Going to the Source | Jamestown Brides & Virginia Company Records

[@lindaedwards9756]

As someone who loves fiber art, sewing etc and a Historical Society volunteer I found this totally fascinating. More like this please.

[@lynnodonnell4764]

We're prostitutes and single moms sent over ?

[@gingeryoung8360]

I love seeing these women celebrated! I’m the tenth great-granddaughter of Audrey Hoare, through her son Major William Harris (c. 1629-bef. 1678.) Oddly, I have always loved doing needlework, especially cross-stitch and knitting. I even did a blackwork piece back in the 1970’s!

[@JYFMuseums]

Thanks for sharing! Do look back through the comment on the video, there are two other posters descended from Audrey Hoare.

[@DebraHartsfield-y9c]

Well, cousin, I did not inherit that gene!!!

[@charlesvigneron565]

Thank you! I'm grateful to understand these women better. BTW I'm going to watch all your videos. Audry Hoare arrived on the Marmaduke in November 1621. She's listed as 19, but was actually 17. (christened 25 August 1604, Saint Mary, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England) Audry married Capt. Thomas Harris and their daughter, Mary Harris, married LtCol Thomas Ligon. They're my maternal ancestors.

[@JYFMuseums]

Wonderful! Do check out Jennifer Potter’s The Jamestown Brides (2018). www.shopjyf.com/oxford-university-press/the-jamestown-brides-by-jennifer-potter-7827

[@charlesvigneron565]

@@JYFMuseums Thank you, willl do!

[@JYFMuseums]

@charlesvigneron565 Look through the other comments on the video, two other posters are also descended from Audrey Hoare.

[@charlesvigneron565]

@@JYFMuseums I have the Courteney Cox WDYTYA video. Gary Boyd Roberts is the genealogist emeritus of the New England Genealogical & Historic Society and also a Ligon descendant. He & I have spoken.

[@sr.marycatharineperry547]

I love clothing history! My great, great....great grandfather, Richard Creech came to Jamestown around 1635. He and his wife were killed in an Algonquin Indian attack. Two other sons were away at school so the family survived through them.

[@1One2Three5Eight13]

I'm assuming that the fancy professional fibre arts skills were taken as evidence that the women in question were very capable in general, kind of like how some jobs will look for a university degree, even if it isn't actually in a field that's related to the job.

[@JYFMuseums]

Yes, probably a fair assessment. The skills could be taken together as an indication of a woman's capability to run a household, but also maybe income potential. The recorded skills fell into the cottage industry world of textile production, skilled labor dominated by women, not for household needs, but production for an additional household income stream.

[@deekang6244]

Thank you for this! I love having names of actual women.

[@JYFMuseums]

Yes, we do too.

[@DebraHartsfield-y9c]

This was so interesting, especially since Audry was my many-times grandmother!!!

[@Kelli.Hicks.5]

This was so interesting. I enjoyed hearing and learning about these early American women settlers. They must have had so much courage to leave everything they have ever known to create a new life here in the States.

[@roxiepoe9586]

Thank you for including their names. Do you have information on the time and process from debarking from the ships to marriage? Were any of them left unmarried? Was it like speed dating? Did they have a huge barn dance? Did you sit on a bench with your skill sets listed on a poster above your head? Did men provide references: "I am James and here are letters from the Governor, my mum, and the parson."

[@JYFMuseums]

The answers to these questions are pretty simple - we just don’t know. The records indicating who was married and when just do not survive. The women had a choice in the matter. They did not have to marry, but if they did not, they were placed in households with wives where they worked pretty much as servants. We know that “divers” married quickly, but that word could mean many or a few. In actuality there were very few eligible men in the colony at the time. They had to be successful single planters and able to pay 150 pounds in tobacco each for their brides. The governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, and the Virginia Company’s agent John Pountis managed the program in Virginia and oversaw the appropriateness of the matches. There was some bitterness among the poorer planters who didn’t qualify. We recommend Jennifer Potter’s The Jamestown Brides (2018). She has one chapter “The Choosing” that goes into detail about these questions.

