Shipwright Henry Brookes

Henry Brookes "the shipwright" of St. Mary's and Westmoreland was born ABT 1610 in England; first known record is of his marriage in Southwark Parish, Surrey, January 1634. He died bef 3 Feb 1662/63 in Westmoreland Co., VA.

Was in St. Mary's County by 1642, Listed as a shipwright. Left MD to get away from religious tensions, moved to Westmoreland Co. VA. His will was dated 21 June, 1662

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family

Parents unknown. He does not seem related to Nicholas Brooks Sr & Jr, merchants of York County, Virginia.

NB; His birth date is an estimate based on being age 25 at 1st marriage in 1634. 25 was the average age for men marrying in London in the 17th century.

He married

1. Joane House on 28 January 1634 at St Savior's in Southwark Parish, Surrey. She died about 1642 / before 1650
2. Jane (Joane) [Rokely? Evers / Eure? Saxton? Coles?] about 1642 / before 1650 in St. Mary's Co., MD. She was born ABT 1620 in England, and died about 1683 in Virginia. She was David Wickliffe's widow.

Children, it is not certain of their mother, as both wives were called Jane or Joane

1. Eve Brookes was born 1637 in Surrey UK
2. Emmeline Brookes was born 1638 in Surrey UK
3. Lydia Brookes was born 1639 in Surrey UK, and died BEF 27 APR 1698 in Westmoreland Co., VA.
4. Jane Brookes was born say 1645 in St. Mary's Co., MD, and died bef 24 Feb 1702/03 in Washington Parish, Westmoreland Co., VA.
5. Dorothy Brookes was born after 1650 in Virginia

Daughters Dorothy Brooks, Jane Higden, and Lydia Abbington, along with wife Joane, are mentioned in his 1663 will.

will

!3 Feb 1662/63: Brooks, Henry, shipwright. Will, Westmoreland Co., VA, 21 June 1662, 3 Feb 1662, My wife Joane to be extx; my daughter Dorothy Brooks; my grandchild Lidia Abbington daughter of Lawrence Abbington; to Henry Saxton my godson and his father Nicholas Saxton; my daughter Jane Higden; my daughter Lidia Abbington; Richard Cole to be overseer. From Virginia County Records, Westmoreland Co, edited by Crozier, Genealogical Publishing Co, Baltimore, 1971, page 3.

Will of Henry BROOKES, shipwright, dwelling in the Parish of Appomattic in the County of Westmoreland, dated 21 June 1662:

• My well beloved wife Joane BROOKES be my executor.
• Joane my wife have this seat of land whereon I now live bounding upon David ANDERSON and soe running to a place called the Arrow head dureing her life and after her decease to be my daughter Dorothy BROOKES.
• My grandchild Lidia ABBINGTON have 50 acres joining to the land on which Lawrence ABBINGTON father to Lidia now dwelleth on.
• Henry SAXTON my Godson have 50 acres on which Nicholas SAXTON father of Henry now liveth.
• The heir of David WHITLIFF have 50 acres joining to the land whereon the aforesaid WHITLIFF is now seated, WHITLIFF to enjoy the fifty acres until it please Gode he had one (sic).
• My daughter Jane HIGDEN 59 acres besides the hundred already acknowledged in Court, joyning to the same.
• The Arrow head be Richard COLE's dureing his life but after his decease to return to my daughter Dorothy.
• All my goods, cattle, moveable and immoveables be Jone my wife's dureing her life excepting half the stock of hogs which belongs to Richard COLE, after her decease to return in kind to my daughter Dorothy.
• If my daughter Dorothy doe before she comes to be married, what doth or shall belong unto her be equally divided between my daughters Liddia ABBINGTON and Jane HIGDEN.

Laurence ABINGTON and Richard COLE overseers.

family comments

The children born in Surrey were

• Eve 1637
• Em 1638 [Emmeline; ?mis transcribed as Emanuel in the 1650 headlight notice?]
• Lydia Brookes 1639

Presumably the children Dorothy & Jane were born in St Mary's after 1642, perhaps to the 2nd wife, Jane, widow of David Wickliffe

We know how the family looked in 1650 when headright was claimed for Trans. of 13 persons:

• Henry Brooke (shipwright)
• David Whitliff, (step son)
• Emanuel Brooke (SIC: Emmeline)
• Jane Brooke (wife)
• Jane Brooke (daughter)
• Robert Wickliffe (step son)
• Lydia Brooke (daughter)
• Alice Whitliffe (also spelled Wickliffe in same patent) (step daughter)

Dorothy Brooke is named in his 1663 will so born after 1650 and definitely the 2nd wife. She was named "alias Butler" in a later patent so presumably her mother re married a Butler as she was legally known by [William?] Butler's surname when underage. Did he have a son John, therefore her [step] brother ?

