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Thomas Forrest, Esq, also known as Thomas Forrest, Gentleman in the Jamestown Colonists historic lists (May 1572 in Morborne, Huntingdonshire, England – 1641 in St. Mary's City, Maryland), was a gentleman financier in the Virginia Company. At that time gentleman denoted a man of the lowest rank of the English gentry, standing below an esquire and above a yeoman. By definition, this category included the younger sons of the younger sons of peers, knights, and esquires in perpetual succession; thus the term captures the common denominator of gentility (and often armigerousness) shared by both constituents of the English aristocracy: the peerage and the gentry. On October 1, 1608, what is known as the Second Supply, came to the new colony of Virginia aboard the English ship the ''Mary and Margaret'' (or ''Mary-Margaret'', both names appear in the records) under Captain Christopher Newport to resupply the colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Thomas Forrest was listed as a gentleman on that ship as shown on its (manifest ). This ship brought with it the first two women to come to Jamestown, Thomas Forrest's second wife (Mistress Forrest ) (Margaret Foxe) and Anne Burras, Margaret's maid. Thomas Forrest is said in genealogies listed on the internet to have brought his son Peter (born 1601 in Morborne of Thomas' first marriage to Elizabeth Duncastle). However, as Peter would have been six or seven at the time, this is unlikely and his name is not on the ship's manifest. Thus it is more likely that Peter, who died in Maryland in 1665 in St. Mary's County, Maryland, came later. Thomas and Margaret had married on August 16, 1605 in St. Giles in the Fields, London, England, four years after Peter was born. Peter is a direct ancestor of Uriah Forrest of Revolutionary War fame. As was law in England at the time, Thomas's elder brother Miles Forrest (inherited ) the title to their father's estates and the younger Thomas set out for the adventure of securing new land in a new colony. Thomas was a member of the Virginia Company (also known as the Charter of the Virginia Company of London or the London Company) that established the colony. According to ''Seven Hundred Years of the Beville Family''〔http://www.heritagebooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HBI&Product_Code=L1329&Category_Code= ISBN 0-7884-1329-5〕 Thomas' grandmother, Katherine Beville (wife of Miles Forrest) was descended from, among others, William De Beville (Le Sire () de Beville], who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and fought in the Battle of Hastings. The family records can be found in (St. Michael's Church ) in Chesterton, Huntingdonshire, England. In this pivotal time in English history toward the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the power of the landed gentry for whom wealth was land, was giving way to the rising class of merchants, for whom wealth was trade in shippable goods, such as gold, tea and tobacco. Thomas was one of the gentry who made the transition from the old to the new. In an interesting footnote in history: one of the founders of colonial America is a direct descendant of one of the founders of Norman England over 500 years prior. The origins of Thomas Forrest and his wife require further documentation. Thomas Forrest was listed as a shareholder in the (Second Charter of Virginia ), granted by James I to the London Company of Virginia on May 23, 1609. (See the last line of the charter for his name on page 54.)〔Second Charter of Virginia http://www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/virginia/docs/svc.html.〕 Sir Anthony Forrest of Morborne, Huntingdonshire,〔'Parishes: Morborne', A History of the County of Huntingdon: Volume 3 (1936), pp. 188–190. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66175 accessed 27 September 2011.〕 was also an investor in the Virginia Company. It is likely that Thomas Forrest, the gentleman colonist, is of the Morborne family. Thomas's birth records are in St Michael's Church, Chesterton, Huntingdonshire, England. His marriage record to Margaret (August 16, 1605) is in the church of St Giles in the Fields, London. In Benson J. Lossno's (THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS ) Losstno writes "''During the lovely Indian summer time, in the autumn of 1608, there was a marriage on the banks of the Powhatan... History, poetry, and song, have kept a dutiful silence, respecting that first English marriage in America, because John Laydon and Anne Burrows were common people. The bridegroom was a carpenter, among the first adventurers who ascended the Powhatan, then named James in honor of a bad king; and the bride was waiting-maid to " Mistress Forrest," wife of Thomas Forrest, gentleman. These were the first white women ever seen at the Jamestown settlement''." Further research is required as forensic evidence suggests that Thomas was widowed shortly after arriving in Jamestown in 1608 with his wife. One would not expect a lady to bring her servant with her, no doubt paying for the crossing, and then to release her from service soon after arriving in the new colony. However, if the lady died, the widower, a gentleman would have no use for a lady's servant and in fact, as far as the research shows to date (2015), Thomas Forrest disappears from the colonial records for at least a decade before he and his now married son show up in Maryland. This suggests that Thomas went back to England, very possibly on the same ship he came over on, having concluded colonial life was better observed from afar. Nevertheless, his name shows up on the Second Charter in May of the next year, suggesting he maintained his enthusiasm for the new colonial venture. == Excavation at Jamestown == Remains unearthed at Jamestown in 1997 may be those of Mistress Forrest. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Forrest (colonist)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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