Colonel Robert Pitt

Colonel Robert Pitt

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 5139145

Colonel Robert Pitt was born about 1607 in England and was like most of his family a sailor and served as Captain of a privateer out of Bristol named the "Thunder," aiding the Huguenots in the war against France in 1628 - Source: Bristol Privateers, Powell, page 84.

As a sea merchant he owned a fleet of ships which sailed out of the Port at Bristol, England. He had moved to the colonies by 1637 as he had patented 550 acres of land in the Isle of Wight, Virginia, on February 14, 1637. This land was located on the New Haven River which was later renamed the Pagan River.

On April 17, 1648, he patented 300 acres adjacent to the original land. On June 7, 1654, he patented an additional 1,200 acres. In 1664, he patented 3,000 acres on the Blackwater with his son-in-law, Captain Joseph Bridger and William Burgh. Also, he patented 1,000 acres in Accomac on March 12, 1662 and 3,000 acres in Accomac on October 2, 1663.

Between 1649 and 1660 he served as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses for the Isle of Wight. In 1662, as a Lt. Colonel, he commanded the Isle of Wight Militia and served on the Governor's Council.

Colonel Robert Pitt died before January 9, 1674, as his Will was recorded on that date, it was dated June 6, 1672 and witnessed by Richard Jones and Thomas Hill. His wife, Martha, had died before that date as he left in her memory, a parcel of land with the stipulation that his executor would build one house of twenty-five feet within four years of his death on the land to be used for poor women. He also left in memory of his daughter, Martha, "two cows and two female cows, which cattle and their increase are to be put upon the aforesaid land and not to be disposed of until they increase to a number of twelve which number is to be continued upon the aforesaid land, and what shall be over that number of cattle shall be disposed of by the Sheriff, then one half of the benefit of the cows and the whole benefit of the land to be for the estate of poor women and the other half of the benefit of the cattle to be for the estate of poor female orphans".

(Will of Col. Robert Pitt recorded in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.)

1649 - 1660 he served as a member of the House of Burgesses for Isle of Wight. He also served as Lt Col in 1662 commanding the Isle of Wight militia.

• Jamestowne Society
• First Families of Virginia

References

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jimlawler...
• https://andersonnc.wordpress.com/pitt-_iow-to-edgecombe/

More about Robert Pitt (Colonel of Merchant Pirate ship out of Bristol England)

27. Robert PITT was born in 1607 in BRISTOL, ENG.. He died on 6 Jun 1672 in Isle Of Wight, Va.. Colonel Robert Pitt born about 1607 in England was like most of his family a sailor and served as a captain of a privateer out of Bristol named the “Thunder”, aiding the Hugenots in the war against France in 1628. (Bristol Privateers, Powell, p. 84)

As a sea merchant he owned a fleet of ships which sailed out of the port at Bristol, England. He had moved to the colonies by 1637 as he had patented 550 acres of land in Isle of Wight, Virginia, on 14 February 1637. Thiss land was located on the New Haven River which was later changed to the Pagan River (On 17 April 1648 he patented 300 acres adjacent to the original land. On 7 Jun 1654 he patented an additional 1200 acres. in 1664 he patented 3000 acres on the Blackwater with his son-in-law, Captain Joseph Bridger, and William Burgh. Also, he patented 1000 acres in Accomac on 12 March 1662 and 3000 acres in Accomac on 2 Oct 1663.

Between 1649 and 1660 he served as a member of the House of Burgesses for isle of Wight, served as a Lt Col in 1662 commanding the Isle of Wight militia, and on the Governor's Council.

It is assumed that Col Robert was married twice; first to Elizabeth Stevens -and last to Martha Lear.

Colonel Robert Pitt died before 9 January 1674, as his will was recorded on that date, It imas dated 6 Jun 1672 and wittnessed by Richard Jones and Thomas Hill. His wife, Martha, had died before that date as he left, in her memory, a parcel of land with the stipulation that his executor would build one house of twenty-five feet within four years of his death on the land to be used for poor women. He also left in memory of his daughter, Martha, “two cows and two female cows, which cattle and their increase are to be put upon the aforesaid land and not any to be disposed of until they increase to a number of twelve whichnumber is to be continued upon the aforesaid land, and what shall be over that number of cattle shall be disposed of by the Sheriff, then one half of the benefit of the cows and the whole benefit of the land to be for the estate of poor women and the other half of the benefit of the cattle to be for the estate of poor female orphans”. (will of Col Robert Pitt recorded in isle of Wight Co., VA

Martha LEAR was born in England. She died in Isle Of Wight, Va.. Robert PITT and Martha LEAR had the following children:

child+29 i. Henry PITT.
child+30 ii. John PITT.

