8:5 Virginia Connections
The Treaty of Jamestown 1651
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John Golding came to Virginia in 1651, and his sponsor was Richard Ripley. That is known, but what is not known is the reason behind the voyage. Richard Ripley was awarded 400 acres in Virginia for "bringing over" ___ colonists, and he was obviously already acquainted with John Golding, or became acquainted with him when John probably became apprenticed to him, but that in itself does not deny the fact that a very important historical event happened in Virginia in the year 1651 that involved the Loyalists stranded in England at the time of the execution of Charles I, Barbados and Bermuda and the colony of Virginia. That event was the Surrender to Parliament or the Treaty of Jamestown.
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The following information is copied directly from The Encyclopedia Virginia. None of this is meant to associate Richard Ripley or John Golding through documented evidence to this historical event, but is presented only to offer additional information about what was going on in Virginia at the time of John Golding's emigration. There were multiple ships that left England for Virginia in 1635 but the Treaty of Jamestown 1651, but according to the narrative several people whom I have recorded as having had connections with people named Goulding, Gaulding and Golding are mentioned in the narrative.
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"On January 30, 1649 the English Parliament, victorious in the English Civil Wars, executed King Charles I for high treason, and later established a Commonwealth government to replace the monarchy. Once this news crossed the Atlantic, four English colonies—Virginia, Barbados, Bermuda, and Antigua—responded by declaring their allegiance to the Stuarts, proclaiming Charles II king and denying the authority of the newly established government. Maryland's acting governor, Thomas Greene, also proclaimed Charles II, but his declaration was not considered the colony's official position. Virginia and Barbados, the oldest English colonies in the Atlantic, were the only two to offer sustained opposition to the new regime.
In October 1649, during the first legislative session since Charles I's death, the House of Burgesses enacted laws punishing those who publicly supported the regicide or refused to acknowledge Charles II as king. Virginia's motivations for opposing the Commonwealth were manifold: first, longtime governor Sir William Berkeley was an aggressive supporter of Charles I. Berkeley's loyalty ran so deep that he had continued to enforce the king's views on religious conformity even as Charles I awaited trial (and even when Berkeley's policies contradicted those dictated by Parliament). Another factor was free trade: Virginia planters enjoyed a robust commercial relationship with the Dutch and considered free trade to be critical to their economic survival; under the Commonwealth government, the colony would be allowed to trade only with ships from England and its colonies. Finally, the Virginia elite, influenced by Berkeley, feared that Parliament would challenge existing land grants. In essence, Virginia's declaration of loyalty to Charles II was also an attempt to preserve the prosperity and security that the colony had enjoyed under his father's rule.”
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The Commonwealth government retaliated in August 1650 by placing an embargo on trade with the rebelling colonies and calling in their royal charters. In the autumn of 1651, the Commonwealth responded with force, sending one fleet of thirteen ships to Barbados under Sir George Ayscue and another fleet of fifteen ships to Virginia under Captain Robert Dennis. Ayscue sailed first, and the Virginia fleet—or the four ships that survived shipwreck on the stormy voyage—did not arrive until December and early January, about the time that the Barbadians were relinquishing the king's cause. The commissioners dispatched to negotiate the colony's surrender sent a summons to Berkeley and his council on January 19; according to the commissioners' report, Virginia authorities disbanded 1,000 to 1,200 soldiers in arms in James City before they convened to consider a treaty. The internal dynamics of Virginia's decision to surrender are unknown, as records are sparse and much of the information that survives was written with a polemical purpose. Certainly Berkeley, his council, and the House of Burgesses considered Charles II's recent defeat at Worcester, which eliminated any hope of his conquering England, and Barbados's recent surrender, which left Virginia as the sole royalist holdout.
