| Notes |
- JoAnn Allenbaugh believes "that this Joseph Whittson is the same Jo. Whetson, age 20, from England, aboard the Primrose in 1635. We find this Joseph Whitson in the records of the Isle of Wight County, Va 1667, associated with the merchants of Bristol, England.
"Joseph Whitson bought 300 acres at a sheriff sale, 1694 Aquia River, Rooses bank Stafford Co., VA. The wife of Joseph died between 1694 and 1696 and, according to the son Joseph's declaration, she is buried on this plantation in the family burial plot that was set aside.
"Joseph Whitson died 1696 leaving 100 acres each to [his] eldest surviving son, Samuel Whitson, son Joseph Whitson and daughter Elizabeth Butler....
"Because of the association with the merchants of Bristol, England, as suggested by records in Isle of Wight Co. VA, I have made an attempt to research this area of England. We do feel that the most promising settlement of Whitsons was in Westbury on Severn, under the present day Gwent, Wales. The names Joseph and Thomas Whitson were being used in the late 1600's."
In an addendum, Allenbaugh writes:
"We concentrated our Whitson research in the area of Bristol, England, because of records in Isle of Wight VA, that suggested Joseph Whittson, immigrant, was connected to the Merchants of Bristol England.
"One of the first important things we learned was that a John Whitson was Lord Mayor of Bristol, 1603-1629.
"On investigation we learned his father was a William Whitson and they were from Clearwell, parish of Newland, in the Forest of Dean. Newland is near present-day Coleford, off the river Wye, in Gloucestershire county. From Newport (Wales, County Gwent) Coleford is about 20-25 miles. Go north on highway 466 toward Monmonth, try to pick up road 4136, NE connecting road to Coleford.
"The English research was conducted by this researcher, Barbara Bellomo, Gene Taylor, and Tim Martin. Three trips were made to England that resulted in our Whitson, FBI expert, finally locating the area on the river Severn, near Newport where the little village of Whitson used to be. The photos of the 'Whitson' area were furnished by Tom Martin.
"From the 'Doomsday' records of 1086, we can trace the village of Whitson back to the survey made of England in 1086 by order of Duke William of Normandy who conquered England in 1066.
"The 'Whitstone' hundred, consisting of the village of Stanish, Haresfield and Longley in 1086 is north east of the present-day Berkely, close to the present-day town of Gloucester. (Hundred is a descriptive term for a district consisting of several nearby villages.)
"For my part, I [Allenbaugh] researched English records through the LDS library holdings. I concentrated on the records from 1500-1700, in the area of Gwent (old Monmouthshire) and Gloucestershire county, England. There was no will or estate record that showed a direct family connection with our immigrant ancestor, Joseph Whittson, of 1635. All we have is evidence of an early, 1560, 1562, James Whitson, sons: John, b. 1560 and Thomas, b 1562 of Newland Parish.
"A Joseph Whitson, 2nd wife Ann lived in Westbury on Severn in 1695, when daughter Elizabeth was born.
"We know, from records, that William Whitson, of Newland, had a son John who became Lord Mayor of Bristol. John Whitson, Lord Mayor, was born ca. 1547 and it is noted that he had two sisters that survived him. I would think that the James Whitson of Newland, was most likely another son of William Whitson.
"Although we do not have a will or Bible record that establish a direct Whitson family connection to our immigrant ancestor, Joseph Whitson, I feel we do have enough clues to make the assumption that Joseph Whitson did come from the area represented by Newport, Colford, and Westbury on Severn. Joseph would probably be a younger son, not expecting to inherit.
"The Newland area lies on the edge of Wales. I do not think the Whitson family was Welsh. Two reasons: 1) The Welsh, at the time we are researching, were still using one name (e.g., Llanvair & Griffydd) with double l's double f and d. The name Whitson, in present from, existed in the Newland area back before the year 1066. 2) A quote from the 'Doomsday' survey about county boundary in Gloucestershire is: 'the land between the Wye and the Usk and some land beyond the Usk is said to be in Wales and has Welsh customs but is in 1086 mainly under Norman administration.' This exactly describes the area and times our Whitsons were in at the time of the 1086 survey.
"Knowing that the name Whitson existed in it's present form before 1066, leads us to examine the origin of the name Whitson, One reference has been made to Whitsunday (the seventh Sunday after Easter), a long-established feast day in England. Another reference has been made to Son of Whit, a Scandinavian naming pattern from the time of the Vikings.
I will try to find English history before 1066 just for my own curiosity. I think this is as far back as I can take the Whitson family, [as] records are so sparse."
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Taylor Family Genealogy
- 1696