Thomas Robins

Notes

The families of brothers Thomas and John must have been very close, if not merged, since it seems that one or both were widowers before 1622. The will of the ailing Thomas Robins is unusually generous to his brother’s son Thomas: “Thomas Robines son of John Robines shall have the tenement and all the lands. If Thomas Robines son of John Robines dies without male heirs, then the same to Henry Robines and his heirs.”

The will makes no mention of nephew, John II, probably because he had pursued all of his father’s interests in Virginia. The will of Thomas Robines does provide for his niece: “To Elizabeth Robines, daughter of John Robines Five pounds at 22 years etc. & a tablecloth of her own mother’s.” These bequests seem to suggest that those heirs of the brothers, Thomas and John, who remained in England, might even have constituted a single household.

While we have no subsequent data regarding children who remained in England, John Robins II did return to Virginia. He was not in the colony in the census of 1623/24 or in the muster of 1624/25.

References

• The Family Tree Searcher. Volume 15 - Number 1. June 2011. < PDF >