William Hancock

• General Notes
  • Information on Generations 1 through 4 was derived from the book 'The Hancock Family of England and America,' by Arvil Dale Hancock. William was a member of the Second Virginia Company from England. He was possibly killed in the Indian raid of 1622.
    
    From Arvil Hancock's 'Profiles' at http://members.xoom.com/arvilh/aprofile.html:
    
    William Hancock was an investor in The Virginia Company of London which was chartered by King James I for the purpose of colonizing in America. A notation in an old family Bible says that William came to Virginia in search of timber for his building of ships and that he died in the Indian Massacre at Jamestown on Good Friday, 22 March 1622. This has not been confirmed by official documents. Early family historians believed that he lived in Devonshire. This also has not been proven at this time. The Bible record further states that in 1630, Augustine, son and heir of William, came to Virginia. His brothers Simon and William came to Virginia about 1635. We have a great deal of information on the descendants of these three brothers.
    
    What follows are from two (2) e-mail messages dated December, 1999 from Arvil Hancock relative to William Hancock:
    
    1). Recently several people have inquired of me about two troubling questions in regard to William Hancock of The Virginia Company of London: 1) why does his name not appear on the passenger list of the Margaret of Bristol as has been claimed by early Hancock researchers?, and 2) why does his name not appear on the list of those who died in the Indian Massacre of 22 March 1622 as claimed by early researchers? Each of these questions requires a rather lengthy explanation. I will begin the explanations here and continue later.
    
    Since William Hancock was believed to have been a member of the group that founded Berkeley Hundred in Virginia, that he sailed on the Margaret of Bristol with the first contingent in September 1619, and that he died at the house of George Thorpe at Berkeley Hundred on 22 March 1622, let's start with
    the history of the Berkeley Company.
    
    In 1618 Sir William Throckmorton of Clowerwell in the County of Gloucester, Knight and Baronet, Sir George Yeardley now Governor of Virginia, Knight, Richard Berkeley of Stoke (Gifford), George Thorpe of Wanswell Court, Berkeley, and John Smyth of North Nibley [not to be confused with Captain John Smith of The Virginia Company], in the County of Gloucester, Esquires, entered into an agreement, with the advice and consent of the Council of The Virginia Company, to establish a colony in Virginia to be known as Berkeley Hundred. All of these men were members of The Virginia Company of London.  All, except for Smyth of Nibley, were related by blood or marriage. All were from Gloucestershire which is in the southwest of England. It borders Wales on the West, the Cotswolls are in the eastern part, and the central portion is the Severn Vale. Some of the towns in Gloucestershire were Berkeley, Dursley and Wotton, and some of the villages and hamlets included Cambridge, Kingswood, North Nibley, Watswell and Wick, all within the Hundred of Berkeley. The Berkeley family had been prominent in the area for generations. Berkeley Castle has been the home of the Berkeley family for over 800 years. The Berkeley family had a long maritime tradition. The Severn River was navigable to Bristol by small vessels and the Berkeleys owned vessels that they used for commercial purposes.
    
    The plan was to establish a Berkeley Hundred in Virginia much like the one in Gloucestershire. The venture had the blessing and encouragement of The Virginia Company. By 1619 Sir George Yeardley was already in Virginia as Governor of the entire Jamestown Colony. The Company wrote to Yeardley and encouraged him to select a choice site for Berkeley Hundred. The site selected consisted of about 8,000 acres with three miles of frontage on the James River and consisted of meadowland and virgin forest.
    
    In 1619 the Berkeley Company selected Captain John Woodleefe to lead the first contingent to Virginia. The ship Margaret of Bristol was chartered for the voyage. This venture was much better planned, financed, and supplied than earlier contingents sent to Virginia by the Virginia Company. The Berkeley
    Company sent not only men but tools, supplies, animals, seeds, and other necessities. There were only 35 men aboard the Margaret in addition to Captain Woodleefe. Only three of them had any connection with the Company. The others went over as indentured servants of the Berkeley Company or as employees who would become tenants in halves with the Company.
    
    "Hundred" by definition means an area large enough to have a self sustaining community of one hundred families, or approximately 500 persons. The Woodleefe contingent represented only a very small beginning. Other supply ships were sent over in 1620 and 1621 carrying more settlers (including women and children) and supplies. On 27 March 1620 the second supply was sent on the Merchant of London. George Thorpe was a part of that voyage. Upon arriving in Virginia, Thorpe replaced Woodleefe as governor (or superintendent) of Berkeley Hundred.
    
    2). It was early July before the news of the Massacre of 22 March 1622 first reached England. As reports came in the number of casualties gradually increased. First it was 229, then 329, then more than 350. It is generally believed that more than 350 were killed, probably closer to 400. For propaganda purposes, the Company settled on the lower number of 347 and that became the "official" number. The list of 347 killed is neither 100% complete nor 100% accurate. Not accurate because a few of the people on the list showed up later. When the violence erupted, many men, women and children ran into the woods and hid. There were a number of dead that were never identified, in some cases because their bodies were so badly mutilated.
    
