Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, Doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief!

The first line of a jump rope rhyme I remember as a child is: “Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief.” It seemed appropriate to open this article because it connects farmers, merchants, lawyers, sailors, a kidnapper, a president, an Indian Chief, and an Indian Princess who became famous for her peacekeeping powers after she married a white man in 1614.

Let’s explore the noteworthy people mentioned in this article and see if we can connect with them directly. It was during the Norman Invasion of England in 1066 that George Washington’s ancestors moved to England from France. As did my paternal Bolling family, who lived in Northamptonshire, England during the 16th to 19th centuries.  My paternal great-aunt (7X removed), Mary Burton Bolling, was the first wife of my paternal great-uncle (7X removed), and her distant cousin, Robert Bolling, IV (1759-1839), whose ancient aristocratic family was also from England. In addition to being my 6th great-grand aunt, Sally Washington was the fifth great-granddaughter of Lawrence Washington (1500-1623). Her uncle, George Washington, was the first American president.  Moreover, Lawrence Washington, Sally’s fifth great-grandfather, became Mayor of Northampton and purchased the land known as Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England.  

EARLY HISTORY

Lawrence Washington (1500-1583), and his wife, Lady Ann Aimee Pargiter (1504-1564) had 4 sons and eleven daughters.  Their eldest son was named Robert and their second, Lawrence. This started a Washington family tradition to name one of their sons Lawrence.

It was their second son, Lawrence Washington (1549-1619),, who married a wealthy widow, Mary Argall, making her son, Samuel Argall, Lawrence’s stepson. Samuel became a prominent Sea captain based at Jamestown in Virginia. In 1613 he sailed to trade with the Patawomeck and found Pocahontas. He captained a ship named “Treasurer,” and pioneered a faster means of traveling to Virginia by following the 30th parallel, north of the traditional Caribbean route.  Samuel first arrived in Jamestown in June 1610, just after the “Starving Time” when the surviving colonists were ready to quit for Newfoundland. Although he joined in the war against the Virginia Indians, Argall also engaged in diplomacy, negotiating provisions from Lopassus (Japazaws) of the Patawomeck tribe.  Argall explored the Potomac River region in the winter of 1612 and spring of 1613, and there, with Lopassus’s complicity, kidnapped Pocahontas while visiting the village of the Patawomeck Indians. Argall wanted to use Pocahontas as a hostage in exchange for Englishmen being held captive by Powhatan’s group and for the return of colonists’ tools and supplies stolen by Native Americans. This move helped establish an alliance between the Patawomecks and the Virginians. Argall also helped negotiate peace with the Pamunkey and Chickahominy tribes. As deputy governor of Virginia, Argall improved military preparedness but did not enforce martial law in the same way as Sir Thomas Dale had, making his administration a bridge between the old politics and a new more democratic era. Knighted by James I of England in 1622, Argall led an English fleet against the Spanish in 1625 and died at sea in 1626.

Meanwhile, Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of Virginia treated Pocahontas with respect.  After being instructed in the Christian religion, she was baptized and admitted to Christianity by taking the Christian name Rebecca.

John Rolfe (1585–1622), (my 11th great-grandfather), originally from Heacham, England, fell in love with Pocahontas and asked Dale for permission to marry her. Dale readily agreed,  Pocahontas’ father, Chief Powhatan, also consented, and the marriage took place in April 1614 in the church at Jamestown in an Anglican service. Both Native Americans and Englishmen presumably saw their union as a bond between them. Hence, Pocahontas’s 8-year marriage to Rolfe brought peaceful relations in Virginia and her “peacemaker and friend to the colonists” notoriety.

20th Century to Present

In March 1917, the National Society of Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) began fundraising efforts for the restoration and preservation of 1539 Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington in Sulgrave, Northamptonshire.

In 2014, however, Sulgrave Manor was listed on the World Monuments Fund Watch List “to call attention to the need for increased resources and to promote the development of creative management strategies to ensure the long-term survival of the property.”

In 2014, the site celebrated the bicentennial of the Treaty of Ghent, and Paul Mellon’s estate provided funding for a comprehensive strategic plan. Several restoration projects have been funded by the Colonial Dames and Daughters of the American Revolution. Today, the Sulgrave Manor property is administered by the Sulgrave Manor Trust.

As an added treat below is a three-minute clip from BBC’s Antiques Roadshow of 29th September 2013 that was filmed at Cirencester Agricultural College. It included the Garsdon Church linked to the Esquire Lawrence Washington who died at Sulgrave Manor in 1583.  Its focus is on the silver communion plate and silver chalices donated to the Church over three hundred years ago by Lady Aimee Pargiter, widow of Lawrence Washington.  The appraiser valued them at more than £100,000 on the program.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hm2xd