Edward Gurgaynie, Ancient Planter

Two ships John & Francis and Phoenix, collectively known as "the First Supply," left London for the newly established settlement in Virginia.—"Edward Gurgana" was one of those on board the Phoenix. The barque Phoenix having reached the coast of Virginia in sight of Cape Henry, but confronting tempest winds, was forced to turn about, and with masts in need of repair, and their fresh water supply running low, the Phoenix was forced to head for the nearest land of safe retreat, which came to be an island in the West Indies. Here they found wood to repair the ship and provisions to live on, which enabled them to save much of their much needed stores for those at James Fort.

from: The Book of Gurganey http://nycnuts.net/ancestors/gurganey/index.html#edward3

Links

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jmljr&id=...

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From a GenForum posting:

http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/harris/20903/

In regard to the Jamestowne Society's non-acceptance of Edward Gurganey, please see below. Note the land transactions that were based on the "Ancient Planters" designation for Thomas Harris and Adria Gurganey. Since the "Audry" identified by Mr. Lyndon Hart did not arrive until 1621, she could not have been identified as an "Ancient Planter" and received land. Additionally, when Anne Gurganey "widdowe and relict of the said Edward Gurganey" died in "1619-20" she bequeathed her land to Thomas Harris. Most certainly this was her daughter, Adria's, husband. Why else would she bequeath her land to Thomas Harris?

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Response to Rootsweb, Harris/Gurgaynie information:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~harrisessex/Harri...

From: J. Phillip Harris, Wednesday, March 27, 2002

There was no such person as Adria Gurgaynie - or Joane Gurgaynie either. The first wife of Thomas Harris was listed as "Adry" in a 1638 land patent. Since Thomas Harris inherited the Edward Gurgaynie property (adjacent to the Harris property) from widow Anne Gurgaynie when she died in 1619, some well-intentioned Harris descendant speculated way back there that "Adry" must have been the Gurgaynie daughter. Somehow that idea stuck, got written into countless genealogies, sometimes by really prominent people who should have known better, but it was always fiction. There is not a shred of record evidence to indicate the existence of such a person. One thing that should have caused someone to question it was that Anne Gurgaynie died in 1619 and the person named "Adry" didn't get here until 1621.

To make a long story short, it was determined that the only real person that actually came over on the Marmaduke in 1621 that could be "Adry" was Audrey Hoare. There are actual parish records from Aylesbury, Buckingham documenting her family.

From Jim Hancock, a Harris researcher, we have the following information:

Lyndon Hart, genealogist for the Jamestowne Society wrote an article dealing with the subject of Adria. [see Mag. of Virginia Gen., Vol 34 Winter 1996 No 1 P51ff]. Essentially it argued that Adry, wife of Thomas Harris, was actually Audry Hoare, a maiden who came to Virginia aboard the ship Marmaduke in August 1621. She was born at Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, bp 28 Aug 1604. Her parents were Thomas Hoare and Julyan Tripplett. Genealogist, Paul Reed, has researched this further and says, "This is the ONLY Audry among the list of women to be transported to Virginia on the Marmaduke bound for Virginia in August 1621 [it arrived in November 1621]. Her age matches the age of Adria, wife of Thomas Harris." He went on to conclude that Audry was actually one and the same as Adria. Therefore, there is no direct connection with Edward Gurganey. However, the land patent issued in feb 1638/39 to Thomas Harris still suggests that there was a connection between Gurganey and Harris or Hoare. Note, the key to this is that Gurganey and Hoare families were both in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. And so was the Woodliffe family! So it now is certain that Thomas Harris' wife was Adry aka Adria aka Audry Hoare. [not Gurganey as has long been believed]. We have several more leads to follow in Aylesbury. We might also find more about the Harris line.

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The death date for Audrey (Adria) Harris of "bef 11 Sep 1626" needs to be dropped. That date is based on the old "witchcraft trial" story. The source that is used to apply that story to Thomas Harris is generally listed as Adventures of Purse and Person. Unfortunately, AP&P is a compilation of other works, and as a secondary source, is not sufficient to use as such. AP&P, published in 1956, copied the paragraph on the "witchcraft trial", word for word, from the Ligon Genealogy published in 1947. It notes that in the first footnote in the article. It even copied the sources, although it is obvious those sources were never checked.