    The losses were the heaviest in the isolated and unprepared plantations. The heaviest recorded casualties were at the Martin's Plantation where 78 were officially stated as having been killed, but it is generally believed that the figure was higher, possibly as high as 100. More than 50 died at Bennet's Plantation. At Falling Creek (part of Berkeley Plantation), where John Berkeley was ironmaster, 27 including Berkeley, two women and two young children were murdered. Maurice Berkeley, the son of John, and two other children are known to have survived. The children had run away and hidden in the woods. At the College Lands 17 are known to have died and at Weynoeck (Sir George Yeardley's people) 21 were killed. Captain Nathaniel Powell, his wife Joyce (nee Tracy, and great with child) and 10 others were killed at their plantation Powle Brooks. Six died at Westover. Eleven died at George Thorpe's house including Thorpe. I have the list of names. It does not include William Hancock.
    
    So, what of William Hancock? The information that he came to Virginia with Captain John Woodleefe on the Margaret of Bristol came from an old Hancock family history that I discovered early in my research many years ago. To the best of my recollection, that history was unsigned and undated. I have no idea who wrote it or when, but it was very old. Many Hancock researchers have found the document and have relied upon it. From more recent research I now know that the information was not accurate. William Hancock was not a member of The Berkeley Company and not associated with it in any way so far as I can determine. He did not travel to Virginia on any of the supply ships destined specifically for Berkeley Hundred. He was a member of The Virginia Company of London, the parent of The Berkeley Company. He was from the same general region as the principals of the Berkeley group. He undoubtedly knew them; but whether he had any business connection with them is unknown.
    
    The Bible record says that William Hancock came to Virginia in search of forest for his building of ships and that he died at Thorpe's house, Berkeley Hundred, in the Indian Massacre of 22 March 1622. The Bible was that of Simon Hancock (1717-1791) {who married Jean Flournoy}. Based on the language and style of writing, the information appears to have been copied from an older Bible. Simon descended from Samuel (1675-1760), William (1648-1687) and Simon (1610-1654). I believe the Bible notation is close to first hand knowledge and is essentially accurate. I think that William Hancock came to Virginia by his own means, possibly on his own ship, looking for timber. Berkeley Hundred contained thousands of acres of virgin timber. William Hancock was not a settler or a permanent resident. His family was in England. While in Virginia he was a guest in the home of George Thorpe. His family knew where he was staying.  When the violence erupted at exactly noon on Good Friday 22 March 1622 William apparently was not present at the Thorpe house. I believe that he was among the unidentified dead. The fact that he was a visitor and not a permanent resident could help to explain why his body was not identified.
    
    A final note: The Bible record further states that in 1630, Augustine, son and heir of William, came to Virginia to claim his estate. The principle estate of William would have been in England. Augustine, after inheriting that estate upon coming of age may have come to Virginia to "try" to claim his father's estate. It is highly unlikely that his attempt met with any success. Shareholders in The Virginia Company were entitled to receive 100 acres for each paid up share that they held. But the Company was dissolved in 1624 without assets. Up to that time, six out of every seven settlers that had come to Virginia had died. It was common practice for the Governors to confiscate the land of deceased settlers and grant it to new owners. So I suspect that whatever land that Augustine acquired in Virginia was by purchase or for transportation of settlers. (Arvil).
    
    More from Arvil's website:
    William Hancock was an investor in The Virginia Company of London which was chartered by King James I for the purpose of colonizing in America. A notation in an old family Bible says that William came to Virginia in search of timber for his building of ships and that he died in the Indian Massacre at Jamestown on 22 March 1622. This has not been confirmed by official documents. Early family historians believed that he lived in Devonshire. This also has not been proven at this time. The Bible record further states that in 1630, Augustine, son and heir of William, came to Virginia. His brothers Simon and William came to Virginia about 1635. We have a great deal of information on the descendants of these three brothers.
    
    He was apparently not the William Hancock of Elberton who died in 1622: Gloucestershire probate records at http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/GLS/ProbateRecords/OLV1620-1660.html
    "William Hancock, Elberton, died 1622, yeo., dtrs Margt; dtr in law Kath Hancock; svt Nichls Pearce; Joan Bradley; dtr Agn H exec; overs bro Nichls H of Horvill & Henry Dowding of Elberton; witns Thos Perriman & Wltr Webb." The will mentions no sons named Augustine, Simon or William. Arvil Hancock and Malinda Theisse (mthiesse@@sw.bell.net) agree. Another helpful researcher is Leslie (male) Mahler at lmahler@@worldnet.att.net.

Click here for details of William's family with Susan Poynter

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