[@CarySmith1968]

Thank you for sharing! I am a direct descendant of William Farrar of Farrar Island, survivor of the Jamestown massacre of 1622, and the son of John Farrar the elder of London, Esquire. I searched my family tree to see if I could find the Nicholas Ferrar that is mentioned here, but the information gets a little sketchy. I was able to find him and based off of the information that I currently have, I do believe that he was either a 1st cousin 13 times removed or possibly an uncle. My grandmother, Annie Denise Farrar was the last of the Farrar name on our branch.

[@soniatriana9091]

This was very informative & once again evident of the upbringing that each gender had in that era, either way, they each had a tremendous amount of work to do each day - to survive & if possible begin to thrive.

[@blacktulip1064]

Very interesting! Thank you!! 🧡

[@JYFMuseums]

You are so welcome!

[@GreatGreebo]

*Wow!* This was fascinating! I do a Japanese mending technique called Sashiko and that’s hard enough. I can’t imagine the skill needed to do primary work on fabric like these ladies did. Thank you for this video.

[@JYFMuseums]

You're welcome!

[@SerendipityWyrd]

Love this information! Especially the inclusion of the names. Would definitely be interested in a video following up these particular women if there is any surviving information about them.

[@juliaomcs]

There is a good book called The Jamestowne Brides, don't know author, but google it.

[@JYFMuseums]

Yes, The Jamestown Brides (2018), by Jennifer Potter. Potter turned to the Virginia Company's merchant as well as censuses, court records, the minutes of Virginia's General Assemblies, letters to England from their male counterparts, and other such accounts of the everyday life in the colony. She explores the women's lives in England before their departure and their experiences in Jamestown. Some were married before the ships left harbor. Some were killed in 1622 only months after their arrival. A few never married at all. Potter’s book sheds light on life for these women in early Virginia. www.shopjyf.com/oxford-university-press/the-jamestown-brides-by-jennifer-potter-7827

[@juliaomcs]

@@JYFMuseums yes what she said. Its a great reference book too.

[@reneeh4406]

This was so interesting! And the lady speaking at the beginning was so clear and did such a great job with presentation. I'm looking forward to more videos and more facts coming from Jamestown

[@JYFMuseums]

Thank you!

[@kennethmoles4643]

Thank you for such a wonderful presentation of the history of our first English Mothers.

[@JYFMuseums]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lisascenic]

Thank you very much for this video! I’m a total textile nerd, most interested in vintage and antique processes, so the topic and presentation of this video were of great interest.

[@JYFMuseums]

@@lisascenic You're welcome and we're glad that you enjoyed the video.

[@hiwakoo]

Is it known what happened to those women? Did they marry, could they put their craft to good juse? I would like to see a follow up. Thank you for the interessting presentation☺️

[@neva_nyx]

Look up Jamestown. The history is it's own story worthy of several in depth studies. There's videos all over.

[@JYFMuseums]

The answers to these questions are, we just don’t know. The records indicating who was married and when just do not survive. The women had a choice in the matter. They did not have to marry, but if they did not, they were placed in households with wives where they worked pretty much as servants. We know that “divers” married quickly, but that word could mean many or a few. In actuality there were very few eligible men in the colony at the time. They had to be successful single planters and able to pay 150 pounds in tobacco each for their brides. The governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, and the Virginia Company’s agent John Pountis managed the program in Virginia and oversaw the appropriateness of the matches. There was some bitterness among the poorer planters who didn’t qualify. We recommend Jennifer Potter’s The Jamestown Brides (2018).

[@debbylou5729]

It’s not really a deep dive. This was the situation in many areas. Add a boatload of women to a mostly male population. Just like women do with men, the men would try to get what they thought were best for them. Seems like the women would have the upper hand

[@raed3240]

​@@debbylou5729a guy literally ate his wife due to starvation, idk if anyone had the upper hand but especially not women..

