Vikings and Virginians

The following timeline was extracted from The History of Parliament, British Political, Social & Local History: the House of Commons 1509-1558

1513

Thomas Saunders born this year or previously, as the oldest surviving son of Nicholas Saunders of Charlwood and Alice, daughter of John Hungate of Yorkshire (Saxton?)

1527

Thomas Sanders educated at 1 Temple

1539

Thomas Saunders is married to Alice, daughter of Sir Edmund Walsingham of Scadbury, Chislehurts, Kent (settlement 6 june)

Before succeeding his father at Charlwood in August 1553 Thomas Saunders had himself acquired the manors of Flanchford and Hartswood in 1539 and in the following year had had three manors in Sanderstead and Warlingham settled on him by his father on his marriage to Alice Walsingham.

1540

Thomas Saunders is solicitor to the houshold of Queen Anne of Cleves and of Queen Catherin Howard

1541-1558

Thomas Saunders is Justice of the Peace

1542

Thomas Saunders sat in the Commons under three successive monarchs and at intervals over a span of 16 years. His return for Gatton to the Parliament of 1542 he must have owed to Sir Roger Copley, described in the indentures as ‘burgess and only inhabitant of the borough’, but whether as Copley’s near neighbour at Charlwood or through an intermediary like Copley’s father-in-law (Sir) William Shelley it is impossible to say. In the first session he shared in the passing of the Act (33 Hen. VIII, c.21) attainting his mistress the Queen.

1543

In 1543 Thomas Saunders took a 21-year lease of a house in the Blackfriars, which presumably became his London residence; from 1550 his landlord there was his Surrey neighbour Cawarden. This transaction apart, Saunders did not interest himself in monastic property.

1546

Attendent on Lent reader, Inner Temple; Summer reader 1546; autumn reader 1546, 1547,

Thomas Saunders’ long upward progress there received occasional checks: his refusal to read in the summer of 1547 cost him temporary demotion from the bench

Appointed solicitor of the Queen’s household in 1540, originally for Anne of Cleves but then for Catherine Howard, he obtained the reversion of the office of King’s remembrancer in 1545 and the office itself in 1549. Its previous holder was (Sir) Christopher More, a fellow Inner Templar who had settled in Saunders’s own county; in February 1547 Saunders indemnified More against any harm resulting from his visits to the Exchequer ‘to see and peruse the records and process there for his learning and knowledge of the course of the said office’. He was to retain the post until his death. Similar continuity marked Saunders’s record in local administration: for the last 24 years of his life he served every regime in turn.4

1548

Thomas Saunders is commr. chantries Surrey, Sussex and chantries Surrey, Sussex and Chichester

1549

Thomas Saunders, Kings remembrances, the Exchequer

1550

Thomas Saunders, relief, Surrey and Sussex.

Thomas Saunders’ knighted.

1552

Whether he unsuccessfully sought a seat at the two following elections is not known, but when on 1 Feb. 1552 the Council sent a writ for the election of a knight for Surrey to replace either Sir Christopher More, or more probably More’s successor, it was accompanied by an instruction to the sheriff, Sir Robert Oxenbridge, to ‘prefer’ Saunders.

This may well have been done on the initiative of William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester: as treasurer, Winchester was Saunders’s departmental chief, and he had probably engineered Saunders’s knighthood in 1550 shortly after his own promotion. In the event the Council’s recommendation was ignored and the sheriff returned John Vaughan I. Twelve months later the Council prepared to intervene again; this time it favoured the re-election of Vaughan and the other previous Member Sir Thomas Cawarden, but whereas Cawarden was chosen Vaughan was passed over in favour of Saunders. What lay behind this reversal can only be guessed at: the implied assertion of shire independence may have been more apparent than real and the explanation lie in an amicable adaptation to circumstances.5

Saunders was not to regain the knighthood of the shire until 1558; at three of the intervening elections it was his ultra-Catholic cousin William Saunders who replaced him, once during Saunders’s shrievalty. Still he was elected for Reigate, where his patron was probably the lord of the manor, Lord William Howard from whom he held property there. Unlike some other Members from Surrey he did not oppose the initial measures for the restoration of Catholicism, and it was in the course of the second session that he was pricked sheriff. He had presumably won the Queen’s confidence by ignoring the attempt of the Council, as soon as Edward VI was dead, to secure Surrey for Jane Grey, and his conduct during Wyatt’s rebellion justified his choice. The invidious duty of sequestering Cawarden’s goods and, with William Saunders, of removing Cawarden’s weapons he appears to have carried out efficiently but humanely, afterwards sending Lady Cawarden a letter of apology and ‘a token of your own’, and he may not have been wholly to blame for the failure to return all the goods with which Cawarden was later to charge him.6