biographical notes

From http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bodine/n35487.html

Henry Brooks was from time to time a member of the Assembly of Maryland from St. Georges Hundred as a freeman. He is mentioned frequently as a merchant, and all references point to the Brooks family as one of wealth and position. About 1650 Henry Brooks, with his children by a former wife and Jane with her children, joined the general exodus and fled from Maryland across the Potomac to Northumberland County (which in 1653 became Westmoreland County), Virginia. According to family tradition, the family ws forced to leave Maryland for religious reasons. Political events in England also caused guarreling in Maryland among Catholics, members of the Church of England, and the Puritans. In order to put an end to the dispute, Lord Baltimore and the Assembly passed the Act of Religion Toleration Act in 1649. The Wickliffes were Protestants, and were on the wrong side politically. Henry Brooks settled on a tract of 1,060 acres on Mattox Creek, embracing most of "Wakefield," later acquired by the (George) Washington family. Henry seems to have treated his stepsons much as he treated his own children, but in making gifts to them he may have only been returning to them what was theirs by right from their father's estate. Evidently a part of the acreage granted to Henry Brooks was for bringing David's three children; David II, Robert, and Alice to Virginia. Henry Brooks died in 1662, and Jane Wickliffe Brooks died about 1683.

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From http://www.combs-families.org/combs/assoc/original.htm

The will of Richard COLE, Parish of Appomattox, Westmoreland Co VA, dated 4 Nov 1663, proved 27 Apr 1664 made bequests to ÂœWidow BROOKS, Nicholas SAXTON; my god daughter, Jane, the wife of Richard HIGDEN; Thomas WEBB; with the widow BROOKS to be exx. Witnesses: John BROOK and John BELL. (Westmoreland Co, VA Wills, 1654-1800, Augusta B. Fothergill, Appeals Press, 1925; SHP reprint, Easley, SC, 1982)

Janes father Henry BROOKE and his friend and associate Richard COLE previously lived in St. Marys Co, Maryland, where Henry married Jane UNKNOWN Wickliffe, the widow of David WICKLIFFE sometime between 1644 (her last record as the widow WHITCLIFF in St. Marys) and the 31 May 1650 patent record for Henryland in then Northumberland Co, Virginia. That she was the widow of David WICKLIFFE aka WHITCLIFF is proven by her 11 Oct 1650 statement to wit: Jane wife of Henry BROOKES at the request of Willm LEWIS saith upon oath that in a bargain with her former husband david WICKLIFFE made with Cpt. Cornwallis there was due to her said husband 200 acres of land within the said Capts divident the right of which said 200 acres this depont saith was given by her said former husband the Lt. Willm LEWIS And further she saith not. Jane BROOKE. 11 Oct. 1650, Richard COLE stated the above agreement with Willm LEWIS was 12 years since and the land was in St. Inegoes Creek MD Historical Magazine, 1913, Land Notes 1634-1655, p. 265). Jane could possibly be the mother of Henry daughter Jane BROOKE Higden if she were born 1643 or later now that we know Jane WICKLIFFE was widowed between 1643-43. Note that Henrys transportation list for his patent includes David, Alice, and Robert Whitliffe. David was Janes son by her previous husband. The others could possibly be her children alsoo since she had evidently been married to David by 1638.

notes

James Hughes 2006-01-27 14:13:01
Henry Brooke Arrived in Maryland in 1641

Maryland Land Book, No. 1, Page 10

Date 1648/ Captain William Hawley receives 2,000 acres on account of transport of 10 men into the colony. Listed among them is Henry brooks brought over in 1641 at the expense of Captains Cornwallis and Cuthbert Fenwick, (who came with the Arc and Dove).

Nugent, Nell Marion,-"Cavaliers and Pioneers", consisting of Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1625-1680. Dietz Pringing Co, Richmond 1934.

First Patent, 1650, Page 193. Patent Book No. 2, Page 225.

!3 Jul 1661: APPOMATTOX VESTRY. Wee whose names are here underwritten were made Choice of as Vestry men by ye Parish of Appomattox & have taken ye oath of Alegiance & Supremacie & doe subscribe ye following words: as, I doe Acknowledge my self a true sonn of ye Church of Engld so I doc beleeve ye Articles of faith there professed & oblige myself to bee Conformable to ye Doctrine & Dicepline there taught & established. Dated this 3d. of July 1661. JOHN DODMAN, ANDREW MUNROE, JOHN WASHINGTON, HERBERT SMITH, DANIELL LISSON, RICHARD GRIFFIN, WILLIAM FFREKE, JOHN TURNER, FFRANCIS GREY, WILLIAM WEBB, HENRY BROOKES, NATHANIEL JONES. Westmoreland Co., MD, Deeds, Wills, Patents, &c. from 1661 to 1662, p. 46.