[@lindakuykendall7981]

I am a direct descendant of John Copeland the Copeland spoon maker! I have been to Jamestown many times and love it! I have learned about my ancestor John and I just love finding out new things! Thank you and I look forward to learning more!

[@DebraHartsfield-y9c]

This was so cool. My many times great-grandmother was Audry!!!!

[@JYFMuseums]

Wow! Do look through the comments, two other posters are also descended from Audrey Hoare.

[@deekang6244]

Bobbin lace is really a weaving process more than braiding. Also, silk was a popular thread used in bobbin or bone lace.

[@mollygardens6646]

Braiding with four bobbin threads is the basic movement in bobbin lace. How is “braiding” not a kind of weaving?

[@Stitcher_in_MD]

How interesting! Looking forward to seeing your next delightful video!! Thank you.

[@JYFMuseums]

You are so welcome!

[@maryannbaker9960]

Thank you so much for this very informative and interesting video. I have studied embroidery-from blackwork to goldwork, and more. And love it.

[@JYFMuseums]

You're very welcome!

[@suzannecooke2055]

What made blackwork and whitework particular skills as opposed to just embroidery is the stitches used. Blackwork is characterized by the use of the double running stitch or Holbein stitch which is a running stitch that reverses and fills in the spaces going in the other direction. It often depends on counted stitches and so needs no transfer onto the cloth, just a pattern book. White work often incorporated padded stitches and cutwork stitches that approach needle lace in its complexity.

[@tammystansell406]

Cicely Jordan Farrar was my first European ancestor to arrive at Jamestown. Glad to hear there may be some information in the Farrar papers, I didn't know about them.

[@JYFMuseums]

You might find this book of interest www.amazon.com/Jordans-Point-Virginia-Archaeology-Perspective/dp/0615455409 It covers the archaeology of Jordan's Journey located in Prince George, Virginia. This was the land where Cicely Jordan Farrar would have resided from 1620 with her first husband, and Samuel Jordan, then her second husband William Farrar.

[@tammystansell406]

@@JYFMuseums Thank you so much for info! Temperance Bailey was believed to be Cicely's first child by a marriage to a Bailey. Temperance is my direct ancestor, I have yet to find documentation of her father. Cicely seemed to not follow the norms and rather independent.

[@tammystansell406]

@@JYFMuseums The book is arriving Thursday...gotta love Amazon! Thanks again.

[@999Giustina]

Hi Samantha! Nice to see you again. Lovely video.

[@JYFMuseums]

Thank you!

[@KylerCarter-p1g]

i learned a lot watching this. thank you !

[@JYFMuseums]

We are happy you enjoyed this video, and you're welcome!

[@nailguncrouch1017]

Phineas and Ferb taught us about aglets.

[@briankesterson4365]

A very interesting video and well presented. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion for history.

[@JYFMuseums]

Our pleasure!

[@ladyjusticesusan]

Super interesting. Thank you for posting!

[@JYFMuseums]

You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sherir4462]

I just learned so much from this video! Thank you!

[@JYFMuseums]

You are so welcome!

[@vanessacole7882]

Excellent video.Thank you so much!

[@JYFMuseums]

You are welcome!

[@mollygardens6646]

Thank you for this interesting presentation.

[@JYFMuseums]

You're welcome!

[@rickhaddix6847]

Great video Samantha.

[@JYFMuseums]

Thank you!

[@mararundell2500]

Excellent video!

[@JYFMuseums]

Thank you very much!

[@robertculpepper6302]

Very interesting video.

[@JYFMuseums]

Thank you!

[@richardglady3009]

That was the most dense social history lecture of women studies and everyday life in Jamestown. Wonderful video-thank you. With a high mortality rate in Jamestown, do we know the ultimate fate of the 57 women? Thanks for all the research, great presentation and wonderful graphics in this video.