1553

Thomas Saunders father dies, leaving him heir to extensive property in Surrey.  Both his great uncle the father of William Saunders and his uncle Wiliam, the father of Nicholas Saunders the Catholic controversialist, may have been members of other inns, but he established the family’s connexion with the Inner Temple, where on his admission in 1527 he was pardoned all vacations and offices and allowed to be out of commons at his pleasure.

Thomas Saunders, goods of churches and fraternities, Surrey

Sherriff, Surrey and Sussex, 1553-54

1556-8

Thomas Saunders is Treasurer; and governor in 1557

1557

Thomas Saunders, musters, conventicies

1558

Wife Alice Walsingham dies

1560

Thomas Saunders’  work as treasurer was challenged and he was called upon to re-account. No such setbacks appear in his government career.

1563

Thomas Saunders dies.

His legal standing made him a suitable choice as an overseer of wills, and among those who named him in this capacity were his father-in-law Walsingham and one of his successors as Member for Gatton, John Tingleden. Saunders’s own will, which he drew up himself, was meticulous in its provisions and requirements. His wife was to have a life interest in most of his property but if she remarried she would have to give the heir written sureties against despoiling of woods or furnishings; the rest of the property was divided among the younger children. Anxious that at least one of his sons should study law, Saunders promised his law books to whichever of them did so. His care for learning showed itself in his ample provision for ‘an honest parish clerk at Charlwood that can play the organ and teach children, for maintenance of God’s service’, and the bequest of his ‘books of humanity and stories in Latin or French’ to his own children. Although he made the will on 7 Mar. 1563, Saunders did not die until 18 Aug. 1565, probate following on 7 July 1566.7

WHB -I have constructed a timeline relating to Edward Saunders of Charlwood, Surrey, based on the notes of Justin Sanders.

1595

Edward Sr. was born about 1595 in Charlwood, Surrey County, England.

Edward Saunders is believed to be the person who, at age 40, sailed on the ship Safety from London to Virginia, and who, in 1635, was listed as the father of passengers Thomas, 13 and Edward Jr., age 9.

1607

Thomas Saunders (who ran Joseph Saunders warehouse in the late 1640’s) was born in Gloucester, England in 1607, the son of Philip Saunders of Amroth, Wales, a descendent of the same Charlwood, Surrey County Sanders/Saunders family from which Edward is believed to descend.

Edward  Saunders made his first voyage to Jamestown in 1619 as a merchant working within the Virginia Company, and returned to England in 1621. he name of his father is not known, but he is thought to be a grandson of Thomas White Saunders of Charlwood.

1622

Edward Saunders may have been absent when his first son, Thomas, was born in England in 1622.

In 1622 Edward and Roger Saunders divided their time between Jamestown and Accomack, a possible reason they escaped the massacre. “Together over the next decade Edward and Roger assisted others in managing the lands of cattle of Lady Dale, the ex-governor’s wife. . . .”

1623

A legal paper filed in London in 1623 identified Edward as an inhabitant of the colony when an Indian massacre took the lives of 347 colonists (about one-fourth of the population) on 22 March 1622.

1624

Edward Saunders  was back in England at the time the paper was filed, attesting  to conditions in Jamestown at the time of the attack. He therefore played a role in the dismantling of the Virginia Company in 1624, at which time Virginia became a Crown Colony. [Ralph Sanders, Generations: A Thousand Year Family History, p. 191].

On his return to Virginia in 1622 Edward was accompanied by a relative named Roger Saunders. The two men collaborated in a warehouse venture with Joseph Saunders, a wealthy ship owner and merchant of the ancient Vintners Company.

A relationship between Edward and Joseph is suspected, but has not been identified. The warehouse of Joseph Saunders was located near Cape Charles in Accomack, somewhere near the southern tip of the peninsula where Roger Saunders constructed a plantation house in 1628.

1625

Between 1625 and 1635 the Saunders Accomack Virginia warehouse imported linen, powder and wine in exchange for tobacco and beaver skins. [p. 198].

