Edward Bennett was the 15th and youngest son of Robert Bennett, a tanner of Wivelscombe, Somersetshire, and his wife, Elizabeth Edney. Bennett married Mary Bourne, the granddaughter of a wealthy and well-positioned merchent of Wells, whose brother was the Bishop of London and whose uncle was Secretary of State to Queen Mary. As a young man he inherited great wealth and responsibility through his marriage. By about 40, Bennett owned a fleet of sailing vessels involved in fishing and world trade that extended from the Banks of Newfoundland to the Caribbean Islands and Europe. Bennett himself commanded his fleet from his flagship, “The Edward of London.”
1867On 21 Nov 1621, Edward Bennett obtained a patent for a plantation conditioned on settling 200 immigrants. He was joined in the patent by his brother, Robert Bennett, his nephew, Richard Bennett, Thomas Ayers, Thomas Wiseman, and Richard Wiseman. In February of 1622 the Sea Flower arrived with 120 settlers. The initial place of settlement was called Warrascoyack and sometimes “Edward Bennett’s plantation.”
1810Edward Bennett had an important role in the early settlement of Virginia. He not only established the first large plantation, but he and his family sent over at different times about 800 immigrants to Virginia.
1858For a more complete history, see his Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bennett_(colonist).
1866Some of the recorded dates in Edward’s life are puzzling. He was a good deal older than Mary Bourne, who was born in about 1605. He and Mary are said to be the parents of Mary Bennett, wife of Thomas Bland. Mary is said to have been born in 1623 in Wiveliscombe, England. We know that Edward’s first voyage to Virginia was in 1622, so he may have taken Mary Bourne as wife during the time he was making trips back and forth between London and Virginia. As recounted by Boddie, by the age of 40 (1618) Bennett commanded a large fleet of sailing vessels, so a trip from London to Virginia woiuld have been routine. His marriage to Mary Bourne is recorded to have taken place in 1629, and his second daughter Elizabeth was born in London in 1629. This disconuity in dates may suggest that Mary Bourne Bennett was not the mother of Mary Bennett, but that Edward had a first wife who was Mary’s mother.
For a good history of Isle of Wight County, see this article, published in 1907 on the Tercentennial of Jamestown.
1868