- THOMAS served as Accomack sheriff, as a member of the House of Burgesses, and was a juror at James City on April 29, 1691 (Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia). The earliest mention of the Welbourne name in Accomack is that of WILLIAM WILLBOURNE who is a headright to JOHN WILKINS for land granted Sept. 9, 1636 (Ref. No. 17, Vol. I, p. 46.). ROBERT and SAMUEL WELBORNE were transported to Maryland in 1662 and 1659 (Land Patents Liber 5, p. 516 and Liber 7, p. 463). The first listing of Welborns on the Accomack titheables lists is in 1675, when the names of THOMAS and HUGH appear. HUGH's name does not appear again. THOMAS claimed to be representing HENRY ALLENSON and GAWEN HODGSON, merchants of Kingston upon Hull, England, and JONATHAN WATERLAND, master of the ship "Friend" (Wills, Deeds, etc. 1673 1676, p. 193 (Oct. 17, 1674); Wills & Deeds, 1676 1690, p. 139); to be a merchant of City of York (Deeds & Wills 1676 1690, p. 18 (Dec. 18, 1676)); was given power of attorney by (Sir) STEPHEN THOMPSON, EDWARD THOMPSON and GAWEN HODGSON, merchants of the City of York, England (Wills & Deeds 1676-1690, p. 100 (Nov. 5, 1677)); and was owner of the sloop "York" (Wills & Deeds, 1676 1690, p. 305). Based upon THOMAS' dealings with GAWEN HODGSON whom THOMAS' apparent father and a Welbourne uncle called "brother" in their wills, THOMAS must have been the son of WILLIAM WELBOURNE (dt. 1659 Oswaldkirk, County of York), the son of CHRISTOPHER WELBOURNE (d. Oswaldkirk), the son of HUGH WELBOURNE of Oswaldkirk and MARGARET GIBSON. According to The Duke of York Record (Delaware Hall of Records), THOMAS, JOHN and WILLIAM WELBURNE, JONATHAN WALTERLAND and ROBERT BEVERLY received 2531 acres on Great Creek (probably Bohemia Creek, Del.) in 1676/7 called "Welburne's Wilderness". Within a few months THOMAS (on behalf of himself and his partners) and WILLIAM ANDERSON (both of them then of Accomack) sent a letter to New York's governor EDMOND ANDROSS in order to complain about the illegal changing of names on their respective land survey certificates which were supposed to have been issued to them. THOMAS stated he had intended to settle some families in the area (New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, vols. 22 23, by Charles T. Gehring). No record has been found that these individuals were ever the owners of a "Welburnes's Wilderness", but THOMAS does have several subsequent Sussex Co. deed records referring to a 775 A. tract called "Cheat" lying upon Indian River (Sussex Record Book A1, p. 318 (Sept. 3, 1684)). He gave power of attorney to WILLIAM CLARK to make over the tract to JOHN BARKER pertaining to the patent granted in 1681. In 1678 THOMAS was granted a patent to 83 acres of Fox Island in Accomack on Chesapeake Bay (Virginia Patents, No. 6, p. 637). A JOHN WELBOURNE was transported to Accomack by THOMAS (Orders 1676 1678, p. 89 (Dec. 17, 1677). There are at least three Worcester county records of a JOHN WELBORNE (or WELBORE) who does not appear to be a descendent of THOMAS (Wor. Wills MH3, 1666 1742, p. 202 (March 20, 1719); Wor. Inv. & Accts. JW15, 1694 1742, p. 121 (Aug. 1, 1723); ibid., p. 159 (Sept. 10, 1721)). In the first reference he is a witness to the will of RICHARD WOODCRAFT, and in the latter two he is the appraiser of the estates of JOSEPH ATKINS and JOSEPH MORRIS. Much earlier a JONATHAN WELBOURNE had been a deed witness (Wills & Deeds 1676 1690, p. 203 (March 16, 1679)), and involved in court cases (Wills, Deeds, Orders 1678 1682, p. 158 (March 17,1679); ibid., p. 179 (Aug. 4, 1680)). THOMAS WELBOURNE provided JONATHAN's security on the latter date. With DANIEL JENIFER and JOHN WALLOP, THOMAS was a witness to a deed of THOMAS MIDDLETON and his wife ELLEN SATCHELL (North. Deeds & Wills 1680-1692, f. 124 (Dec. 15, 1680)). In 1685 THOMAS gave a heifer to THOMAS WHARTON son of ELIZABETH and FRANCIS WHARTON (Wills & Deeds 1676 1690, p. 412a). As early as 1738 a WELBOURNE RAMSEY (son of CHARLES) appears in the Worcester area, and GRACE RAMSEY was one of the witnesses to the will of DANIEL WELBOURNE (dt. 1733). JOHN CHITTEM (dt. 1708 Prince Georges) refers to his dau. GRACE RAMSEY (Md. Calendar of Wills). In 1750 WELBOURNE RAMSEY was a witness to the will of JOHN BRITTINGHAM (dt. 1750/1752 Wor.), in 1754 he gave a deposition in Accomack claiming to be aged 32 years (Orders 1753 1763, p. 36), and in 1762 he claimed to be an Accomack resident, but his or GRACE's relationship to THOMAS WELBORNE remains unclear.
|
1648 - Bef 1703 (< 54 years)
[1] 