Roger Saunders consturcts a plantation house near Cape Charles in Accomack

1632

Roger Saunders managed the Accomack warehouse until his death in 1632. William Smith then took over the operation until his death in 1636.

1635

4 July 1635 – the ship Transport, Edward Walker, Master, embarked for Virginia from London.

Thomas Saunders – 20.

Source: John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality . . . 1600-1700, p. 102.

10 Aug 1635 – the ship Safety, John Graunt, Master, embarked from London carrying 144 persons to Virginia.

Edward Saunders – 40

Thomas Saunders – 13

Edward Saunders – 9.

James Pattison – 21 (listed two names above the senior Edward).

Source: John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality . . . 1600-1700, p. 122.

The Edward Saunders above, age 40, was the father of Thomas, 13 and Edward Jr., age 9. Edward Sr. was born about 1595 in Charlwood, Surrey County, England.

[Note from WHB – See my previous posts Ancestral Families and the English-Colonial Trade (1612-1632) and Saunders in Gloucestershire and Bristol in Late Medieval Times.]

1636

William Smith (of Accomack warehouse) death in 1636.

1639

Edward Saunders ran operations at the Accomack warehouse until he and three coworkers died in 1639 aboard the Flower de Luce, a ship owned by Joseph Saunders, en route for England [p. 199]. “. . .

Thomas Saunders of Gloucester (not the son of Edward) evidently picked up the slack in the 1640’s after the deaths of earlier partners.” [Sanders, p. 197].

The sons of Edward Saunders, Thomas, b. 1622 and Edward, b. 1625 returned to England following the death of their father. In 1655 Edward returned to Virginia with the title of Doctor and resided in Northumberland County. His brother Thomas followed shortly after and obtained property nearby in the same county.  [Sanders, pp. 401-2].

The sons of Edward Saunders, Thomas, b. 1622 and Edward, b. 1625 returned to England following the death of their father.

1655

In 1655 Edward returned to Virginia with the title of Doctor and resided in Northumberland County. His brother Thomas followed shortly after and obtained property nearby in the same county.  [Sanders, pp. 401-2].

I have been in communication with Justin Sanders of Phoenix, Arizona, who has successfully identified his direct line of ancestors back through 17th century Virginia and before that to London, England.

We have begun a process of comparing research and of sharing information about genealogical resources as well as sharing our y-DNA test results.  We invite comments from other researchers. (Contact me at [email protected].) WHB

A communication from Justin Sanders (Phoenix, AZ)

Bill,

I suppose the best place to open a dialogue about research would be with notes I collected on a Thomas Sanders of New Kent (later King & Queen) and his son of the same name. Attached is an essay regarding their records and origins, much of which was carved from Ralph Sanders work, Generations: A Thousand Year Family History.

Like so many of the early Sanders/Saunders persons in Virginia, Thomas came to the colony as an entrepreneur, he in the employ of the Vintners Company of London. Once I documented my earliest known ancestor as James Sanders of New Kent (1675-1717), Thomas Sanders was the first person I looked at in my search for earlier ancestors.

The name and location made him an obvious target. Speculation as to whether or not my line ties this person could be easily ended if Ralph Sanders had DNA results out there, somewhere. To date, I have not been able to locate him.

I am also attaching a note file on Sanders persons transported to the Middle Peninsula and Peninsula during the 17th Century. They are primarily abstracts taken from Cavaliers & Pioneers, Volumes 1 & 2. One I would like to highlight here is one I intended to include in my lengthy email earlier, regarding a possible connection to the son and neighbors of William Sanders who died in Charles City County, in 1660.

18 Feb 1673/4 – Wm. Sanders, Michael Edmonds, Cuthbert Tunstall transported  by Robt. Bagby & Wm. Hernden. New Kent Co., NE side of Mattapony River adj. Thos. Hall, Jno. Pigg, Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 143. (PB6:502).

The William Sanders and Cuthbert Tunstall referenced here may be the sons of William Sanders Sr. (d. 1660) and Edward Tunstall, who owned adjoining patents on the Appomattox River circa 1640. It is possible a family connection between William Sanders and the Tunstalls. As you will see in the essay and note files, the northeast side of Mattapony Creek is where the above Thomas Sanders Senior and Junior resided, and an area to where a number of Sanders persons were transported (presumably) in the following decades.

Justin

Because of the richness of the data collected by Justin, I will organize it into separate web pages as appropriate, and will create hyperlinks between related pages (and, in specific cases, to my own research.)