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The surrender was agreed upon March 12, 1652. The Virginians negotiated excellent terms: forgiveness for any past action and recognition of all existing land grants and boundaries; free trade (in direct violation of Parliament's new policy, the Navigation Act of 1651); and permission to keep in use the otherwise outlawed Book of Common Prayer for one year. The commissioners also granted Berkeley or his agent permission to travel to the court of the exile Charles II—to be referred to now as Charles Stuart—to explain the capitulation. The commissioners were flexible on the terms of the surrender. The fact that no blood had been shed in the conflict likely played a part in their leniency, but so too did the commissioners' overriding goal: to integrate Virginia into the new Commonwealth government. Two of the three commissioners, William Claiborne and Richard Bennett—were from Virginia, where they remained to oversee the colony's transition. Berkeley was asked to step down as governor and leave the colony, but his exile was never enforced, and he retired to his Green Spring estate nearby. The General Assembly chose Bennett as Berkeley's replacement, and later elected Claiborne senior member of the governor's Council and secretary of the colony. Berkeley would return to the office in March 1660, just two months before England restored Charles II to the throne." (Surrender to Parliament (Treaty of Jamestown))
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Captain Robert Dennis, Richard Bennett, Thomas Stagg and Captain William Claybourne were named Commissioners.
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The events that happened specifically in 1651 regarding this chain of events were:
1. September 1651 - The Commonwealth government of England sends fifteen ships to Virginia under Captain Robert Dennis. Denis's fleet stops briefly at Barbados to augment the force blockading that colony. Only four of the fifteen ships make it to Virginia, arriving in late December and early January; the other ships sink en route.
a. September 10, 1651 - Order of the Council of State. That the prisoners desired for Virginia, to the number of 1610, "be granted unto them [sic] as the Committee shall think fit," upon giving assurance to give them Christian usage. The report from the Court of Admiralty concerning the transportation of stores to Virginia to be allowed, and warrant issued accordingly."
b. September 17, 1651 - Similar Order. Referring petition of Robert Lewellin and Company, employers of the Hopewell upon a trading voyage, to the Committee of the Admiralty, who are to take security that she does not trade at Barbadoes, nor at any other of the plantations in defection to the Commonwealth; letters of marque may also be granted to Henry Powell, commander.
c. September 18, 1651 - Similar Order. Referring petition of the planters of Barbadoes to Committee of the Admiralty for their report; also petition of Thos. Rous, and Constant and Nathaniel Silvester, to the Committee for Plantations, for their report. (Sainsbury, 1860)
2. September 26, 1651 - The English Council of State appoints Richard Bennett and William Claiborne to a four-man commission to force or negotiate the submission of the Chesapeake Bay colonies to the Commonwealth of England.
a. Instructions for Sir George Ayscue, "to be made use of at Virginia, if he shall arrive there while the fleet of ships now sent hence for the reducing of that place shall be there." Capt. Robt. Dennis, Richard Bennett, Thos. Stagg, and Capt. William Clay-bourne, having been appointed Commissioners for reducing Virginia, they are instructed to take Barbadoes on their way; if Ayscue has "finished his affairs at Barbadoes," and he arrives at Virginia while the fleet is there, he is to act as first and joint Commissioner with them.
b. Instructions for Capt. Robt. Dennis, Commander-in-Chief of the fleet now sent for reducing Virginia to the obedience of Parliament. To direct his course to Barbadoes and there communicate his instructions to Sir Geo. Ayscue, deliver the letters to him, and let him know the good and prosperous state of affairs in England; then to proceed with all expedition to Virginia.
c. Instructions for Capt. Robt. Dennis, Richard Bennett, Thos. Stagg, and Capt. Wm. Claybourne, Commissioners for reducing Virginia and the inhabitants thereof to their due obedience to the Commonwealth. To repair on board the John or the Guinea frigates, and sail to Virginia, as Capt. Dennis shall direct. To use their best endeavors to reduce all the plantations within the Bay of Chesapeake. Power to assure pardon and indemnity, and to make exceptions; to use acts of hostility in case the inhabitants submit not by fair means; to appoint captains, raise forces in any of the plantations, and set free those serving as soldiers if their masters stand in opposition to the present government. To publish acts of Parliament against Kingship, the House of Lords, and for abolishing the Book of Common Prayer. Power to administer the engagement, to allow burgesses chosen by the planters who take the engagement to meet for government of their affairs. Directions for the issue of writs, warrants, &c. In case of the death of Capt. Dennis, Edmund Curtis, commander of the Guinea frigate, to command the fleet.
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Biographies of the Commissioners
a. Captain Robert Dennis - He was the Captain of the frigate "John". It was lost on the way to Virginia in 1652 and Captain Dennis and fellow commissioner Thomas Stagg were drowned.
