kent Maidstone – Bap – Edmund Knight – s/o James Knight (Tyler)

1628 – May 14 – UK London St Bride – Bur – John Knight - s/o John Knight (London Met Arch)

1628 – Jun 2 – UK Devonshire Kentisbury – Admin - John Knight, Yeoman - Lease for 90 years or three lives;  1. Elainor Basset daughter of Sir Robert Basset of Heanton Punchardon, knight; 2. John Knight the elder of Kentisbury, yeoman; Property: Tenement and messuages etc. known as North Stocke and Lynton Downe;  Consideration: £18;  Lives: Agnes Mayre, Henry Davye and Marie Davye.  (North Devon Record Office (South West Heritage Trust), Ref: 2309-3/33/5)

1628 – Jul 2 – UK Kent Lydd – Chancery – Peter Knight, Clerk - Exemplification of a Common Recovery between Daniel Wren, demandant, Peter Knight, clerk and Margaret his wife, tenants, Edward Howse vouchee, Description: Two messuages, two gardens and 12a land and the moiety of the manor of Jaques Court otherwise Jacke Court, 3 messuages, 120a land and £7 annual rents, in Lydd, Kent. (East Sussex Record Office, Ref: FRE/7250)

1628 – Jul 4 – UK Somerset Kingston – Will – William Knight, Yeoman – To the parish church of Kingston, 12 pence; to Thomas Wey, 12 pence; to Henry Withers, 12 pence; to Martin Dunscombe, 12 pence; to the Widow Duddridge and her son, Thomas, 12 pence apiece; to George Grimslade, 12 pence; to William Cook, 6 pence; to the Widow King, 6 pence; to Margaret Senley, 5 shillings; to Elizabeth Warmont, 5 shillings; to Thame Longe, the wife of Edmond Longe, 6 shillings and 8 pence; to Joane Coumbe, 5 pounds; to John Knight of Kingston, Tailor, 5 pounds paid 20 shillings a year; to the children of the said John Knight, 20 pounds to be divided equally; if any of them die, his portion to be divided among survivors; the money to remain in the hands of executors until the children are 21; to John Knight, son of brother Batrim Knight, 30 pounds; to John Knight, son of the aforesaid John Knight, 10 pounds at 21; to the rest of the children of the aforesaid John Knight, 30 pounds to be divided equally among them at age 21; if one die, his portion to be divided among survivors;  said John Knight, son of brother Batrim,  to give a general release of demands to executors or his legacy and the legacies of his children to be void; to the children of Thomas Knight of Lawrence Lydeard, another son of brother Batrim Knight, 10 pounds apiece; to godson William Knight of Kingston, son of Thomas Knight of Kingston, deceased, 20 shillings; to Robert Knight and Francis Knight, sons of Bartholomew Knight of Kingston, 5 pounds each; to Batrim Knight, kinsman, of Bridgewater, 15 pounds at age 25; residue of estate to Thomas Knight of Lawrence Lydeard, kinsman, who is to be executor; George Blanchflower of Kingston, Gent, and Robert Bult of Kingston, Yeoman, to be overseers.  Wit: George Blanchflower, Henry Shelley, Phillip Cormish. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 154: Barrington, Quire Numbers 64-115 (1628))

1628 – Jul 22 – UK London St Andrew – Bur – Alexander Knight - s/o William Knight (London Met Arch)

1628 – Aug 10 – UK Kent Tenterden – Bap – Hannah Knight – d/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1628 – Oct 16 – UK Kent East Langdon – Bur – Ann Knight – d/o Nicholas Knight of Canterbury, Gent. (Tyler)

1628 – Nov 4 – UK London Southwark – Bap – Catherine Knight - d/o Leonard Knight (London Met Arch)

1628 – Nov 10 – UK Gloucester Bristol – Will – Thomas Knight – I bequeath all my goods and chattels to Bridget Knight, my wife and John Knight, my son, whom I make joint executors. Mr. John Meredith, vicar of Marshfield, Mr Nicholas Meredith, chamberlain of Bristol, overseers.  Wit: George Wotton, curate of Bridgwater, Henry Lenton the younger. ( PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 154: Barrington, Quire Numbers 64-115 (1628), Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858)

