POCAHONTAS and Stuart CRESSWELL – the connection
For more information about Pocahontas and her family Medway Archives periodical The Clock Tower has aspecial on her for the 400th Annniversary of the founding of Jamestown, irginia. (you need page 22 of the 6th issue).
First: a warning - I have not seen it but it may be that the expression “don’t let the truth spoil a good story” may apply to Disney’s film. I believe it was a good film and I am not saying that what follows is perfect.
Second: an acknowledgement - Some of what I have written comes from David Morenus – an American descendant of Pocahontas. He has an excellent web site at: http://pocahontas.morenus.org/
Dramatis Personae (The principals):
POWHATAN
– Great Chief of the Algonquin Indians
POCAHONTAS (pet name) or Matoaka later Rebecka – his
daughter jump to her
Captain John SMITH – a military adventurer jump
to him
John ROLFE – a university graduate and Secretary-General
to the Colony of Virginia
Thomas ROLFE – only son of John Rolfe and Pocahontas
jump to Thomas
Anne ROLFE – daughter of Thomas Rolfe and his first wife
Elizabeth Washington
Peter ELWIN – husband of Anne Rolfe jump
to the Elwin descent
Plus a cast of hundreds including many more ELWIN, SYMONDS,
HUDDLESTON AND CRESSWELL
The ELWIN family can be traced back to the 12th century at Wiggenhall near King’s Lynn in Norfolk, England. The ROLFE family were at Heacham also near King’s Lynn in the 16th century.
John ROLFE was the (twin) son of John ROLFE and Dorothea MASON who married 24 May 1582. Young John was baptised 6 May 1585 at Heacham. His father was a merchant at King’s Lynn but died in Nov 1594 aged only 32.
Young John married in England and in May 1609 sailed for Virginia. His ship was wrecked on the Bermudas where a daughter was born, named Bermuda and baptised 11 Feb 1609/10. It is not known whether his wife and daughter died before or shortly after arriving in Virginia in May 1610.
John was a prominent member of the colony and it is believed that he suggested the cultivation of tobacco.
In April 1614 he married POCAHONTAS – now Rebecka.
Pocahontas (Running Water) was the pet name of Matoaka daughter of Wahunsonacook (dubbed King Powhatan by the English) and was born about 1595. Powhatan was the Great Chief of the Algonquin Indians of Virginia.
Her saving of the life of Capt John SMITH is possibly a romantic legend created by Smith himself – it is only on his say-so that it happened! skip the John Smith stuff
John
SMITH was a military man born in Lincolnshire, England. He himself wrote about
how he murdered a Turk, "Tymor Bashaw of Nalbrits in the country of Cambria,
a province of Tartaria", who was holding him in slavery. He also claimed
that he was authorized to wear three Turks' heads in his arms, in token of three
Turks killed by him in a series of remarkable single combats. He soldiered about
quite a bit, and wrote about it afterwards. He is the primary source for his
own life story.
(Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain John Smith, by Charles Dudley Warner - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3130/3130.txt)
Capt John SMITH was one of the adventurers who sailed for Virginia in 1606 in Chesapeak Bay in April 1607. They built a fort by the river and named it Jamestown and the river James after their king – James I (of England & VI of Scotland).
The life of the colonists was hard and famine was common. Capt SMITH was foremost in their search for food which took him into Indian territory. However he did trade with the Chicahominy Indians for corn which is believed to be how he met Pocahontas.
At one point he was surrounded by Indians and shot one dead. He was captured and taken to their chief OpechanCanough who decided he should be taken to the Great Chief Powhatan.
Powhatan decided that Smith should be killed. As he was about to be clubbed to death, Pocahontas threw her body over his and pleaded with her father for Smith’s life. Smith remained with the tribe for several weeks and a deep friendship grew between him and Pocahontas.
Smith was escorted back to Jamestown with a request for guns which was not met.
In 1608 when the fort and much of the town including the food stores were destroyed by fire, Powhatan sent turkeys asking for swords in return. Again his request was ignored. The Indians tried to recover their gift and get the swords by seizing the fort but they were defeated and many were taken prisoner. Powhatan sent more food begging to be forgiven – they were and more food was provided.
Smith was injured in an explosion and the Indians believed that he was dead – in fact he returned to Europe.
In 1612 Pocahontas also saved the life of Henry SPILMAN after the massacre of Capt John RATCLIFFE.