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b. Governor Richard Bennett - Governor of Virginia from April 30, 1652 until March 2, 1655. He was of the same family as Henry Bennett Lord Arlington. His uncle Edward Bennett, Lord Arlington was an eminent London merchant, a member of the London Company and with other persons of means planted in 1621 a settlement in Wariscoyack or Isle of Wight County, Virginia which was known as Edward Bennett's plantation. At the time of the Indian uprising in March 1622 more than fifty persons were killed in the settlement. In 1624 Robert Bennett, merchant and Rev. William Bennett, minister were living at Edward Bennett's plantation. They were probably his kinsmen. In 1629 Richard Bennett was a burgess from the Warisoyack district and in 1632 was one of the county court. In 1639 he was a councilor. He was a Puritan in sympathy and joined in a petition which was taken by his brother Philip to Boston asking for three able ministers to occupy parishes in his neighborhood. When Sir William Berkeley in 1649 drove the Puritans out of Nansemond and Elizabeth City counties, Bennett went with them to Maryland, but only stayed a short time.
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In 1651 he was living on Bennett's Creek in Nansemond county and that year he was named by parliament as one of the commissioners for the reduction of Virginia. When Virginia submitted, he was elected by the general assembly governor of the colony. He held office from April 30, 1652 to March 30, 1655 when he was sent to England as an agent. On November 30, 1657 he signed the agreement with Lord Baltimore by which the latter's claim to Maryland was finally recognized. After the restoration of Charles II Bennett held the offices of Councillor and major general of the militia. ...His daughter Anne married Theodorick Bland of Virginia.
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Sir William Berkeley
Sir William Berkeley, governor and captain general of Virginia from 1642 to 652 and from 1660 to 1677..He was commissioned by King Charles on August 9, 1641...Another event of Berkeley's first administration was the expulsion of the Puritans from Norfold and Nansemond counties. During the English Civil War many Cavalier officers and other friends of the king emigrated to Virginia. The result was to give STRONG ROYALIST SYMPATHY to the colony, so that the death of Charles I was denounced by the assembly as murder and to question the right of Charles II was declared treason. At last, in 1651 parliament sent a fleet to subdue the country but force was not used and an accommodation was agreed to by both sides. April 30, 1652 Berkeley was superseded in the government by Richard Bennett whereupon he retired to his country residence "Greenspring" distant about five miles from Jamestown.
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c. Thomas Stagg - A merchant of London, came to the colony (of Virginia) in or before 1636, when Governor Harvey called him one of the 'ablest merchants in Virginia'...in 1642-43 he was speaker of the house, and two years later was a justice of the same county. He was included in the commission of 1630 to the councilors, issued by Charles II at Breda, but was at that time in England a partisan of parliament. He was appointed one of the parliamentary commissioners to subdue Virginia but the frigate "John", commanded by Captain Dennis, himself a commissioner, was lost on its way to Virginia in 1652 and Stagg and Dennis perished.
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d. Captain William Claybourne was born about 1587 in Westmoreland, England and came to Virginia with Governor Wyatt in 1621 in the employ of the Virginia Company as surveyor general of Virginia. ...In September 1651 Claibourne was appointed with Captain Robert Dennis, Mr. Richard Bennett and Mr. Thomas Stegg on a commission to reduce Virginia to obedience to the parliament of England, an office which they succeeded in performing in March of 1652. They then repaired to Maryland and reduced that province also. The two surviving commissioners Bennett and Claiborne, Captain Dennis and Thomas Stegg having died on the frigate "John". They shared the chief offices between them... The design of the commissioners appears to have been to have brought about the union of Virginia and Maryland again, but Lord Baltimore won such favor with Cromwell in England that the contest was given up and his authority fully recognized. When the restoration of Charles II took place, Claiborne was deprived of his office as secretary and removed from Elizabeth City where he had formerly lived to Romancoke near West Point, the scene of one of his former victories over the Indians.
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Still the question remains: Who was Robert Llewellyn?
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References
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Sainsbury, E. W. (Ed.). (1860). "America and West Indies: September 1651." Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 1, 1574-1660. Retrieved from British History Online.
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Surrender to Parliament (Treaty of Jamestown). (n.d.). Retrieved from Encyclopedia Virginia: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/surrender-to-parliament-treaty-of-jamestown/