William Browne, Sr., of Surry County

William Browne is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society < A1204 >

Lt. Col. William Browne

• AKA Brown
• Birth: say 1625 / 1632 - England (seen as Southwark, Surrey, England)
• Emigration: 1662 from England to Virginia
• Death: between will dated 4 Dec. 1704, proved in Surry, VA. 3 July 1705 - Four Mile Tree, Surry, Virginia
• Parents: Nothing is known of William's ancestry
• Spouse:1) Mary Browne - married after 1662 in Surry County, Virginia
• Spouse: Elizabeth (unknown), widow of Nicholas Meriwether - married 6 Jul 1680 i

Biography

http://vagenweb.org/tylers_bios/vol1-18.htm (dead link)

William Browne was born Abt. 1625 in [Southwark, Surrey, England], and died Bef. July 03, 1705 in Surry County, Virginia. He married Mary Browne, daughter of Henry Browne and Ann Flood. He married (second) Elizabeth Meriwether, widow of Nicholas Meriwether.

William was a justice of the Surry County, Virginia court from 1668 to 1705. He was County Sherriff in 1674 and 1687 and a Burgess of the County in 1676-77, 1679, and 1681-82. He was Lt. Col. of the Militia 1679-87.

Col. William Browne paid quit rents on 2,510 in 1704. The tract spanned his estate, Four Mile Tree that came to him from his wife.

From the Meriwether Society:

It was the widow Elizabeth Meriwether who married Lt. Col. William Browne as his second wife. She was not the mother of most of his children who is not proved. The Surry County Order Book, 1671-1691 (p.302), in an item recorded 6 Jul 1680, which states: "...Exit. Corpus. Edward Napkin conffesseth Judgmt. to Lt. Coll. Wm. Browne as marryeing ye. Executrix of Mr. Ni. Meriwether ".

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Family

None of his children were baptized in England. William Browne (d. 1705) has sons William & Henry. Daughters Ann Flood, Priscilla Blount, and Mary who died unmarried.

William married Mary Browne about 1655 in Surry County, Virginia. Known children include:

1. Mary Browne, died an infant
2. Jane Browne (m. 1st., Robert Spencer and 2nd., Thomas Jordan) 1657–1685
3. William Browne, Jr. (m. Jane Meriwether) 1671 – unknown
4. Ann Browne, md. Walter Flood
5. Priscilla Browne, md. 1) Rivers Jordan 2) Thomas Blunt 3) William Thomas
6. Henry Browne
7. Unnamed daughter Browne, md (Thomas ?) Jordan

William married second, in about 1682, Elizabeth Meriwether, widow of Nicholas Meriwether I. They had one known daughter,

1. Elizabeth, mentioned in the will of Henry Hartwell, Esq.[2] Elizabeth, the daughter, is not mentioned in the will of her father nor are any possible children, so it seems likely that she died unmarried sometime between 1699 and Dec. 1704 (the date of William Browne's will).[5]

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Will

Will of William Browne. Dated 4 Dec 1704; proved 3 Jul 1705, Surry, VA.

• To granddaughter, Jane Jordan, negro girl and other bequesnts.
• To granddaughter Mary Sowerby, wife of Francis Sowerby and her children that shall be born, negroes - if no heirs, to William, son of William & Jane Browne.
• To daughter Ann Flood, wife of Walter Flood, 50 pounds.
• To daughter, Priscilla Blunt, wife of Thomas Blunt, five pounds.
• To son, Henry Browne, 20 shillings.
• To grandson, John Flood, five pounds;
• to other grandchildren - Walter Flood, Fortune Flood, Mary Flood, Ann Flood, William Browne, Henry Browne, Jane Browne, Mary Jordan the younger, and William Blunt, 40 shillings apiece.
• Rest of estate to my son, William Browne, and make him executor and whereas my son, William Browne is now gone for England and it is uncertain how it may please God to deal with him and that he may die before he returns to possess estate which God forbid - if he should die to my granson, Wm. Browne, all my land I have at Blackwater.
• To grandson, Henry Brown, piece of land in James City now in occupation of John Child.
• To Daughter (actually daughter-in-law), Jane Browne, wife of William Browne, ten pounds.
• To granddaughter, Jane Browne, daughter of William and Jane, eighty pounds when 18 or married.
• Grandsons William & Henry Browne, sons of Wiliam & Jane Browne, and Walter Flood.
• The land whereon Sion Hill lives and has build a mill contained in my patent of a tract of land on the South side of Blackwater, my will is that my hereinafter named Executor do make a conveyance of the said land to said Sion Hill beginning at the nearest place of the said land to down to the lower end, the said Hill having already made satisfaction for the same.
• Executors: Nicholas Maget, Thomas Blunt.
• Wit: Fra: Sowerby, Nick Maget, Charles White, William (Benson ?)

