| Name |
William (1) Claiborne [1] |
| Prefix |
Col. |
| Birth |
Bef 10 Aug 1600 |
Crayford Parish, County Kent, England  [2] |
- It was on this date that he was baptized. He was the second son of Thomas Clayborn (Clayborne) and his wife Sarah (Smith) James of the Parish of Crayford, County Kent, England, and grandson of Thomas Cleyborne, the Elder, of the Parish of St. Margaret, King's Lynn, County Norfolk, was admitted to Pembroke College, Cambridge, 31 May 1617, aged 16.
|
| Gender |
Male |
| Anecdote |
13 Jun 1621 [2] |
- On 13 June 1621 William Claiborne was chosen by the Virginia Company to undertake the task of Surveyor of the Colony and certain terms were agreed upon. As part compensation to the young man, the Company assigned him 200 acres of land of 'olde adventure. He was of the party of the newly appointed Governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, which arrived at Jamestown, Oct 1621, in the George, and one of his early tasks was the laying out of the area on Jamestown Island known as New Towne.
|
| Anecdote |
30 Mar 1623 |
Jamestown, Virginia [2] |
- He was appointed to the Council, 30 March 1623, and reappointed by the King, 26 Aug 1624, served as Secretary of the Colony, 1625-35, 1652-60, and was Treasurer, 1642-60. His land of record in the 1626 list included 250 acres at Archer's Hope (James City), 500 acres at Blount Point (Warwick) and 150 acres at Elizabeth City. Among the large tracts which he subsequently patented were 5,000 acres between the Great Wicomoco and the Little Wicomoco in Northumberland County, 5 Jan 1651/2, 5,000 acres on the north side of the Pamunkey in the narrows "Westerly where Claiborne landed the army under his command, 1644", granted 1 Sep 1653, and 1,600 acres of marsh and sunken land on the north side of York River (in the area later King William County) "adjoining his plantation, a dividend of Romongack (Romancoke)," 24 Dec 1657.
|
| Anecdote |
16 May 1631 [1] |
- On 16 May 1631 King Charles I granted to Claiborne and his associates a license to trade for corn, furs or any other commodities "in those parts of America for which there is not already a patent granted to others for the sole trade." The following August, Claiborne, backed by associates in England, William Clobery, John Da la barre and David Morehead, settled the Isle of Kent in the Chesapeake Bay as a post for his trading enterprise and after purchasing the territory from the Indians, gave the name of his native "Crayford" to his plantation there. A conflict in claims to the Island arose after Lord Baltimore had been granted a charter, 20 June 1632, "for land not cultivated nor planted," and although the King subsquently ordered that the Islae of Kent should not be included in the Maryland patent, the Calverts persisted, using both violence and ruse. Virginia's unpopular Governor Harvey, later expelled from the colony, failed to support Claiborne and Virginia's prior rights, and the Island was brought to submission by the Calvert agent (see the Evelyn Family) after Claiborne had embarked for England to see to his interests there. Although Claiborne never regained Kent Island, due perhaps in part to the political situation in England, he had his opportunity for revenge when with Richard Bennett he was appointed Parliamentary Commissioner, 1652, to bring about the reduction of Virginia and Maryland by the Commonwealth of England, following the execution of Charles I. However, the repossession of Kent Island remained his cherished ambition to the end, for the last of him is in a petition to the King, March 1676/77, in which he described himself as "a poor old servant of York Majesty's father and grandfather," for restitution of his properties on the Isle.
|
| Will - Mentioned in |
27 Dec 1633 |
Northampton Co, Virginia [3] |
- It was on this date that Robert Edmound left my boy George Smith 3 barrels of corn and he to pay 6 bushels to Capt. Clayborne.
|
| Anecdote |
11 May 1635 |
Kent Island, Maryland [4] |
- In 1635 Phillip Taylor had been the active assistant to William Claiborne in the settlement and later affairs of Kent Island, which is evident by this letter from Claiborne to Taylor:
I understand that the Marylanders have taken my Pinnace the Longtayle with her Company and some other of my men, trading in other places. Now where as his Majesties Commission to myself warrantees me in the trade with the natives, and for as much also his Majesties gracious letters in America do declare his express pleasure to be against this their violent and exorbitant proceedings, and contrary to justice and the true intent of his Majesties Grant to the Lord Baltimore. These are to desire you that would with the first opportunity with such Company as are appointed for you set sail to Patawomack and Patuxant Rivers, or elsewhere, and to demand of them my said Pinnace and men, and if you can obtain them to take possession of them for my use and bring them again unto this place. Or missing of them make stay of such boats of theirs as you can light on. Wherein I beseech you proceed without violence unless it be in lawful necessary defense of yourself especially to avoid any bloodshed or making any assault upon and of them, and to this end I require all your Company to be obedient and assistant unto you as if I were there myself. Given at the Ile of Kent under my hand & seal this 11 May 1635.
|
| Anecdote |
1638 |
Kent Island, Maryland [5] |
- In 1638 a letter from Leonard Calvert, Governor of Maryland, to his brother Lord Baltimore mentioned that John Boteler (Butler), brother-in-law of William Claiborne, was living on Kent Island.
|
| Reference Identifer |
OFFV |
| Record ID |
83694 |
| Death |
Bef 25 Aug 1679 |
York Co, Virginia [1] |
- It was on this date that a suit of Maj. Thomas Clayborne, executor of Col. William Claiborne, against John Buse was dismissed in York Co, VA.
|
| Person ID |
I83694 |
MilesFiles23 |
| Last Modified |
13 Mar 2023 |
Bef 1600 - Bef 1679 (< 79 years)
