(Vol. iv., p. 58.)
For the information of your correspondent A TRANSATLANTIC READER, I beg
to inform him that Sir Edmund Plowden or Ployden was 2nd son of Francis
Plowden of Plowden, Salop, and Shiplake in Berks: a family which can
claim its descent from the Saxon kings of England; and by a Saxon
charter, granting lands in Salop to the family, that the family had
large estates in that remote period. The Saxon derivation of the name
(from the Saxon _Plean deen_, or kill the Dane) alone shows the great
antiquity of the family; and there are few, if any, families in England
who have retained their ancestral property so direct in the male line as
this family. It is also connected with some of the oldest and noblest
families in England--the Howards and Staffords are allied to this family
by intermarriages. In the reign of Richard I. Sir Roger de Plowden was a
crusader; and for his heroic conduct at the siege of Acre, was knighted,
and also permitted by the king to bear on his shield the royal arms, the
_fleur de lis_, which is retained to this day. In 9 Edward II., John de
Plowden was by parliamentary writ, signed at Clopstow 5th March, called
to parliament as one of the lords of the township of Plowden, Salop.
Edmund Plowden, the great lawyer in Edw. VI. and Elizabeth's reigns, who
was in those times called the oracle of the law, was enrolled among
Fuller's _Worthies of England_, with Camden's Latin verses on him: "Vitæ
integritati inter homines suæ professionis nulli secundus."
He was offered by Elizabeth, whose autograph letter was until recently
in the possession of the family, the Lord Chancellorship of England,
with a peerage, if he would give up his creed as Catholic and turn
Protestant; which he declined, preferring to abide by his moral
convictions of the truthfulness of what he deemed his faith to worldly
honour and aggrandisement. Sir Edmund died at Wanstead, county of
Southampton, in 1659; and in possession of large estates in eleven
parishes in England, besides his American province of New Albion. To
each of these parishes he leaves by his will of 1655 a sum of money to
be paid "eight days after his demise, and directs to be buried in the
chapel of the Plowdens at Lydbury, in Salop; a stone monument, with an
inscription in brass bearing the names of his children, and another with
his _correct pedigree_ as drawn out at his house in Wanstead." He
appears to have gone to America about the year 1620, and remained there,
in Virginia and New England, till about 1630. While there, his sister
Ann was married to Sir Arthur Lake, son of Sir Thomas Lake, then
Secretary of State to James I.; and through whose influence, we presume,
on his return to England he was introduced to the great Lord Strafford,
with whom it is believed he proceeded to Ireland; for in the Heralds'
Visitation of Salop, 1632, (_vide_ Sims' _H. Vist._, Brit. Mus.), he is
entered in the Plowden pedigree as being then in Ireland. By the
Strafford State Papers it appears that in this year he made petition to
Charles I. through Lord Strafford, then Lieut. and Capt.-General of
Ireland, for the colonising of New Albion:--
"Near the continent of Virginia, sixty leagues N. from James City,
without the Bay of Chesapeake, there is a habitable and fruitful
island, named Isle Plowden, otherwise Long Isle, with other small
isles between 30° and 40° of lat., about sixty leagues from the
main, near De la Warre Bay, where Your Majesty, nor any of your
Progenitors, were ever possessed of any estate, &c ... to enable
the petitioners, their heirs and assigns, for ever to enjoy the
said Isle, and forty leagues square of the adjoining continent, as
in the nature of a County Palatine or Body Politick, by the name
of New Albion, to be held of your Majesty's Crown of Ireland,
exempt from all appeal to the Governor of Virginia, and with such
other additions, privileges, and dignities therein, to be given to
Sir Edmund Plowden, like has been heretofore granted to Sir George
Calvert, Knight, late Lord Calvert, in Newfoundland, together with
the usual grants and privileges that other Colonies have for
governing, &c., and we agree to settle with 500 inhabitants."
The king's warrant was given at Oatlands 24th July, 1632, granting the
whole asked for, under the Great Seal of Ireland, signed by John Coke.
Between this period and 1634, Sir Edmund was engaged in fulfilling the
conditions of the warrant by carrying out the colonisation by
indentures, which were executed and enrolled in Dublin, and St. Mary's
in Maryland in America. In Dublin the parties were Viscount Musherry,
100 planters; Lord Monson, 100 planters; Sir Thomas Denby, 100 planters;
Captain Clayborne (of American notoriety) 50; Captain Balls; and
amounting in all to 540 colonisers, beside others in Maryland,
Virginia, and New England. The parties who joined in the petition were
Sir John Lawrence, Knight and Baronet, who died in America; Sir Bowyer
Worstley, Knight, and Charles Barrett, Esq.,--both died there in 1634;
George Noble, Gent., Thomas Ribread, Roger Packe, William Inwood, and
John Trustler. Having completed the conditions he was granted a charter,
bearing date Oatlands, 21st June, 1634; and enrolled in Dublin in 17
pages folio; and confirmed 24th July, 1634, in the eighth year of the
reign of Charles I., running thus:
"And according to the tenour and effect of certain of our letters,
signed with our proper hand, and sealed with our seal now enrolled
in the Rolls of our Chancery of the said Kingdom of Ireland, We
have given, granted, and confirmed, and by this our present
Charter, for Us, our heirs, and successors, do give, grant, and
confirm such the before said Sir Edmund Plowden, Knight, his heirs
and assigns, for ever, all that entire island near the continent
of Terra Firma of North Virginia, called the Island of Plowden, or
Long Island, and lying near and between the 39° and 40° of N.
