Edward Bennett (colonist) facts for kids

Edward Bennett (1577 – before 1651) was an English merchant who lived in London. He was also a member of the Virginia Company, a group that helped set up colonies in North America. Edward Bennett was a Puritan, a type of Protestant Christian who wanted to make the church simpler. He even lived in Amsterdam for a while because of his beliefs.

He started the first large farm, called a plantation, in the Virginia colony in North America. This area later became known as Isle of Wight County. To get land, people like Bennett had to bring new settlers to the colony. He helped more than 600 people move to the new world. Most of these people were indentured servants. This meant they worked for a few years to pay for their trip to America. The Virginia colony needed many workers to grow and develop.

Even though he helped develop Virginia, Edward Bennett mostly stayed in London. This was the main place for his business and political connections. He got married there, and all nine of his children were born in London.

Early Life and Business

Edward Bennett was born on February 2, 1577, in Wiveliscombe, England. He was the 15th child of Robert Bennett, who was a tanner (someone who prepares animal hides). Edward was baptized in his local church in June 1577. As an adult, he became a Puritan. Puritans were Protestants who wanted to change the Church of England to be more simple, following the ideas of Calvinism.

Bennett became a very successful merchant. He traded goods with the Netherlands and later with the new colonies in North America. Edward Bennett and his business partners, Richard and Thomas Wiseman, were important members of the Virginia Company in London. This company was given permission by the King in 1606 to create settlements on the coast of North America.

As a wealthy London merchant, Bennett owned many ships. He used these ships for trading with Virginia and the Netherlands. He was also chosen to be a Commissioner of Virginia, which meant he advised the English Court on matters related to the colony.

Family Life

Edward Bennett married Mary Bourne on April 1, 1619, in London. Mary was the daughter of Jasper Bourne, a merchant from a well-known family in Somerset. Mary was about 14 years old when they married, and Edward was about 28 years older than her.

All nine of their children were born in London. Sadly, three of their children died before they turned five years old. The records show that their last five children were baptized at St Olave parish in London.

• Joan Bennett, born 1621
• Edward Bennett, born 1623
• Mary Bennett, born 1624
• Alice Bennett, born 1626
• Elizabeth Bennett, born 1629, died 1632
• Sylvestra Bennett, born 1630, died around 1706 in Virginia
• John Bennett, born 1632
• Ann Bennett, born 1633, died 1634
• Jasper Bennett, born 1634, died 1638

Puritan Beliefs and Migration

Because of religious challenges from the official Church of England, Edward Bennett and his family, like many other Puritans, moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands for a time. Since he was a successful merchant, he was chosen as an elder in the Puritan church there.

Interestingly, his wife, Mary Bourne Bennett, came from a Roman Catholic family in Somerset. Her family had faced difficulties because they did not accept the established Church of England.

Starting the Virginia Colony

The Virginia Company was given the job of settling and developing the Virginia colony. Another Puritan merchant, Christopher Lawne, had already started an English plantation in the Warrosquoake area in 1618. Other Puritans also settled nearby.

Edward Bennett received his own land grant in this area from the Virginia Company in 1621. He needed to bring 200 people to his land to meet the rules of his grant. Most of these people were indentured servants. These servants agreed to work for a set number of years (usually five or seven) to pay for their ship passage to the colony. The colony needed many workers to develop its farms and towns.

Bennett named his plantation Warrosquoake. This was an old name used by the local Native American tribe and for a nearby river. The Warrosquoake tribe was part of the Powhatan Confederacy, a group of about 30 tribes that lived in the coastal areas of Virginia.

Edward Bennett worked with his brothers, Robert and Richard Bennett, and his nephew, Richard Bennett, to settle the land. Other partners included Thomas Ayres, Thomas Wiseman, and Richard Wiseman. The first settlers recruited by Bennett arrived on a ship called the Sea Flower in February 1622. There were 120 settlers, led by Captain Ralph Hamor. George Harrison and Rev. William Bennett, who was a relative of Edward Bennett, were also in the group.

The Great Indian Massacre

The Native American tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy were not happy about the English colonists taking their land and hunting grounds. Tensions grew between them. In March 1622, the tribes attacked the English settlements. This event is known as the Indian massacre of 1622. They hoped to force the colonists to leave their territory.

Bennett's plantation suffered greatly in the attack. Fifty-three settlers there were killed. This was a large number out of the 347 people killed across all the plantations along the James River that day. Edward's brother survived the attack. The settlement was left empty for a short time as the colonists moved to safer areas closer to Jamestown. After the attack, many of the 80 plantations in Virginia were abandoned. The remaining settlers gathered in eight plantations near Jamestown for safety.

In the fall of 1622, Governor George Yeardley led an expedition that drove the Warrosquoyacke and Nansemond peoples away from their villages near Jamestown. After this, some settlers returned to the south side of the James River.

Continuing Settlement

A fort was built near Bennett's plantation. Because most English settlements in Warrosquoyake were destroyed in the 1622 attack, new settlement in the area is usually counted from after that time. A count of settlers in 1623 showed 33 people, including 4 enslaved Africans, at Bennett's plantation. Another 20 people were at Basse's Choice, another nearby settlement. A year later, there were 31 settlers in the Warrosquoyacke region.

Edward Bennett's brother, Robert, died in 1624. His other brother, Richard, came from England to manage the plantation, which was sometimes called "Bennett's Welcome." Richard also died in 1626, after only a short time in the colony. Life in the colony was very difficult, and many people died.

In 1627, Edward Bennett lost one of his ships to pirates. Because of this, he was given special permission by the Duke of Buckingham to capture pirates and enemy ships. It is thought he might have been part of an expedition that year to help French Protestants who were under attack.

Edward Bennett himself traveled to Virginia to oversee his plantation. While he was there, he represented his plantation in the House of Burgesses in 1628. This was an early form of government in the colony. After this, he returned to England. His nephew, Richard Bennett, then came from England to help develop the plantation and the colony. The next year, the "County of Warascoyack" was represented by Richard Bennett and other Puritans. This showed how strong the Puritan presence was in Virginia, even though the colony was mostly Anglican (Church of England). Richard Bennett began to buy his own land and eventually owned thousands of acres in both Virginia and Maryland.

Later Years

Around 1628, Edward's nephew, Richard Bennett (son of Thomas), went to Virginia to take over managing "Bennett's Welcome." Over the next ten years, Richard Bennett gained more than 2,000 acres of his own land. He also gathered more than 7,000 acres in Virginia and Maryland.

Edward Bennett died sometime before June 3, 1651, in his hometown of Wiveliscombe, England.

His nephew, Richard Bennett, later became the Governor of Virginia. He served for three years, from 1652 to 1655, during the time when England was a republic under Oliver Cromwell. Richard Bennett continued to be active in the government of Virginia even after the king returned to power. He moved the Puritan settlement to Nansemond, where he died in 1676. Before he died, Richard became a Quaker, another Protestant group, and left money to several important Quakers in his will.