perhaps
John Ewens (Ewen, Evans, Ewins) Family
England and
possibly Ireland
John
Ewen/Ewens
b. probably about 1569
based on baptism at St Botolph, London,
Middlesex, England
d.
1m. Margaret (unknown
her father: unknown
mother: ?
his father:
his mother:
perhaps child of
John
|
William Ewens
|
b. about 1579
|
d. about 1650 Greenwich, St. Alphage, Kent Co.,
England
|
m. Margaret "mary" Clement, widow in 1612
|
Robert Ewens - part owner of
ship "George"
|
|
d. about 19 Sept 1619 Stepny, Midd.
|
m. Grace Ewens
|
Roger Ewens "mariner"
|
|
d. about 17 July1620 Kinsale, Ireland
resident of London
|
|
We really don't know if
we have the correct parent for William Ewens the mariner and
shipping owner. There are major questions about the birth
date of Wm Ewens since the noted baptism seems to make him far
to young to be a captain of a ship. The baptism seems to
fit better with the nephew of William rather than the
"mariner". I would propose that William would have to be
about 40 years of age to qualify as a captain and may have
married quite late.
William Ewen and the ship "George"
are mentioned in the following estate documents
which confirms their relationship. The
family seems to have roots in Kinsale, Ireland. Both
William and his brother Roger may have gained their
sailing skills out of this port, or nearby Cobh (earlier
called Queenstown), the last port of the maiden voyage of
the SS Titanic.
These documents were provided by Tim Hashaw in 2016.
|
669
Robert Ewens (of Stepney, co. Midd.) Lond., mariner.
(Dat. 19 Sep 1619) Son thos. Ewens; Susan Mauby;
bro. John Ewens- 2 daus.; Mrs. Farley, her 5 chn. ;
bro. Roger's man, Thos. Evan.; my keep, Joane
Overton; poor of Stepney; Mr. Oweyns, preacher
of Kinsale ; Wm. Gwillians of Kinsale; poor of
Kinsale; hou. wh. I now lie sick;
Exors; wife grace and son
Thos.; Overs: bros.
Roger and Wm. Ewens; my part in ship "George" of
Lond. \- Robert Ewens] wits: Thomas Clarke, Robert
Glover, Richard Cooke, William Potter {mark}.
(Pr. 10 Jun 1620 by Grace Ewens, pow. res. to Thos.
Ewens.)
847 Roger Ewen late of Lond., mariner, {in Ireland
deed.}. (Dat. 10 June .) Neph. Thos., son Robt.
Ewen, deed.; Grace Ewen, late wiffe of sd. bro.
Robt. Ewen; bro. John Ewen, his wife and 2 daus;
sist. Manbye's dau. ; cos. Henry Davies' wife; Frd.
Josias Farley and Anne his wife, their sone, my
godson, Anthy. Farley, their 5 oth. chn., Joseph,
Roger, Margt., Averye and Elizth. Farley; Christian,
a wid. Woman, servt. to sd. Josias; fath. Cowle;
Anthy. Teape and Mary , also his servt.; Priscilla
Dylion Poor of Kinsale; Richd. Owen, vie. of Kinsale
Grae Smyth, wid. ; John Pulham; John Buckford,
merch.; Exor: bro. Willm.
Ewen;
Overs: fds. Thos. Burton, Josias Farley and John
Buckford, John Pelham "by consent and direction from
mouth of Roger Ewen, " (no other wits.)
(Pr. 17 July 1620.)
|
1619
is a the year that introduces slavery to the colonies and
William Ewen was present and may have somehow participated
in the event.
William Ewens testifies that he only lived one full year in
1619 in Jamestown although his ships traveled back and forth
to outfit the colony regularly. His primary ship seems
to have been the "George". On "the George" he is said
to have carried Pocahontas where she is said to have died in
1622.
Replicas of Jamestown ships, near Jamestown, VA.
photo Elroy Christenson 1999
1622, July 31 -"John, William Ewin's African servant, left
England July 31, 1622 and came to Virginia on the James.
" [McCartney 423]
"John" comes into the colonies four months after the native
American massacre in
March of about 25% of the population.
Many of the Jamestown residents took refuge on William Ewen's
estate. The area eventually becomes the East India School.
1623, after April - "Robert, Mr. Ewin's servant, who lived
at one of the plantations on the lowere side of the james River
, died sometime after April 1623 but before February 16, 1624."
[McCartney 601]
1623- April 30 -
I William
Ewens have gone Mr of Ships to Virginia 4 seuerall times &
lived one wholl year ther or ther aboutes, and affirme all the
answers aboue except that of the Ordinance and
Pallisadoes.
William Ewens. [278]
[The
Records
of the Virginia Company of London, Vol. 2. p. 385]
1624 - "William Ewen of
Limehouse, mariner, on 17 Dec., 1624, bought a messuage and
wharf on the south side of the Thames at East Greenwich in Kent
from Martha, widow of Thomas Raynborowe for L600. He appears to
have lived in Limehouse in Stepney until 1637 when he moved to
Greenwich, for he was chosen a vestryman of Stepney Parish in
1627 and elected a churchwarden in 1632. In 1637 he
presented an account of his wardenship and from that date onward
appears in the records of Greenwich, Kent. This is known
because William Ewen prospered and became the owner of a fleet
of ships sailing to Virginia, Turkey, and the East Indies.
in consequence of his enterprises he was often involved in
chancery and maritime suits." [Bobbie 43]
1626 - Patents
Granted to Settlers in Virginia in the Corporation of James
City Published in 1626 the The Territory of Tappahanna over
against James City.
