James Waldrop

his exact relationship to Sir William Waldrop appears unresolved, but the paragraphs below are what I have found to date:

!The ancestor of the Wardrope family of VA, and of the Waldrops of the Carolinas and Georgia, is stated by all family historians to have been Sir William Wardrope of Scotland. He is referred to as a "merchant noble" and it is said that he owned ships which carried on trade between the American colonies and Great Britain. What appears to be the earliest reference to his family in America is found in York Co VA, 25 Jan 1678, when one William Waldrop was granted 2500 pounds of tobacco. Whether this referred to Sir William himself or to one of his sons is not known.

!A kinsman of Sir William Waldrope was James Wardrope of Ampthill, Chesterfield Co VA, who m. Letitia Lee, dau of Phillip Lee who was the ancestor of three governors of VA, this James Wardrope settled in Upper Marlboro MD, where he was a merchant. He d. in New York City in 1750, leaving the bulk of his estate to his widow. To his nephew, Robert Bull, son of Robert Bull of Leith, Scotland, he left his father's dwelling house in Wardrop's Court, Lawn Market, Edinburgh. A smaller bequest went to John Bowles, son of Mary Bowles. There were no male heirs. It appears that this James Waldrope, through his business and planting interests and through his connections with colonial VA, aristrocracy, was influential in the affairs of the descendants of Sir William Wardrope, given below.

!Whether James Wardrope, who m. Letitia Lee, was a son of Sir William Wardrope is not known, but two sons of Sir William are given as Michael Wardrope of VA, and Thomas Wardrope (or Wardropper), who was Surveyor General of Lands for the colony of NC, and who was appointed by His Majesty George II to serve on the King's Council for NC, in 1735. He was the ancestor of the Waldrop family of Wake Co NC. -------------------- . ID: 11218 (from the profile of Sir William Waldrop )

Read more about the challenges in the relationship between him and Mary Ann (Thompson) Moor on her profile. consider this link/line as somewhat speculative based on current evidence and subject to change.