[@JYFMuseums]

Glad you enjoyed it! We do not know all their stories and the records are not as complete as we would like them, but we do recommend Jennifer Potter’s book The Jamestown Brides (2018). Potter turned to the Virginia Company's merchant as well as censuses, court records, the minutes of Virginia's General Assemblies, letters to England from their male counterparts, and other such accounts of the everyday life in the colony. She explores the women's lives in England before their departure and their experiences in Jamestown. Some were married before the ships left harbor. Some were killed in 1622 only months after their arrival. A few never married at all. Potter’s book sheds light on life for these women in early Virginia. www.shopjyf.com/oxford-university-press/the-jamestown-brides-by-jennifer-potter-7827

[@richardglady3009]

@@JYFMuseums thank you for taking the time to respond. I apologize in that I can’t buy the book from you, but I have vision issues and need digital books. I did find the Kindle book at Amazon. Thanks for all the joy you bring to a lifelong historian.

[@JYFMuseums]

We're just happy that you found a copy that you are able to read!

[@SusieMonk-jh8tj]

Thank you so much for this amazing video. It was so interesting. One question as a French resident your prononciation of Coif as in coiffure ? Or is it pronounced Kouf? It seemed very strange to my ears. We visited Jamestown and found it remarkable.

[@JYFMuseums]

You’re welcome we are glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you! we are very happy to hear that you had a remarkable visit. As far as pronunciation goes, that gets us into the differences between English and French pronunciations, nevermind regional dialects.

[@christyb2912]

wow fascinating ! black work tudor favorite and mine 🙂

[@JYFMuseums]

Thank you!

[@fourpeasinapodcast6]

So interesting!

[@JYFMuseums]

We're glad you think so, thanks!

[@2gpowell]

I really loved the BBC series. I had extensive research and discovered I had several many times over gg parents who settled there. One being John Powell in 1609 ancient planter according to documents.

[@JYFMuseums]

Yes, and it may be that he arrived in Virginia with the first resupply in January 1608. John Smith in his General Historie of Virginia, New England and The Summer Isles -- www.gutenberg.org/files/56347/56347-h/56347-h.htm -- lists him twice. Smith lists him as one of the six tailors arriving in the first resupply in January 1608, and then lists him a second time as one of his soldiers accompanying him during his explorations of the Chesapeake Bay -- see "DISCOVERY OF THE CHESAPEAKE A.D. 1608. Chapter V. The Accidents that hapned in the Discovery of the Bay of Chisapeack." He is listed as one of the six tailors -- historicjamestowne.org/history/history-of-jamestown/the-first-supply/

[@2gpowell]

@@JYFMuseums Thank you!

[@JYFMuseums]

You're welcome!

[@bethanl2213]

Thank you for this video it was super interesting! Once the women arrived in Virginia would they have opportunities to use their skills collaboratively - e.g. one sews the doublets and the other makes the thread buttons - or would they be more tied to their own household? Also, is there any evidence of men in the colony gaining some of these more 'feminine' skills when the gender imbalance necessitated it?

[@lazygardens]

Sailors and soldiers were competent at "self care" - repairing their clothing, cooking their meals, etc. because they had to be.

[@JYFMuseums]

@bethanl2213 in England fitted outer garments tended to be manufactured by tailors. Generally you as the customer would acquire the cloth, trims, and notions then contract the tailors to construct clothing. Spinning, weaving, lace making, blackwork, button making and so on, were the cottage industry labors, dominated by women, serving as a proto-industrial manufacturing base feeding product into the market and bringing income into the household. Early Virginia, as a work camp, would function differently than back home in England. Settlers in Virginia needed finished materials, equipment, and tools to function and would not have the sort of labor pool or population that would develop a domestic manufacturing base. Virginia ideally fed raw materials back into the home manufacturing base. There were tailors in Virginia and clothing was made in Virginia, but the cloth and notions were shipped to Virginia. The Virginia Company also contracted to have clothing ready made and shipped finished clothing to the colony. It is not clear how many of the cottage industry textile skills might have been used in early Virginia.