I have pulled together various citations related to possible ancestors residing in or emigrating from 16th or 17th century Wiltshire County, England. The following questions seem to be appropriate:

1) Is there a parallel between the involvement of persons surnamed Saunders or otherwise likely related through the DNA research discussed elsewhere on this website and “religious dissent”?

2) Is there evidence of involvement of ancestors in the tobacco trade both in Wiltshire and in Virginia?

3) Is there evidence that the impact of the English Civil War on Wiltshire and surrounding counties influenced the emigration to the American colonies?

From Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, by Sarah Saunders Smith (beginning at page 17): From the Colonial Records also from deeds and wills, we find the family of Sanders who came to America were from Wiltshire County, England, as also were many of the organizers of the Plymouth Colony. . . There were fifteen distinct parishes of Wiltshire.   From Wiltshire Magazine (date unknown):

Wiltshire is pre-eminently connected with the early history 
of tobacco, not only by reason of the tobacco-manufactory at 
Amesbury, whose fame was once greater than any other in the 
land, but also because the best collection of the earliest pipes 
known to the world is to be found in the Blackmore museum at 
Salisbury. It may be necessary therefore to give some slight 
account of the history of tobacco for the benefit of those who 
have read nothing more about it than has already been pre- 
sented to them in the pages of this magazine.

Amesbury was famous for its tobacco pipe manufacture in the 16th century.

1529

From the History of Parliament:

RICHARD TRACY elected to parliament, representing the constituency of Wootton Bassett.

The following excerpt is from the History of Parliament:

“The borough of Wootton Bassett, for which Tracy was returned to the Parliament of 1529, was to be represented by many men from across the nearby border, but his home near Winchcomb was rather distant for him to be accounted a local man: the same was true of his fellow-Member, Walter Winston, who lived at Randwick near Stroud.

Like two other Wiltshire boroughs, Devizes and Marlborough, Wootton Bassett formed part of the jointure of successive queens consort and this court connexion probably explains the appearance among its Members of men who had little, if any, personal connexion with it. In the case of Tracy, the names of possible patrons include those of Sir Edward Baynton, a local magnate who besides securing his own election for the shire may have been influential in other boroughs, and Sir John Brydges, who was returned for Gloucestershire and whose marriage connexions with Tracy probably assisted his election. If religious sympathy entered into the matter,

Baynton’s incipient Protestantism would have made him a natural patron for the son of so doughty a reformist as William Tracy.

The following excerpt is from the Victoria County History; Page, William (editor), A History of the County of Gloucester Volume 2, 1907.

“In 1535 Cromwell appointed Anthony Saunders, the curate of Winchcombe, to read to the monks of Winchcombe and preach in the parish. L. and P. Hen. VIII, ix, No. 747. On 2 November he complained to Cromwell of the abbot of Hayles—

“I have small favour and assistance amongst Pharasaical papists. The Abbot of Hayles has hired a great Golyas, a subtle Dun’s man, yea a great clerk, as he sayeth, a bachelor of divinity of Oxford to catch me in my sermons.

He added that this preacher rather maintained than spoke against the usurped power of the bishop of Rome. However, Abbot Stephen was not openly hostile to Cromwell. On 28 January, 1536, he wrote asking him to dispense with some of the new injunctions which were most galling to the religious. L. and P. Hen. VIII, ix, No. 747 (p.192). Since Cromwell had visited the house, he wrote—

“The number of my brethren is sore decayed. I have buried three, two are sore sick, one had licence to depart, and I have three in Oxford at divinity. I beg that I may take in more to help the choir.

“On 18 June he told Cromwell that in accordance with his wish he had granted the farm of Longborough to Robert Hopper. (L. and P. Hen. VIII, x, p. 1163)

“In 1538 commissioners were appointed in every county to destroy the shrines. Latimer, bishop of Worcester, reported to Cromwell that the relic of the Holy Blood of Hayles seemed, after examination, to be ‘an unctuous gum and a compound of many things.’ (fn. 56) It was dispatched to London, and on 24 November Hilsey, bishop of Rochester, preached at Paul’s Cross, and there showed the Blood of Hayles, affirming it to be ‘honey clarified and coloured with saffron, as had been evidently proved before the king and his council.’ (fn. 57) Abbot Stephen wrote to Cromwell praying that he might destroy the empty shrine, ‘lest it should minister occasion for stumbling to the weak.’ (fn. 58)