1628 -Dec 2 – VA Warrasquioake / Isle of Wight – Admin – Martha Key – Land patent: “wife of Thomas Key, Planter, of Warwick River [50 acs]…Lying on E. side of Warrwicksqueike Riv. opposite against land of Capt. Nathaniell Basse, Nly. towards the mouth of sd. river on a small Cr., Sly. up the same to land of Rice Jones, W. upon the river & E. upon the maine land. Her first per. devdt., being an Ancient Planter.” (Nugent I, p. 11)

1628 - Dec 2 – VA Warrasquioake / Isle of Wight – Admin - Rice Jones – Land patent: “Planter of Warwick River, 50 acs… Lying on the Ely. side of Warwicksqueicke Riv., Nly. on land of Martha Key… Due as his first devdt. Due unto Francis West for trans. of sd. Jones whoe came from Canada in the John & Francis in 1625 & and by these presents made over by him. (Nugent I, p. 10)

1628 – UK Middlesex Ossulstone – Admin – John Knight - Certificate of residence showing John Knight to be liable for taxation in the Royal Household, and not in the hundred of Ossulstone, Middlesex, the previous area of tax liability.  (Any information not given in this certificate comes from its old pouch, no 333.) Date: 3-4 Charles I. (National Archives, Kew England, Ref: E 115/234/59)

1629 – Jan 2 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Elizabeth Knight - d/o Peter Knight & Cicely (London Met Arch)

1629 – Feb 1 – UK Kent New Romney – Bap – John Knight - s/o Peter Knight (Tyler)

1629 – Feb 6 – UK London – Will – Robert Knight, Cit & Grocer – To his four brothers, Jonas Knight, Oliver Knight, Edward Knight, and Edmond Knight, two houses in the County of Kent, and all lands, etc, pertaining to them, “given by my father to my brother, John Knight, deceased” which then remained to testator; property in Arlington, Sussex to my masters, Edmond Turvill and Robert Saylor; to sister, Ann Knight, 150 pounds; to Susan Swinnerton of London, the servant of Edmond Turvill, my master, 50 pounds; George Knight, Richard Knight (nephews?); 10 pounds to brother, Jonas Knight, and 20 pounds to his children;  “I do give and bequeath to every one of my fellow servants in the house of the said Edmond Turvill, my Master, the sum of ten shillings and to Francis Marshall, 20 shillings”; Turvill and Saylor to be executors.  ( PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 157: Scroope, Quire Numbers 1-63 (1630), Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858)

1629 – Feb 16 – UK London – Admin – John Knight – Probate document in Latin. Names children: Nicholas Knight, Charles Knight, Elizabeth Knight, Mary Knight (or Marie). (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 157: Scroope, Quire Numbers 1-63 (1630))

1629 – Feb – UK Gloucestershire Bristol – Admin – George Knight, Mercer – Lease: 1. John Goninge, John Langton merchants, William Turner draper, Thomas Wright merchant William Lisset grocer, George Knight mercer, Ezechiell Wallis mercer, Richard Plea merchant, Alexander James merchant, Peter Hill upholsterer, Thomas Deane mercer, Miles Jackson merchant, Robert Elliott draper, Abraham Edwards apothecary, William Neale, Thomas White, Hughe Yeo drapers, Arthure Hibbins merchant, George Newman haberdasher; 2. John Meredith baker Messuage in Backe Street 99 years;  Rent £5 p.a. (Bristol Archives, Ref: P/St.N/Ch/D/13)
Note: Compare this list of names to persons found associated with Capt. Peter Knight of Northumberland, VA!