[@patrickblanchette4337]

Cool!

[@sarahburke8955]

I read a comment recently (not on this channel), that there weren't any spinning wheels or spindles noted on ships' lists. That seemed incredible and downright absurd to me, that women would not bring their wheels and/or spindles. Is there any concrete evidence to counter the claim that early colonists did not spin much? I still find it hard to believe that women wouldn't have brought that skill and pastime with them right from the start.

[@JYFMuseums]

Well, do check out this link -- historicjamestowne.org/collections/artifacts/spindle-whorl/ As you can see at least two whorls have been excavated in the Jamestown Rediscovery Project at Historic Jamestowne. Since they were usually made of wood spindles are not likely to turn up in archaeological digs, but the inorganic parts do turn up. It's not accurate to say, "there weren't any spinning wheels or spindles noted on ships' lists.", when spindle parts turn up in the archaeology. We'd caution not to fully rely on ships' records. An individual's private belongings were a different kind of cargo and probably not listed or accounted for in the same manner as Company equipment and provisions delivered to the colonial authorities.

[@sarahburke8955]

@@JYFMuseums Fabulous, thank you!

[@JYFMuseums]

You're welcome!

[@sandrarogers1200]

I found this so interesting on 3 levels! I do and love some of the handicrafts and I'm fascinated by those crafts. ( I'm learning how to spin on a drop spindle. ) The second reason is that John Norris is one of my ancestors. He came to Jamestown around 1630. The 3rd reason is that I love history, especially facts like these! The women had to be willing to come here and likely never see their family again. They had to be brave enough, knowing the perils and be willing to live without the luxuries they likely had at their disposal there in England. Hopefully, the women weren't disillusioned to what life was like here compared to their homeland! I imagine some of the details of life here was kept out of the recruitment of the prospective women in order not to discourage them from coming here.

[@Ivehadenuff]

I believe the Bobin lace was made in homes in Ipswich Massachusetts

[@barrychandler5250]

Populate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@2ladyhomesteadershodge898]

Was crochet a skill used in Jamestown? If so, when?

[@JYFMuseums]

Mostly likely no. The first evidence of crocheted fabric appears in Europe about the 19th century. Sometimes earlier fabrics made by a technique known as nålebinding have been misidentified as crochet.

[@lazygardens]

Some of the skills may have been a sort of shorthand ... the blackwork implied a higher social status and the household being able to spare the time to teach the girls decorative skills. So they could manage a household?

[@JYFMuseums]

Not necessarily an indicator of status or social class, the skills could be taken together as an indication of a woman's capability to manage and run a household, but also maybe income potential. The recorded skills fell into the cottage industry world of textile production, skilled labor dominated by women, not for their own household needs, but production putting products onto the market for an additional household income stream.

[@lazygardens]

@@JYFMuseums I'm descended from Temperance Flowerdew, whose skills were marrying well and keeping the money.

[@jimplummer4879]

Completely different from the New England colonies where entire families came over, including my ancestors.

[@JYFMuseums]

Virginia began as a colony operated by a joint stock venture, and a male population starting out. Many of the men were young and unmarried with the original intent for many to go to Virginia, do a term of service, then get paid off and go home. They were generally of that age when they needed to get their financial security and stability in life before marriage. However, without the profitability the company hoped for, the only thing left to pay off workers with was land, and after completing their terms many men were finding themselves holding land and becoming tobacco farmers. By 1620 the Virginia company recruited women to take the risk of going to Virginia and marry a man who found wealth in tobacco. While most of the early settlers were men, the first two women arrived in Virginia about October 1608. The first families arrived in 1609 right before the Starving Time, and again in 1610.

[@jimplummer4879]

@@JYFMuseums Thank you

[@JYFMuseums]

You're welcome.

[@lazygardens]

Many of Jamestown's early arrivals were "adventurers" who wanted to get rich and get out ... few families or even women. Many were "gentlemen adventurers"; adventurers who had to be ordered to do manual labor. The famous "he who does not work does not eat" quote was aimed at them.