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"Four Mile Tree" standing opposite Jamestown on the James River was the home of the Browne family for nearly two centuries.[8] The founder of the Browne family of "Four Mile Tree" was Col. Henry Browne, [William%E2%80%99s father in law], said to have been of the Browne family of Hertford and Lancaster counties in England. He was a member of the Virginia Council from 1634 to 1652 and, after the Restoration,[9] in 1660 and 1661. The Browne family continued to live here until the last male heir died in 1799.

References

1. https://archive.org/stream/jstor-1922659/1922659#page/n7/mode/2up
2. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LCT7-WWS cites
   1. Will of William Browne in Wills and deeds (Surry County, Virginia), 1652-1907, Wills and deeds, No. 5-6 1694-1715, img 327 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-V39K-D
   2. William Browne, "Find A Grave Index" There is NO PROOF this is his burial site. Death date shown is date of probate of WILL - NOT his death. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144399525/william-browne
3. http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/y/a/g/Douglas-G-Yager/WE...
4. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Browne-861 cites
   1. Browne, William - A1204; died 1704, Surry Co.: 1661-62, 1671-73, 1677, 1679, 1682 (Burgess).
   2. “Some Old Surry Families.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 4, 1908, pp. 221–235. JSTOR, [www.jstor.org/stable/1922659]. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.
   3. Stanard, William G. and Mary Newton Stanard. The Colonial Virginia Register.Albany, N. Y.: Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers. Pages 82, 83
   4. New River Notes, Colonial Virginia Register
   5. The Meriwether Society's page for Elizabeth Browne at Rootsweb.
   6. The Meriwether Society's page for Elizabeth Browne at Rootsweb.
   7. Surry Co., VA, WB/DB 5, pp. 305-306, w. 4 Dec 1704, p. 3 Jul 1705.
   8. Four Mile Tree Plantation
   9. Stuart Restoration See also:
   10. Some Old Surry Families Author: The William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 16, No. 4 (Apr., 1908), pp. 221-235. Meriwether, Browne, Clements, Flood and Jordan Families
   11. Wulfeck, Dorothy Ford, Marriages of Some Virginia Residents 1607–1800 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1986) Page: 69; Quote: Jordan, Thomas, b. 1600, England, son of Samuel, who came to Va., in 1609, m. Lucy Corker, dau. of Capt. William Corker of Surry Co., sis. of Susanna. They res. in Isle of Wight Co. Proven by will of William Corker, dated 1677, Surry Co.
   12. The William and Mary Quarterly, v. 7, no. 1, p. 232; Quote: Footnote 5 continued from previous page: ... In the Surry records there is a deed (year 1688) of Lucy Jordan, wife of Mr. Thomas Jordan (the Isle of Wight man), conveying to Phillis Jordan that portion of land "which I hold in partnership with sister Susannah Branch and niece Eliz. Parsons, dau. and sole heir of sister Judith Clay, dece'd, which land descended unto said Susanna, Judith, and Lucy, as daus. and coheirs of Capt. William Corker, dece'd" (son of John Corker). Witness, James Jordan, Richard Washington. In 1685 Lt. Coll. Wm. Browne and Mr. James Jordan presented in Surry an inventory of goods of Mr. Thomas Jordan, dece'd. There is in Surry the nuncupative will of Capt. William Corker "made at the house of his dau. Judith Clay in ye Isle of Wight Co." Feb. 26, 1675-6. Divides his estate between his wife and his three daus: Susanna (who m. George Branch, jr.), Judith Clay and Lucy Jordan; he confirms a gift to Elizabeth md. Capt. Robert Spencer, of Surry. ... The Jordans of Isle of Wight were leading Quakers.
   13. A History of Halifax County Virginia, by Wirt Johnson Carrington, 1924, p. 215. Image Quote: Jordan (2) Thomas Jordan (son of Samuel), born 1600 in England, married Lucy Corker, daughter of Captain Corker of Surry County, Va. (He was burgess in 1629–1632, was a soldier with Yardley.)
   14. Davis, Eliza Timberlake. Wills and Administrations of Surry County, Virginia, 1671-1750 (Google Books, page 25 picks up transcripton of will at "Wm. and Jane Browne. To daughter, Ann Flood,...").