1629 - Mar 14 – VA Accomack – Admin - Roger Saunders, Marriner – Land patent: “of Accomacke, 50 acs. upon the E. shoare of Chesapeake (Chesepiacke) Bay, abutting S. on ground of John Blore, dec’d., now in possession of sd. Robert, N. along the water side to land of Capt. Henry Fleete & W. upon the maine bay. Lease, as above.” (Nugent I, pp.13-14) A second pantent to Roger Saunders, Gent, for 300 acs. at Accomacke “commonly called the Indian Fields” on 1631 Oct 6. (Nugent I, p. 15)

1629 – Mar 16 – UK Kent Old Romney – Mar – Elizabeth Knight & Godfrey Martin (Tyler)

1629 – Mar 20 – UK Kent Chillenden – Bap – Elizabeth Knight – d/o John Knight (Tyler)

1629 – Mar 22 – UK Kent Hythe – Bap – Thomas Knight - s/o Thomas Knight (Tyler)

1629 – Apr 3 – UK London St Bride – Bur – Peter Knight – haberdasher, housekeeper (property owner) (London Met Arch)
Note: This is the father of Peter Knight b 1620 at St Bride’s. Clearly, if the son of this Peter Knight, born in 1620, is is Capt. Peter Knight of Northumberland, VA, then he cannot be the son of Peter Knight, Merchant of Gloucester VA.

1629 – Jun 16 – UK London St Bride – Bur – William Knight - s/o John Knight (London Met Arch)

1629 – Sep 10 – UK Kent Tenterden – Mar – Thomas Knight & Amy Shepherd (Shepheard) (Tyler)

1629 – Sep 13 – UK London Southwark – Bap – Allen Knight (Allin) -  s/o Peter Knight (London Met Arch)

1629 – Oct 10 – UK Cornwall Truro – Admin – John Knight - Counterpart of lease in reversion, for 99 years on lives of (2) and Jane Knight, his sister; to commence from death of Thomas Knight.  (1) John Arundell of Lanherne, esquire;  (2) John Knight of Truro, executor of Richard Knight, deceased, his father;  Property Tenement in Truro in the High Street there, and close called Gweale Clocke Prenyar (2 acres), and one other close of land called Gweale yeate (¾ acre), late in the tenure of Thomas Knight. Mineral and timber rights reserved to (1).  Consideration £30;  Rent from the commencement of the reversion) 9s. 8d. a year;  One capon yearly or 12d.; One harvest journey or 4d.  Heriot of one best beast;  Covenants:  To do common suit to the court of the manor;  To act as reeve in turn;  To repair and maintain the property.  (Cornwall Record Office, Ref: AR/4/1046)

1629 – UK Sussex Arlington – Chancery – Peter Knight - Plaintiffs: Peter Knight, youngest son of William Knight, clerk deceased late of Arlington, Sussex. Defendants: Elizabeth Knight, John Knight and William Knight.  Document type: bill and answer. (National Archives, Kew England, Ref: C 2/ChasI/K14/27)

1629 – Virginia Colony / UK London – Info – Calvert vs Claiborne - In 1629, George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, arrived in Virginia, having traveled south from Avalon, his failed colony on Newfoundland. Calvert was not welcomed by the Virginians, both because his Catholicism offended them as Protestants, and because it was no secret that Calvert desired a charter for a portion of the land that the Virginians considered their own. After a brief stay, Calvert returned to England to press for just such a charter; William Claiborne, in his capacity as Secretary of State of Virginia colony, was sent to England to argue the Virginians' case.

In England, Calvert, a former high official in the government of King James I, asked the Privy Council for permission to build a colony, to be called Carolina, on land south of the Virginia settlements in area of the modern-day North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Claiborne arrived soon afterwards and expressed the concerns of Virginia that its territorial integrity was being threatened. He was joined in his protests by a group of London merchants who planned to build a sugar colony in the same area. Claiborne, received a royal trading commission through one of his London supporters in 1631, one which granted him the right to trade with the natives on all lands in the mid-Atlantic where there was not already a patent in effect. (VA Hist Online)

Footnotes

Go to Next Page of Records 1630-1639

Return to Index