[@JYFMuseums]

Yes, the early settlers were referred to as adventurers and the ideal was that these men were going to Virginia to do a term of service and hopefully go home wealthy or at least economic stability. Many of these are young men biding time until they inherit property, gain a financial footing to start life and households, or that the potential stability of food, clothing, and shelter paid out by the Company during the term of service was attractive. But the gentlemen adventurers did not have to be forced to do manual labor, John Smith did write that, “yet 30 or 40 of such voluntary Gentlemen would doe more in a day then 100 of the rest that must be prest to it by compulsion, but twentie good workemen had beene better then them all.” And a margin note remarked, “one gentleman better than twenty lubbers.” Smith's complaints about the gentlemen were not that they were lazy or wouldn't work, the complaint was that they were not inured to the work. He indicates they were willing to work, that they were doing the work, they were making a game of the work and that labor difficulties were often with laborers or unskilled workers. That the gentlemen were doing the work just not to the volume that skilled workers would accomplish. Smith's “that he that will not worke shall not eate”, was not directed at a particular social class, but a biblical admonishment from 2nd Thessalonians directed at anyone not working and followed up with, “for the labours of thirtie or fortie honest and industrious men shall not be consumed to maintaine an hundred and fiftie idle loyterers.” He was also cautioning those that might question his authority, that there was a higher power to his authority.

[@susancollender6478]

What about the women who came in 1608?

[@JYFMuseums]

In October 1608 the first two English women arrived in Virginia aboard the Mary-Margaret, Mistress Forrest and her maid servant Anne Burras a girl about 13 years of age. It is not certain what happened to Mistress Forrest, she may have died, but by the end of the year Anne was married to John Laydon. Anne was the only English woman in Virginia until about the autumn of 1609 when the first significant number of English women & children arrived.

[@mazola5]

Were these women matched with a settler prior to being sent over to America? Or, did upon arrival they pick who they wanted to marry?

[@JYFMuseums]

The records indicating who was married and when just do not survive. The women had a choice in the matter. They did not have to marry, but if they did not, they were placed in households with wives where they worked pretty much as servants. We know that “divers” married quickly, but that word could mean many or a few. In actuality there were very few eligible men in the colony at the time. They had to be successful single planters and able to pay 150 pounds in tobacco each for their brides. The governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, and the Virginia Company’s agent John Pountis managed the program in Virginia and oversaw the appropriateness of the matches. There was some bitterness among the poorer planters who didn’t qualify. We recommend Jennifer Potter’s The Jamestown Brides (2018). www.shopjyf.com/oxford-university-press/the-jamestown-brides-by-jennifer-potter-7827

[@kaizma88]

Extremely interesting however given it was a wilderness it might have been better if these woman knew how to chop down trees and build cabins. 😂

[@helenhunter4540]

"These women". You're putting into careful language the inhuman manipulation by the colonial companies of women. What they were doing was selling women into marriage or other forms of "service". That hardly conforms with the supposedly ladylike skill of embroidery. Who wrote the Farrar papers?

[@JYFMuseums]

Farrar papers are a collection of documents from the Ferrar family which were heavily involved in the Virginia Company. Brothers John and Nicholas Ferrar both served as deputy treasurer of the Company. By order of the Privy Council in 1623, Nicholas Ferrar collected and turned over a number of documents related to the administration of the Virginia Company for investigation into why the company was struggling and whether or not the Royal Charter should be revoked. These papers containing letters, bills, receipts, and other documents formed the basis of the Ferrar papers which now reside at Magdalene College, Cambridge, England. Some quick information about Nicholas Ferrar en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Ferrar

[@debras3806]

@@JYFMuseumsWell done, just answering the content part and ignoring the goofy “language manipulation” part…after all, what else are you supposed to call “these women” except these women?!?😮

[@venusharris187]

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