“On 24 December, 1539, the abbot and twenty-one monks surrendered the monastery. (fn. 59) Dr. London and his fellow-commissioners reported to Cromwell that they found— the father and all his brethren very honest and conformable persons, and the house clearly out of debt. . . . The father had his house and grounds so well furnished with jewels, plate, stuff, corn, cattle, and the woods also so well saved, as though he had looked for no alteration of his house. (fn. 60)

“A pension of £100 a year, with the manorhouse of Coscomb, was assigned to the abbot; the prior and one monk got £8; the rest received pensions varying from £7 to £1 6s. 8d. a year, and two monks were given vicarages. (fn. 61) Wages were paid to seventy servants of the household. (fn. 62)

“In 1535 the clear yearly value of the property of Hayles amounted to £357 7s. 8½d. (fn. 63) The possessions of the monastery included the manors of Hayles, Pinnockshire, Nether Swell, Wormington, Coscomb, Longborough; rents in the towns of Gloucester and Winchcombe; lands and rents in Didbrook, Challingworth, and Farmcote, in Gloucestershire; the manor of Rodbourne in Wiltshire; pastures at Heathend in Worcestershire; and the rectories of Hagley in Suffolk, Northley in Oxfordshire, St. Breage and St. Paul in Cornwall, Rodbourne in Wiltshire, Hayles, Didbrook, Longborough, and Toddington in Gloucestershire.”

1577-1622 

“During the organizaiton of the Plymouth Colony we find Sir Edwin Sandys, Biashop of York and afterward Lord Mayor of London. His ancestral estates were at Wiltshire County. Many records of his family are to be found at Salisbury, the county town. We quote from history and these records the short account of George Sanders, brother of Sir Edwin. “George Sanders was born 1577. After passing some time at Oxford in 1610 he travelled over Europe to Turkey; visited Palestine and Egupt. He published his travels at Oxford 1615, and they recewived great attention. The first poetical production in Angel’s Amerian Legislature, was published by him, while acting in capacity of Secretary of the Virginia Colony and in the midst of the confusion which followed the massacre of 1622.

1607

St Edmunds Parish, Salisbury, Wiltshire:

John Sanders and Grace Burrowe, lie.

1620-1650

Banks Topographical Dictionary of English Immigrants
1620-1650 states there was a John Sanders of Easton
in Wiltshire that emigrated between 1620-1650

Wiltshire Record Office states thata John Sanders
came from Downton and emigrated 1620-1650

1633

Thomas Sanders, 22 May 1633, imported 200 pounds if tobacco on the ship Lyon. [WHB – Although this record does not specify Wiltshire, I believe the possible relationship with the following record should be considered.]

1634

Arthur Sanders, 1634, license to sell tobacco in Salisbury, Wiltshire

From www.cotswold.info:

“It was during the 16th and early 17th centuries that the area around Winchcombewas extremely poor , it was during this period that a family named Tracy established themselves at Toddington, the eldest son Sir John Tracy became involved with a John Stratford who was related to him by marriage, they set up a business together to grow tobacco in the area, with plantations at Toddington and Bishops Cleeve. “Tobacco was widely grown on the Cotswolds, the Vale of Tewkesbury and in an area which extended as far south as Wiltshire.

1638

From an account of the voyage of the Confidence:

WHB -The following excerpt from a historical treatise of Sarah Saunders Smith, centered on the Massachusetts Bay Colony, is arguably relevant to the study of 17th century emigrants to Virginia surnamed Saunders, Sanders or Sandys:

From Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, by Sarah Saunders Smith (beginning at page 17)

“Weeke” simply signified a place of residence and comprised a tract of many acres. This tract, or a portion of it, was in possession of the family of John Sanders, and through the marriage of Thomas, second son of Thomas Duncombe, to Isabel, daughter of Thomas Saunders of Amersham, Bucks County, and the marriage of Wiliam Duncombe, son of Thomas Duncombe by second wife, to Ellen Sunders, daughter of William Saunders of Peltesgrave, County Beds, became in possession of the family of Duncombe, of whom Anthony, Lord Feversham, was a descendent.

“In the last century it was purchased of the trustees of this estate by Jacob, Earl of Radnor, and is now the property of the present earl. “”Weeke” formerly possessed a chapel subordinate to the mother church, but no part of it remains now.