The ultimate source of the trial is the Minutes of the Council of the General Court of Virginia, page 111. Checking that source yields a completely different version of events, one that shows it occurred down in the Kecoughtan settlement and had nothing to do with Thomas Harris in Henrico. The trial did indeed take place on 11 Sep 1626. It is another case, as with the "Joane Osborne" myth, of the Ligon Genealogy corrupting the Harris family history with deliberately made up "events". With 11 Sep 1626 out of the way, the next available "factual" date in the Thomas Harris records is the 1635 land patent in which he acknowledges his current wife's name to be "Joane". This means we know that by 1635, Audrey Hoare had died and Thomas Harris had remarried. So that is all we know and all we can say about the death of Audrey Hoare - is that she was dead by 1635.

Most likely Audrey Hoare was the mother of BOTH children of Thomas Harris, Mary AND William. The only reason it was ever stated that Joane was the mother of William was because of that bogus date of 11 Sep 1626. Again, it was the Ligon Genealogy that seems to have first made that statement. The birth year of William Harris is unknown but thought to be about 1629. In 1629, Audrey Hoare would be age 27. Joane Vincent was age 47. Due to the record references of the "land of William Vincent, deceased" appearing in the years from 1635 to 1639, it would seem William Vincent probably died closer to 1635 than to 1625. The evidence we have available seems to be more compelling to believe that Audrey Hoare died sometime after the birth of William Harris but before 1635.

It has been stated before that the will of Thomas Harris states that Joane was the mother of William. The will of Thomas Harris has never been located and is thought to have been included in the records of the General Court of Virginia destroyed in 1865. Papers dealing with docking the entails in 1735 were found in the British Colonial Records Office. These papers REFER to a will written in 1649, but a transcript of the papers reveal that they only say what we already know from the land patent record, that 200 acres of Longfield passed to Mary Harris Ligon at the death of Thomas Harris. No one would have any way of knowing what else the will might have stated.

Edward Gurgaynie was from Long Crendon (fact). He did not have to be old enough to be the father of Thomas Harris's wife since he really wasn't. As shown by existing parish records, he was basically only four years older than Thomas Harris. If Thomas Harris was from Aylesbury as we now think, then most likely Anne Gurgaynie left Thomas Harris the property because she was directly related to him, such as being his sister or cousin. This is what we have to now prove. It's still just speculation until we prove it by finding a real record somewhere.

Page 842, "The Ligon Family and Connections," copyright 1947, William D. Ligon, Jr.

"Thomas Harris was a Captain in the Charles City regiment in 1623, against the Indians, and was second in command to Captain Thomas Osborne in an expedition in 1627. He served as a member of the House of Burgesses from Charles City in 1623-24, and again from Henrico in 1639-47. A Captain Nathaniel Butler wrote a pamphlet entitled "The Unmasking of Virginia," and presented same to the King. This pamphlet reflected upon the officials of the King's administration in Virginia. The House of Burgesses undertook to reply to it, and presented a document entitled, "The Answer to an Information Presented unto your Majesty by Captain Nathaniel Butler, entitled 'The Unmasking of Virginia'."Thirty-four members of the House of Burgesses signed it, and among them was Thomas Harris, who spelled his name "Harries." (Burgess Journals, Vol. 1.)

He received a grant of 750 acres in Henrico, "within Diggs Hundred, November 11, 1635, (Nugents Abstracts, p. 304), Southward upon land of Edward Gurganey, Northward upon land of Joane Harris, his wife (sic 2nd wife, Joane Osborne), West upon the river and East into the woods." (Nugent's Abstracts, p. 33) This land was regranted to him with the addition of 70 acres for the adventure of his first wife, Adria, as her name does not appear in the first grant. This grant was as follows (Ibid. Vol. 1, pp. 105, 146-147) "Capt. Thomas Harris, 820 acres, Henrico Co., February 25, 1638, (Nugent's Abstracts, p. 615), Commonly known as the Long Field, beg. at a cr. over against Capt. Martin, E.S.E. towards Bremo, W.N.W. upon the main river.Due as follows: 100 acres for his own personal adventure, 100 acres for personal adventure of his first wife Adry, as being Ancient Planters in the time of Sir Thomas Dale, and 620 acres for the transportation of: William Purnell, John Godfrey, John Searle, Thomas Kean, Richard Mascall, Nath. Moore, John Edwards, Ann Ridley, William Jones, Thomas Morgan, Wm. Jones, and 2 Negroes."

He received another grant of 400 acres, which was bequeathed by Anne Gurganey, widow of Edward Gurganey, gent. who came in the second supply in 1608. (Works of Captain John Smith, p. 108, 411, 524) Edward Gurganey (Gourgainy) came to Virginia in 1608, ahead of his family, in order to prepare a home for (cont.)