A VERY likely ancestor that connects to Stanley might be this Robert Pitt II (Mariner):
Col then married Martha Pitt, I (born Lear) in 1640, at age 34 in marriage place, Virginia.
Martha was born in 1613, in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England.
He had 12 children: Elizabeth Norsworthy (born Pitt), Robert (mariner) Pitt II and 10 other children.

Not sure if Mariner refers to a maiden name or his profession, but profession would make sense as the Pitt's travel across the Chesepeake to Accomack and other counties on the DelMarVa.

More on relations to Robert Pitt:
She told us that Colonel Joseph Bridger, a Royalist and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, served the King of England until his death in 1686 at age 58. Joseph Bridger gave the money to help finish the church and brought men from England to help build the church tower. To honor him, church members chose to have his bones removed from his gravesite at his home, Whitemarsh, and rebury them in the church. Joseph Bridger’s wife was Hester Pitt, daughter of Robert Pitt, who was also a Burgess. The docent at the church then told me that there was a Bridger Family Association that I might want to join. From their website, I learned that the bones of Col. Joseph Bridger, determined to be one of the wealthiest men in Colonial Virginia at the time, were exhumed in April of 2007 and taken to the Smithsonian Institution for study. Smithsonian anthropologist Dr. Douglas Owsley and his team have studied the bones for information on Bridger such as his health, diet and build. The information gleaned from the study of Bridger’s bones is part of an exhibit which opened in February 2009 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History entitled “Written in Bones: Life and Death in the Colonial Chesapeake.” See http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/ for a video of the exhibit and an explanation by Dr. Owsley. The History Channel filmed the exhumation of Joseph Bridger’s bones and published the film on their website.

Joseph Bridger, born 1628 in Dursley, Glouchestershire, married, 1644 to Hester Pitt, born 1631 in Dursley, Clouchestershire. They had seven children.

Here is another Pitt related to the Bridger's of Isle of Wight:
S. Clyde Gallop,II
I forgot to mention that Sally Ann Pitt was the daughter of John Robert Pitt and Mary Moon. John was the son of thomas Pitt and Catherine Willians dau. of Burrell Williams and Winifred Williams a cousin viw Williams, Alston lines plus Burrell was from the Arrington line of Nash County NC. Thomas Pitt was the son or Robert Pitt and Mary Bridger who came to Edgecombe County from IOW County Va.

August 28, 2010 at 3:14 AM

More on Pitt family Bristol:

Elaine Powell

2011/09/28

From Cindy Furman

Hi Elaine,
I am interested in your research on Samuel Bridger b. 1584 Slimbridge, Gloucester, England. He is a 10th great grandfather to me. I see you have his wife as Mary Purchase as sourced from John A Brayton’s Vol 10. Other candidates for his wife seem to be Mary Newse, Mary Webb and Mary Pitt. I don’t know about the evidence for Mary Newse or Mary Pitt, but there does seem to be a possible record of marriage to Mary Webb b. 1601 Slimbridge, Gloucester, England d. aft 1683 Woodmancote, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England in US and International Marriage records 1560-1900 although the name in the record is Samuel Bridgers but the birth year matches. I have not see the record itself only the index information. There is also a will in the following record that may be him: UK, Extracted Probate Records
about Bridger, Samuel
Text: Bridger, Samuel, Slimbridge
Book: Burialls 1604. (Burial)
Collection: Gloucestershire: – Wills Proved in The Court of Bishop of Gloucester, 1660-1800
I have the will of Samuel’s son, Col Joseph Bridger in Vol 7 of John A Brayton’s book on the Pitt family of Bristol, Gloucester, Charlestown, Massachusetts and Isle of Wight County, VA but his mother is only referred to as Mary. There seems to be a lot of confusion on Ancestry.com public trees as to exactly which Mary was the wife of Samuel Bridger, so I am hoping you can help me with the facts. Looking forward to hearing from you and please visit my website. Enjoyed your website by the way and your clever name for it.

Cindy Furman

Hello Cindy,

I took my info directly from John Brayton’s book which states on page 16-18 that Samuel Bridger married Mary Purchas(e). He also has the full transcript of the will in the book, on pgs. 18-22. I think that the thorough research that John Brayton did while in England is more believable than the US and International Marriage records 1560-1900. I’ve attached pages 16-18 of his book so you can come to your own conclusions.
If you descend from the Bridger family I would recommend that you get Vol. 10. It has all his research and his conclusions. And it has a great family tree chart, just like the one in his Vol. 7, which I assume you own.
What is your line of descent from Samuel? I am trying to create a database of all the Bridger family members in order to help other Bridgers. I don’t ever put info on living persons on my websites, so if you’d like to share your line, that would be great.

Elaine

September 28, 2011 at 10:24 PM

Familysearch:

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/L866-CZ7