Thus we find the family of Sanders, Saunders, one of importance and position in the Parish of Downton, County of Wiltz, in old England in the years 1500-1600. John Saunders, the ancestor of this genealogy, came to New England 1620, returned to England 1623. Revisited the colony 1630-1633-1636. He remained in New England as a place of residence, though often visiting the mother country, until his death, in 1670, at 98 years of age.

His will, probated 10-2-1670, mentions himself as “I John Sanders of Wqeeke, in ye parish of Downton, in ye county of Wiltz, in Old England.

“His will was sealed with the crest of the Saaunders arms, the impress of which is still visible, vis: an elephant’s head, side view.

“Four miles from Northampton, on the turnpike road to Leicester, through Wilford, is the Priory of St Andres, which was acceeded to Sir Thomas Arundel and Sir Henry Sanders. The principal land  holders in 1533 were: –

– Patrons

– John de Monseacuto

– Prior Hospital St John Jesus

– Laurence Saunders

– Principal Landholder or Tenant in Caivete

– Dean Robert Dryer Capt February 20 1533

“Thus we find at the Priory of St Andres Rev Laurence Saunders, on e of the principal Land owners and tenans in right of (probably) his ancestor Henry Sanders.

“The descendants of Capt. Robert Dryer sought refuge in the new world, at the large time that a large family of Saunders also emigrated. It does not seem amiss to place here a short sketch of what perhaps may have been the original cause of the immigration of so large and influential a family to America.

“In searching for facts concerning the history of the Saunders family in England, the life and martyr do of Laurence Saunders has impressed me with the fact that he was the most closely connected with the family of the Bishop of York. For in his history of Englis Marytrs describes him “as of St Andrew Priory, where his mother, a widow of gentle blood had possessions.” From this history we quote the following.

“Laurence Saunders came of a family , influential, and of gentle blood. He was born about the year 1515, was one of a large family, receiving a most liberal education. He was first sent to Eaton, and from there, according to the rules of the foundation, he was sent to King’s college at abridge, where he studied very hard for three years, making great progress in the different branches of learning, then taught in the schools. At the end of three years he fancied he would like a commercial life; and his mother, then a widow, was prevailed upon to place him with a friend of hers, Sir William Chester a rich merchant of London, and who was afterwards sheriff of that city. Commerical life in London was not to his taste after all;   he became so weary of it and his despondency was so noticeable, that Sir William became very solicitous for his health; and soon learning th e cause, kindly gave him his liberty and he returned to his other.

“He soon returned to Cambridge again and so devoted himself to scriptural studies, that, in the beginning of King Edwards reign, when the true  religion began to be countenanced, he entered his orders, and preached with great success. He was first appointed at Frothesingham and afterwards became a preacer at Litchfield. He was much loved and respected, not only for his sweetness of temper and knowledge of his professions but also for his eloquent manner of addressing his  hearers, and the honesty he displayed in his sincerity of throught.

“His next call ws at Allhallows in Broad street, London. King Edward died, and Mary becoming Queen issued a proclamation, “commanding all subjects to attend mass”. Many pious ministers refused to obey, and none were more pronounced that Rev. Lawrence Saunders. Soon however, his subornation became marked, and he was privately advised to flee; this he would not do.

“During a conversation with John Mardant, privy counciller to Queenhe was asked ‘where he was going’. His reply was “to Broad street to instruct my people” and when being advised not to preach, his reply was ‘how then shall I be accountable to God?”

The following Saunday he preached to his people upon the errors of Popery. He exhorted them to hold themselves steadfast in the truth. His discourse was eloquent and impassioned, but he felt hiws doom through the morning passed without arrest; but int he afternoon an officer apprehended him and Sir John Mordant gave evidence against him. This was in the second year of the reign of Queen Mary, A. D., 1555.

He was examined by the Bishop, and ehorted to retract his assertions, but he ws firm, and steadfast in his belief, and was remanded to prison after a short examination, being told that he was a mad man without reason.

He remained in prison a year and three months; during this time he wrote many letters to devine persons, who later suffered martyrdom like himself. To his wife he wrote “that she must not consider him any more longer as her husband in this world, but that he hoped to spend an eternity with her in Heaven. That the blessing of everlasting covenant could only be insured to believers in consequence of the death of Christ, and that the firm persuasion of the resurrection of our Redeemer was the means contrived by infinate wisdom in order to bring us to a state of happiness.”