See the a screenshot captured from Ancestry.com of the marriage of Henry Brookes, Shipwright and his wife Joane House in 1634. Further research on the records of this parish reveals the births of daughters Eve, Em, and Lydia Brookes in 1637, 1638 and 1639 respectively. I have not yet found a record for the daughter Jane, which may not have happened in the same parish. This should help straighten out any confusion on this line.

!31 May 1650: Henry Brooke, 658 acres Northumberland Co. 31 May, 1650; p. 225; N. E. upon Potomack River; S. E. upon Cr. dividing this from land of Nathaniel Pope Grant; N. W. upon Cr. dividing this from land of Hercules Bridges. Trans. of 13 persons. Henry Brooke, David Whitliff, Emanuel Brooke, Jane Brooke, Jane Brooke, Robert Whitliffe, Lydia Brooke, Alice Whitliffe (also spelled Wickliffe in same patent). Nugent, Nell Marion,-"Cavaliers and Pioneers", consisting of Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1625-1680. Dietz Printing Co, Richmond 1934.

Henry BROOKE, father of Jane, patented land in then-Northumberland (later Westmoreland) on 31 May 1650, on land adjacent to Nathaniel POPE I and Hercules BRIDGES, with headrights including himself, David WHITLIFF, Eman. BROOKE, Jane BROOKE, Jane BROOKE [sic], Robt. WHITLIFFE, Lydia BROOKE, Ailce WHITLIFFE. (Virginia Land Patent Book 2:225, Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. I, p. 194).

Jane father Henry BROOKE and his friend and associate Richard COLE previously lived in St. Marys Co, Maryland, where Henry married Jane UNKNOWN Wickliffe, the widow of David WICKLIFFE sometime between 1644 (her last record as the widow WHITCLIFF in St. Mary's) and the 31 May 1650 patent record for Henry's land in then Northumberland Co, Virginia. That she was the widow of David WICKLIFFE aka WHITCLIFF is proven by her 11 Oct 1650 statement to wit: Jane wife of Henry BROOKES at the request of Willm LEWIS saith upon oath that in a bargain with her former husband david WICKLIFFE made with Cpt. Cornwallis there was due to her said husband 200 acres of land within the said Capt divident the right of which said 200 acres this depont saith was given by her said former husband the Lt. Willm LEWIS And further she saith not. Jane BROOKE. 11 Oct. 1650, Richard COLE stated the above agreement with Willm LEWIS was 12 years since and the land was in St. Inegoes Creek MD Historical Magazine, 1913, Land Notes 1634-1655, p. 265). Jane could possibly be the mother of Henry's daughter Jane BROOKE Higden if she were born 1643 or later now that we know Jane WICKLIFFE was widowed between 1643-43. Note that Henry's transportation list for his patent includes David, Alice, and Robert Whitliffe. David was Jane's son by her previous husband. The others could possibly be her children alsoo since she had evidently been married to David by 1638.

A later Westmoreland court record substantiates that Jane BROOKE Higden remarried to Original BROWN, and that Henry's daughter Lydia, wife of Lawrence ABBINGTON remarried to Wm KIMBER aka KIMBALL.

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!3 Jul 1661: APPOMATTOX VESTRY. Wee whose names are here underwritten were made Choice of as Vestry men by ye Parish of Appomattox & have taken ye oath of Alegiance & Supremacie & doe subscribe ye following words: as, I doe Acknowledge my self a true sonn of ye Church of Engld so I doc beleeve ye Articles of faith there professed & oblige myself to bee Conformable to ye Doctrine & Dicepline there taught & established. Dated this 3d. of July 1661. JOHN DODMAN, ANDREW MUNROE, JOHN WASHINGTON, HERBERT SMITH, DANIELL LISSON, RICHARD GRIFFIN, WILLIAM FFREKE, JOHN TURNER, FFRANCIS GREY, WILLIAM WEBB, HENRY BROOKES, NATHANIEL JONES. Westmoreland Co., MD, Deeds, Wills, Patents, &c. from 1661 to 1662, p. 46.

• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V528-ST2
• http://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I06046...
• http://www.combs-families.org/combs/assoc/original.htm
• http://www.multiwords.de/genealogy/Brooke.html#Hercules%20Bridges
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thamm&id=...
• http://www.combs-families.org/combs/assoc/original.htm
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thamm&id=...
• Page 7 of Westmoreland County edited by William Armstrong Crozier (notice the Cole will on the same page)
• http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/c/q/Tonya-A-Mcquade/WEBSITE-0001/UHP...
• Index Library British Record Society, Vol. 2, London Marriage Licenses p. 127 Henry Brookes & Joan House, 29 Dec 1634 - Book 17, p. 143, Registry of Bishop of London