Acres
John
Dodd
150
John
Burrows
150 planted
Richard
Pace,
200 planted
Francis
Chapman
100
Thomas
Gates,
100
Mr. John Rolfe,
400 planted
(husband of Pocahontas, later transported on "The George" to
Eng.)
Captain William
Powell,
200
planted
Captain Samuel
Mathews,
dividend, planted
Captain John
Hurlestone,
"
"
John
Bainham,
200 planted
Mr. Geoge Sandys,
300 planted
Edward Grendon,
150 planted
William Ewens,
1000 planted (owner of "The George")
Captain William
Powell,
550
planted
Ensign John
Utie,
100 planted
Robert
Evers,
100
planted
In Hog Island, Mary Baily, 500 acres
planted by patent.
In Hog Island, Captain Ralph Hamor, by claim 250 A. planted
Upon easterly side of Chippokes Creek is appointed 500 acres
belonging to ye place of ---------? .
[Boddie
35]
| 1643- The following
record indicates that Capt. Wm. Ewens owned "The George"
that transported Pocahontas and her husband John
Rolfe. Actually Pocahontas and John Rolfe and their
son were transported first to England on the ship
"Treasurer" in 1619 although Ewens may have been part of
this earlier event. John Rolfe had married
in 1614. They were about to return with their son on
"The George" when Pocahontas became ill and died in
1622. She is buried at Gravesend's St
George's Church in an unmarked grave. John Rolfe
had been awarded about 1000 acres of land near Capt. Ewens
on the opposite bank from Jamestown although he never
lived there. [Wikipedia] |
Pocahontas in
1616,
engraving by Simon de Passe, 1616
[courtesy of
wikipedia common]
|
John B. Boddie in Colonial Surry states
that the largest land owner in Surry in 1626 was Captain
William Ewen. He had 1,000 acres planted and 400 acres not
yet cleared. Another 1100 acres were patented in 1643.
William Ewen was captain and owner
of the ship "George" which made numerous trips to Virginia,
bringing two of Virginia's governors among its many passengers.
Lady Pocahontas and her husband, John Rolfe, were
also transported by the "George". William Ewen evidently quit
the sea, made his home in England, and became a prosperous
merchant and the owner of a fleet of ships sailing to Virginia,
Turkey, and the East Indies. His will provided for Mary his
wife, and Mary, his daughter.
[Boddie, John B., Colonial Surry (Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1966), pp.41-44.]
1629, May 6 -
"William Dunn, a 29 -year-old sailor from Limehouse in
Middlesex, testified that when the Saker arrived in
Virginia in 1627, it delivered one passenger, an African, to
William Ewen's plantation." [McCartney 269]
1649, April 2 -
William Ewens Will.
1649 - William
Ewens of Greenwich, county Kent, mariner. Will 2
April 1649; proved 12 August 1650. To Mary L100 out of my lands
and tenements in England. The Ballast wharfe and 4
tenements in Greenwich to my
daughter Mary; if she died befrioe 21, then to Thomas Ewens the elder
during life and at his decease on hald to William and Thomas Ewens his two
sons and their issue, failing them or their issue to
my kinsmen Ewen Johnson
and Ewen Peters, the
other half to Ewen Johnson,
Margaret Johnson, Ewen Peters, Mary Noble, and her daughter.
My executors to take a friendly care of my cousin Mary Noble and
her daughter. To Mary my wife one third of all my
shipping debts oweing by bill bond or from the Parliament in
any wise, the other two thirds I give to my daughter
Mary. To Mary my daughter the two shares of land
I have in Sommer Islands, being 60 acres not or lante in the
occupation of one William Farmer. To Thomas Ewens the
elder the North Mill standing upon the Deanes at Yarmouth now
in occupation of John Broome. To William Stevens my son
in law L100. To
Thomas Ewens the elder and to his four children, William,
Thomas, Thomazine, and Martha Ewens 20s each. To Margaret Johnson, Ewen Johnson,
Ewen Peters, Susan Pigott, Mary Noble, and her daughter
20s each to be raised out of my shiping and the sale of my
land in Virginia.
Executors: Wife and
Daughter, Thomas Stevens and Arnold Browne.
Witnesses: Frances Cordwell, William Denmay,
Paul Paine, John Weeks, John Wardall. Codicil
30 April 1650. Mentions L30 in my hands for Ewen Peters when 21 given
unto him by his grandfather John Ewen.
Witnesses:
William Ewen, Mathew Walker.
Pembroke, 132
sources:
Boddie, John
Bennett. Colonial
Surry. orig. pub. Richmond, 1948. Reprinted So.
Book Co., Baltimore, 1959.
Hashaw, Tim - correspondence and research 4/25/2016 - author
of The
Birth of Black America: The first African
Americans and the pursuit of freedom at Jamestown,
2007
McCartney, Martha W. Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers
1607-1635, a Biographical Dictionary. Genealogical
Pub. Inc. Baltimore, MD 2007
Family Index | Ancestor Chart 193 | Surname Index
| Jamestown History
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