He was confined in Marshalsea prison. No one was allowed to converse with him, though his wife was permitted to enter the prison, and his child Samuel suffered to be placed in his arms. Mr Saunders rejoiced in seeing his child, and said to the by-standers, “what man fearing God would not lose his life sooner than have it said, that the mother of such a child was a  harlot.”

He was again given an emination, but had fortitude to declare himself against Popery, for which offence he was ex-communicated. Later he was given to some officers, with orders to convey him to Coventry to be burned at the stake.

Upon their arrival at Coventry, a poor shoemaker said, “oh my good master, may God strengthen you.” “Good shoemaker, replied the Rev. Mr Saunders, “I beg you will pray for me for I am in a very weak condition, but I hope my Gracious God will give e strength.”

In speaking of his people he says, “and although I am not so among them, as I have been to preach to them out of a pulpit, yet doth God now preach unto them by me, by this y imprisonment and captivity, which now I suffer among them for Christ’s sake, bidding them to beware of the Romish Anti-Chrisitan religion, and Kingdom requiring and charging them to abide in the truth of Christ, which is shortly to be sealed with the blood of their pastor.

Be not careful my good wife, writes he, “cast your care upon the Lord, and commend unto him, in repentent prayer, as I do, our Samuel.

“Fare you well, all in Christ, in hope to be joined with you in joy everlasting. This hope is put up in my bosom. Amen. Amen. Amen”

The next day, 8th of February , 1555, he was led to the place of execution, falling by the wayside however – as he was so exhausted.

He was led to the place of execution barefooted and allowed but an old gown and a shirt. When brought to the stke, his last words were “Welcome, the cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life.” Thus suffered one of the many martyrs of Queen Anne’s [sic!] reign: among whom were Taylor, Farrer, Marsh, Latimer, Cramner, Hooper, Rogers and Bradford. Descendents of which, bound together by one bond of sympathy and Christly love, were the first to seek peace and comfort in the Puritan religion.

Descendents of these martyrs were the founders of the Plymouth Colony, having previously fled to Holland as a temporary refuge from persecution.

Samuel Saunders, son of Laurence Suanders, the martyr, may have been ancestor to the manhy members of the Saunders family who sought refuge in the colonies in the early part of the 16th century. [sic!].

From the Colonial Records also from deeds and wills, we find the family of Sanders who came to America were from Wiltshire County, England, as also were many of the organizers of the Plymouth Colony. . .

There were fifteen distinct parishes of Wiltshire.

I have previously mentioned by that the Priory of St Andrews was granted to Sir THomas Arundell and Sir Henry Sanders in the thirty-six years of the reign of Henry VIII. In Maryland, one of the counties on the Chesapeake shore was settled by Arundell and is still named Ann Arundel County.

1620 – In the Virginia records is noted the arrival of Rev David Sanders, in charge of Cap[t Samuel Mathews’ colony of one hundred at Hoggs Head. Henry Sanders was one of that company, travelling in the country. He did not remain, as in the Colonial Records at London is recorded the return of “Capt Henry Sanders at Southampton, 1623.”

The early ministers, appointed by the home government, were men of influence, birth and education. They were to act in the capacity of advisers, magistrates, and judges; and their influence was felt to a great degree both in the colony and abroad, as many of the organizers of the plantation did not accompany them, and the prosperity and success of the enterprise depended greatly upon the good government and adviceof the ministry. I find no note of the return to England of Rev. David Sanders of Vriginia, and it is supposed that he is the ancestor of the brand of the Sanders family who are descendants in Virginia today.

The name of Sanders, or Saunders, is most conflicting, as in the early records of the clerks and correspondents abbreviated the word. In our ealriest records of grants it is frequently spelt Sandys, or Sanders.

During the organizaiton of the Plymouth Colony we find Sir Edwin Sandys, Biashop of York and afterward Lord Mayor of London. His ancestral estates were at Wiltshire County. Many records of his family are to be found at Salisbury, the county town. We quote from history and these records the short account of George Sanders, brother of Sir Edwin.

George Sanders was born 1577. After passing some time at Oxford in 1610 he travelled over Europe to Turkey; visited Palestine and Egupt. He published his travels at Oxford 1615, and they recewived great attention. The first poetical production in Angel’s Amerian Legislature, was published by him, while acting in capacity of Secretary of the Virginia Colony and in the midst of the confusion which followed the massacre of 1622.