lat.; together with part of the continent or Terra Firma aforesaid
near adjoining, described to begin from the point of an angle of a
certain promontory called Cape Cod, from thence to the westward
for the space of 40°, running by the river Delaware, closely
following its course by the N. lat. into a certain rivulet there
arising from a spring of Lord Baltimore in the lands of Maryland,
and the summit aforesaid to the south, where it touches, joins,
and determines in all its breadth, from thence takes its course
into a square leading to the north by a right line for the space
of 40° to the river and port of Reachu Cod, and descends to a
savannah, touching and including the top of Sand Bay, where it
determines, and from thence towards the south by a square,
stretching to a savannah which passes by and washes the shores of
the Plowden aforesaid to the point of the promontory of Cape May
above mentioned, and determines where it begins." And p. 4.
continues: "Therefore We, for Us, our heirs, and successors, do
give unto the aforesaid Sir Edmund Plowden, and his heirs and
assigns, free and full power graciously to confer favours and
honours upon the well-deserving citizens and inhabitants within
the _province aforesaid with whatever titles and dignities_ he
shall choose to decorate them with (in such a manner as they may
but now be usurped in England), and to cut and stamp different
pieces of gold such as shall be lawful, current, and acceptable to
all the inhabitants; and We command all, and enjoin other things
to be done in the premises which to him or them shall be seen to
be proper, in as free and ample a manner and form as by the
Society of Newfoundland and East Indies, Island of Bermuda, Bishop
of Durham within the Bishoprick or County Palatine of Durham; or
Lord Baltimore within his lands and premises of Maryland and
Glastonbury; or James Earl of Carlisle within the island of St.
Christopher and Barbadoes; or any other Governor or Founder of a
Colony."
In fact, the powers granted were never exceeded by any former charter of
the Crown: they were all but regal. Under this charter a lease, enrolled
in Dublin, was granted by Lord Plowden in 1634 to Sir Thomas Danby for
10,000 acres, and a release, dated 20th Dec. 1634, sealed and signed at
St. Mary's, Maryland, and witnessed by Vall Havord and Richard Benham,
by R. Packe for 200 acres; T. Ribread, 100; W. Inwood, 100; and John
Trustler, 100; segregating 500 acres in trust for the "Earl of Albion,
when they deliver up their claims or trusts in consideration for this
grant of land; and confirmed unto Lord Francis Plowden, son and heir of
Sir Edmund Plowden, Earl Palatine, and George and Thomas Plowden, two of
the sons of the said Sir Edmund, Earl Palatine." Sir Edmund Plowden
resided with his wife and family as Governor of New Albion six years;
his eldest son, Francis, and Lady Plowden, returned to England to look
after his father's estates in his absence: but Francis so abused the
confidence reposed in him, as to oblige the Governor to return to
England (leaving his sons George and Thomas as his _locum tenens_). On
his arrival he was incarcerated in the Fleet Prison on a base charge
emanating from his son, from which he was released by order of the
_Peers Committee_, House of Lords; and likewise involved in a lawsuit to
recover certain estates sold by his son, which cost him 15,000_l._
before he was clear. This unnatural and illegal conduct induced him to
disinherit his son Francis; for, in the 15th of Charles I., 1st June,
1646, Sir Edmund obtained license from the Crown to alienate from his
son the manors of Wanstead, Southwick, and many others in the county of
Southampton, as is enrolled in the Rolls Chapel. By his will, in the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury, London, Sir Wm. Mason was in trust for
Sir Edmund's second son and heir, Thomas Plowden; and also for the New
Albion colony. And the will proceeds:
"And I think it fit that my English lands and estates shall be
settled and united to my Honor, County Palatine, and Province of
New Albion, for the maintenance of the same; and again, that all
my lease lands in England be sold with all convenient speed by my
executors and overseers herein named, and with the money arising
therefrom to buy good freehold, to be settled and entailed as the
rest of my lands are settled on my second son Thomas Plowden, and
the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, or to be begotten;
also my County Palatine of New Albion, and Peerage as a Peer of
Ireland, as aforesaid, unto Thomas Plowden my son during his
natural life, and after his decease, to the heirs male of my son
Thomas, begotten or to be begotten; and again, I do enter and will
that my son Thomas Plowden, and, after his decease _his eldest
heir_ in male, and, if he be under age, then his guardian, with
all speed after my decease do employ by consent of Sir William
Mason of Gray's Inn, Knight, whom I make a trustee of this my
plantation of New Albion; and if my son Thomas shall by fail,
defence, loose, agree, give, or alien any part of my estates,
lands, or rents in England to Francis my son, or his issue, then
my son shall forfeit and lose to _his eldest_ son all lands and
estates and rents in England herein settled, entailed, or given
him, and to be forfeited during his life."
