Ancient Planters: Passengers of the Swan (1610)

The "Swan" arrived at the Jamestown Colony in late August 1610. It was one of a fleet of three ships belonging to Sir Thomas Gates, which along with the "Tryall" and the "Noah" carried 250 passengers and a years worth of provisions for 400 men.

The previous year, 1609, had been known as the dreadful "starving time," when the infant colony [of Jamestown, Virginia] was reduced from about 500 souls to "a haggard remnant of 60 all told, men, women and children scarcely able to totter about the ruined village".

The only surviving record of the passengers on the "Swan" are Cecily "Sisley Jordan" and ten other persons named in the Virginia Muster of early 1624/25 taken 14 years after the voyage.

Passengers from the Port of London on the Swan to Virginia, June - August 1610

1. Biggs, Richard . . . . . . .Age 41 in Virginia Muster, January 22, 1624/5.
2. Bouldinge, Thomas . . . Age 40 in Virginia Muster, February 7, 1624/5
3. Fludd, John . . . . . . . . . See name in Virginia Muster, January 21, 1624/5
4. Garnett, Thomas . . . . . Age 40 in Virginia Muster, February 7, 1624/5
5. Lupo, Albiano (Lt.) . . . .Age 40 in Virginia Muster, February 7, 1624/5
6. Stepney, Thomas . . . . .Age 35 in Virginia Muster, February 7, 1624/5
7. Taylor, John . . . . . . . . Age 34 in Virginia Muster, February 7, 1624/5
8. Waine, Amyte . . . . . . Age 30 in Virginia Muster, February 7, 1624/5
9. Gates, Thomas (not Sir)..Age ? in Virginia Muster, January 21, 1624/5, arrived 1610, not 1609.
10. Wright, Robart . . . . . . . Age 45 in Virginia Muster, February 4, 1624/5, arrived 1610, 1608.

Resources

• Virtual Jamestown
• Virginia Muster Records for Thomas GARNETT
• Musters of the Inhabitants in Virginia 1624/1625 by John Camden Hotten: London, 1874. Reprint by Empire State Book Co., New York. Publish date guessed to be in the 1940's.
• Search the Jamestown 1624/5 Muster Records

Citation Information

A good example for all of us comes from the wonderful "Virtual Jamestown" site:

To cite our sources you should refer to the particular item (for example a database or image), the project (or collection) it comes from, the VCDH, the University of Virginia, and the web address of the item.
For example, if you performed a search on the 1624/5 Muster Records the appropriate citation would be:
Jamestown 1624/5 Muster Records, Virtual Jamestown, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia (http://www.virtualjamestown.org/Musters/muster24.html).