Sier Francis Waytt of Allington Castle, Boxley Abbey in 1618, married Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Samuel Sandys (Sanders) of Ombersley, Worcester –

(Was Sir Samuel the same Samuel whom Laurence Sanders blssed in Marshalsea prison? the dates and circumstances correspond.)

In 1621 Sir Francis Wyatt received the appointment of Governor to the Virginia Colony, and departed in the “George in 621” for that Colony, with his young wife, Margaret Saunders, and her uncle Goerge Sandys (Sanders) as his secretary (so written and spelt.)_

At this time came also the colony of Capt. Samuel Mathews, accompanied by Rev. David Sanders, as overseer. This latter colony arrived at James City, Virginia, in the “Bonaventure”. In a few months after the massacre of 1622 George Sandys (Sanders), was sent to England by the colony to look after their interests, but in disregard to their wishes he introduced into the house of comons a bill, asking a restoration of the old London company and all the privileges of the original charter.

This was obnoxious to the colonies, and they entereste d aprotest; but when the protest had been received, the King was in Yorkshire, and the civil war had begun in England. We find that he did not return to the colony nor very much advance their interests.

He died, as before mentioned, at the home of his niece, Margaret, wife of GOvernor Wyatt, in 1643.

After the charter of Virginia had been dissolved by James first, Sir James Wyatt continued governor. He returned to England, where he died, and was buried at Boxley Abbey, August 24, 6143. “His wife, daughter of Sir Samuel Sandys (Saunders) who passed some time in Virginia, was a gentle woman of much tact and cheerfulness and willing to accept the hardships of a new settlement” _ (History of Virginia.)

She died at Boxley Abbey, May 27, 1644.

Hoar’s History of Wiltshire.

Colonial Records at London.

History of Virginia.

Private papers of Sir Francis Sandys.

The adjoining Virginia counties of James City and New Kent changed the boundary between them in the 18th century, affecting, among things, the county in which the genealogically important Saint Peters Parish was located. Below is a listing of selected transactions occurring in one or the other county. 

1636

Richard Sanders, 18 September 1636, in right of his now wife Margarett Morgan, late widow to Richard Sanders, of neck of land. William Morgan. 350 acres on an island in the Chickahominy River. James City County.

[WHB – Note the following description of the historic Chickahominy River, where Captain John Smith was captured and then spaed by Powhatan and Pocahontas, prepared by the National Park Service and posted on www.smithtrail.net.]

‘The Chickahominy River rises in a bottomland hardwood swamp north of Richmond and flows east halfway to Williamsburg before turning south to enter the James River about six miles above Jamestown Island. Even though the river lies in the fast-developing corridor between Williamsburg and Richmond, and Interstate 64 crosses its upper reaches in several places, much of it still looks as it did in Captain John Smith’s time. Members of the Chickahominy and Eastern Chickahominy Indian tribes still live in the area.

A View of the Chickahominy River; Photograph by VIrginia Department of Fish and Game

The lower 18 miles of the river are tidal, flanked by cypress trees and broad marshes of wild rice and other freshwater plants. Multiple deep creeks flow into this section from both the east (James City County) and west (Charles City County) sides. Along much of the river, wetlands prevent or minimize waterfront development, though there are several sections on the James City side that are heavily built up.”  

1643

Richard Sanders, 28 August 1643, 1 acre near the block house in James City. James City County.

1655

A map of the Mattaponi River before it flows into the York River; from Wikipedia.com

Thomas Saunders, 6 June 1655, John Hodson grantee 300 acres on the north east of Mattapony River. Beg.g &c. on the southermost corner of Thomas Saunders’ land with a So. So. Et. line unto…creek. New Kent County.

[WHB Note: The modern day counties through which the Mattapony River flows are Caroline County and (on each side of the river) King William and King and Queen Counties.

1662

Geo Sanders, grantee along with Wm Paewde, 11 February 1662, 1000 acres, James City County near Chickahominty River.

1669

Francis Sanders, 7 June 1669, grantee 130 acres at the head of a creek issuing out of Chickahominy River called Jones’s Creek in James City County.

1767

St Peters Church, formerly of James City County, becomes a part of New Kent County, after boundary changes between the counties.

1772

Nathaniel Sanders, 4 June 1722, Larkin Chew grantee 9400 acres on the south side of Mattapony River, adjoins land of Nathaniel Sanders, Bowker, his own patented land, and Major Robinson’s quarter. Spotsylvania County.

John Hyde Saunders, 28 June 1772, ordination papers, clergyman James City.