The colonists felt besieged for quite some time, when Captain Samuel Argall, hearing that Pocahontas was staying with the Patowamekes, planned and carried out her capture, aided by the Patowameke chief, Japazaws, and his wife. They lured Pocahontas onto Argall's ship, but Pocahontas was not permitted to leave with the others. (Japazaws was bribed, but also may have wished to demonstrate that he was not Powhatan's vassal. The English were appreciative, but were more impressed by his greed than by his honour.) Pocahontas lived with Rev Alexander WHITAKER who treated her with great kindness and gave her religious and other instruction. She became a Christian being baptised with the name Rebecka. It was during this time that she met John ROLFE
Their son Thomas was born 30 Jan 1614/15 at Smith's Plantation in Virginia. In 1616 John, Pocahontas and Thomas sailed for England with Sir Thomas DALE. Naturally Pocahontas created great interest in London and she was presented at court on several occasions.
They were about to embark ay Gravesend to return to Virginia when Pocahontas died – she was buried in Gravesend 21 Mar 1616/17. John intended to take his infant son to Virginia but by the time to ship put in to Plymouth it was clear that young Thomas would not survive the voyage; so he was left to the care of his uncle Henry ROLFE in London.
In 1617 John ROLFE was appointed Recorder and Secretary General of the Colony and in 1619 to membership of the Council. He is the only member of this first American legislature – the Virginia Assembly of 1619 – known to have descendants today. There is a Virginia Company letter (23 Aug 1618) indicating that “… Opechankano and the natives had given the country to Mr Rolf’s child…” possibly meaning that Thomas should succeed to the chieftainship of the Powhatans.
John ROLFE married (for the third time) in or before 1620 Jane daughter of Capt William PIERCE (another Virginia Councillor) and a daughter Elizabeth was born in 1620
John ROLFE died in 1622 possibly in the great Indian massacre of that year. His will dated 10 Mar 1621 and proved 21 May 1630 in PCC by his father-in-law William PYERS (PIERCE). William PIERCE was to have charge of his two small children; land in Virginia (believed to be “Smiths Fort”) was left to Thomas and other land was left to his wife Jane for life and then to Elizabeth.
Thomas lived with his uncle Henry for several years. Henry ROLFE was also a member of the Virginia Company.
13 Sep 1632 Thomas married Elizabeth WASHINGTON in England, at St. James, Clerkenwell, London and they had a daughter Anne in 1633. Elizabeth died shortly after Anne’s birth.
About 1635 Thomas ROLFE left his daughter Anne with his cousin Anthony ROLFE and went to Virginia to claim his inheritance – whatever that may have been. He certainly became a man of substance. In 1646 he was (as Lieut Thomas ROLFE) granted Fort Chickhominy and 600 acres provided he kept a guard there. He also patented several other tracts of land. His land included 120 acres in Surry (transferred to William CORKER 20 Jun 1654) which was his “by gift from the Indian king”; Smith’s Fort – 1200 acres at the mouth of Gray’s Creek which he sold to Thomas WARREN. Thomas died about 1675.
In Virginia about 1640 Thomas married again to Jane POYTHRESS and they had a daughter Jane (born 10 Oct 1650 at Henrico) who married Col Robert BOLLING in 1675. She died in 1676 but many Americans are descended from Pocahontas through their son John BOLLING.
The James City records have been destroyed so much of the information on this family is lost.
Thomas
ROLFE’s first daughter Anne married Peter ELWIN (1623-1695) of Thurning,
Norfolk, England in 1659.
They begat Fountain (1661-1696) who married 1698 Ann HASTINGS (c1675-1767).
They begat Peter (1701-1782) a barrister who married 1729 Philippa MARSAM (c1703-1784).
They begat Peter (1729-1798) who married secondly 1768 Susanna BELL (c1748-1830).
They begat Marsham (1784-1831) who married 1809 Emma Louisa WHITWELL (1781-1870).
(She was the divorced wife of Sir George Berney BROGRAVE who had cited Marsham
as the “other man”)
They begat Mary Ellen (1820-1893) who married 1845 Rev George Edward SYMONDS
(1820-1892).
They begat Dr Edmund (1853-1907) who married 1882 Fanny Turton ARCHBELL (1862-1918).
They begat Mary Ellen (1892-1947) who married 1910 Sir Arthur James Croft HUDDLESTON
(1880-1948)
They begat Ethel Mary (1912-2002) who married 1935 Dr Pearson Edward CRESSWELL
(1906-1972)
They begat Pearson Stuart Arthur (1936-) who married Marion Lindsay McCREADIE
(1937-)
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14 August 2006