Page 843 (The Ligon Family and Connections):

them, He was listed among the gentlemen, and was one of Argall's associates in settling Argall's Gift or Town, which he and Thomas Pawlett represented in the Convention and Assembly of 1619. (Va. Mag. Vol. 2, p. 61). But as the tract fell within the Governor's land, Gurganey transferred his holdings to Henrico.He died shortly after Assembly of 1619, as did his wife, as shown in a patent to Captain Thomas Harris as follows:"Same to Capt. Thomas Harris, July 12, 1637.(Nugent's Abstracts, p. 438).Confirmation.'Due unto the sd. Capt. Harris as followeth: 400 acres being granted to Edward Gurganey by order of the Court, bearing date October 1, 1617, from the late Treasurer and Company bequeathed by Anne Gurganey widdowe and relict of the said Edward Gurganey to the said Thomas Harris, as by her last Will, bearing date the 11th of February A.D. 1619-20, appeareth."

Thomas Harris married 1st, in England, Adria Gurganey, born about 1598, daughter as aforesaid of Edward and Anne Gurganey. She died before September 11, 1626, for at a General Court held on that day, one "Rebecka Graye swore and examineth, sayeth that ye good wife Wright did tell the deponent that she told Thomas Harris he should bury his first wife being then bethothed unto him, which came to pass." (Virginia Magazine, Vol. 26, p. 13.) Prophecy in those days, if fulfilled, usually resulted in a complaint for witchcraft. The land grand records, as quoted above, show Adria Harris was an ancient planter, which means that she came to Virginia before April, 1616. She was not listed among the "Maids" when returning on the "Marmeluke" (Marmaduke) in 1621, aged 23, from a visit to England, where she probably had left her oldest children, because of the hard life in Virginia. With them in Virginia, was Anne Woodlief, their kinswoman, aged 7, and Elizabeth, a servant, aged 15 years, who came in 1620, in the "Margaret and John." (Hotten's Immigrants, pp. 170, 203.)"

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As for there being a son named Edward Gurgaynie, the only thing I know you could base this on is the patent in 1645 (not 1648) that refers to the land of Edward "Gurgunye". Since a number of the other names referred to in that patent are already dead, I always felt they were referring to the parcel willed to Thomas Harris. It was common to refer to a piece of land by its original owner's name long after he was dead, particularly if it was currently held by someone who had many different parcels like Thomas Harris did in 1645. It was the only way they could continue to identify a specific parcel. My take has always been that Edward and Anne Gurgaynie had no children, which is why they willed the land to Thomas Harris.

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From Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents in "The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography" Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jul., 1899), pp. 69-72:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4242225?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents

(506) Captain Thomas Harris [1], 700 acres in the County of Henrico, called by the name of the Long Field, beginning at a little creek over against the land of Captain Martin and extending westward on the main river, southeast towards "Bremoes Dividend" [2]. Due as follows: 400 acres granted to Edward Gurganey by order of Court Oct. 1st 1617, from the late Treasurer and Company, and bequeathed by Ann, widow of the said Edward Gurganey to the said Thomas Harris by her will dated Feb. 11, 1619; and 300 acres due for the transportation of six persons [names not given]. Granted by Harvey, May 12, 1637.

Footnotes:

• 1. Reference from page 49 - Thomas Harris, of Henrico County. For notice of him and some of his descendants, see this Magazine IV, 248-249; and for fuller account see "A Chart of the Descendants of Captain Thomas Harris," &c., Richmond, 1894.
• 2. Bremo, long the residence of a branch of the Cocke family.

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From Decisions of Virginia General Court, 1626-1628 in "The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography" Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jan., 1897), pp. 246-252

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4241960

Captain Thomas Harris came to Virginia in 1611, and settled in the present Henrico County; received grants of land 1635-38; was a member of the House of Burgesses 1623, 1639, and 1647. He married

• (1) Adria, [note: at first speculated as a daughter of Edward Gurganey, and later asserted as passenger on the Marmaduke in 1621 "Adry", possibly Audrey Hoare, daughter of Thomas and Julyan Tripplett.]
• (2) Joane,

and had issue:

• I. Thomas, died unmarried, will proved in Henrico June 1679;
• II. Maj. William Harris, of Henrico , member of the House of Burgesses 1653, 1656, 1657-8; will proved Henrico Feb. 1, 1678, married Lucy
• III. Mary, born 1625, married Col. Thomas Lygon, of Henrico...

For proofs of this pedigree, and a continuation, see "A Chart of the Descendants of Capt. Thomas Harris with an Appendix of Illustrative Documents."