George either died, or was killed, in the massacres by the Indians; as
was also Francis, third son of Thomas, along with his wife and family,
as alluded to in his father's will, dated 1698.
These attacks on the infant colony were instigated by the Dutch and
Swedes of the New Netherlands, as they called New Albion, and who did
all they could to obstruct and thwart the Earl Palatine's plans, as is
alluded to in _The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain_: Speed and
Basset, 1676, dedicated to James I.; and recommended as a most authentic
work by Sir Richard St. George, Norroy King of Arms.
"Moreover these proceedings, upon complaint made to his late
Majesty, and by whom represented to the State of Holland, were
absolutely disowned by them, and wholly laid upon the East India
Company of Amsterdam. The most northerly part towards New England
was by his Majesty granted by patent to Sir Edmund Plowden, by the
name of New Albion. The most southerly towards Virginia to Sir
George Calvert, now Lord Baltimore, by the name of Maryland. The
Dutch, upon some consideration agreed on, were forthwith to have
quitted the place; yet, for all this, as the custom of this people
is never to let go any opportunity that serves their turn, whether
by right or wrong, they took advantage of the unhappy dissentions
and cruel wars that soon after happened within this nation: they
not only stood upon higher demands than was at first agreed on,
but also contrived to stir up the natives against the English,
that they might have the better opportunity of fixing themselves.
In this state things remained till his present Majesty, after his
restoration, resolved to send three ships of war."
Charles II. most tyrannically, privately, without sanction from
Parliament, and without even alluding to his father's charter to Sir
Edmund Plowden, gave a charter of the Province to his brother James, at
the same time creating him Duke of Albany. Before James was duly clothed
with the powers of Governor, he sold a large portion of it to Lord
Berkely for 65,000_l._ For years afterwards, the Duke of York's title
was disputed, and many disturbances arose, and Chancery suits, as
entered in the American chancery suits of that period. Lord Sutherland,
as the colonial officer, disputed the validity of the Duke's claim. A
greater act of injustice could hardly be perpetrated than this virtual
abrogation of the original charter, after so many years of labour had
been expended, charges incurred, loss of estates and relations, and the
other evils attending planting this colony which absence from England
gave rise to. Sir Edmund Plowden was not inferior to any of his
co-governors in ability, fortune, position, or family. Though he made a
greater sacrifice than any, he never received the slightest compensation
like the other early colonisers. We conclude that family dissentions
connected with the disinheritance of Francis Plowden, must have tended
to facilitate Charles II.'s illegal conduct; for, in Thomas Plowden's
Will, 1698, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, he alludes to his
son-in-law, Walter Hall, illegally and forcibly retaining papers
connected with the estates: Province of New Albion Charter, the Patent
for the Peerage of Ireland. The first cousin of the disinherited son was
a Col. Plowden of the Life Guards, who followed James II.'s fortunes,
and accompanied him on his leaving England, and died as his chamberlain
at St. Germains in France. These documents may have come into his hands,
and have been lost in France. It is quite clear that the only estate
which came to Thomas's eldest son James of Ewhurst was Lassam in
Southampton, and his son James also held it; he was married to Sarah
Chichely, daughter of Sir John Chichely, son of Sir Henry Chichely,
formerly Governor of Virginia, the lineal descendant of Thomas, Lord
Mayor of London, and brother of Archbishop Chichely, founder of All
Souls, Oxford. This family is now extinct in the male, but still exist
in the female line in the Plowden family, which is the nearest of kin of
any family, and consequently has a stronger claim to the Fellowships of
that college as founder's kin. There can be no question but that the
family have a legal claim against the government for the unjust
alienation of that province to James II.; but the loss of the charter,
and the ignorance of the family that it was enrolled in Ireland (now
found), prevented the heir and representative of Sir Edmund from
claiming compensation. Nothing but an act of parliament can nullify the
sacred rights of a charter; if it were not so, no public or private
right would be safe a day. As to his peerage, it was litigated at the
time, and decided in his favour; but the Commonwealth did not favour the
restoration of titles granted by Charles I., and on the Restoration, Sir
Edmund's papers were lost to those to whom they would have been useful.
Notwithstanding the sarcastic and bad spirit in which Beauchamp
Plantagenet's _New Albion_ of 1648 was reviewed by Mr. Pennington of
Philadelphia, I trust that the Americans will treat the early pioneer of
one of the best portions of America in a more liberal spirit, and do
justice to his memory. We have now no new worlds to discover; and the
present race of men can hardly appreciate the labours, dangers, and
hardships our first colonisers had to endure--but they however know the
value of their exertions. They have secured for America one of the
finest countries in the world, which may one day be an empire of vast
power. Its separation from the mother country was the greatest national
calamity that ever befell her. How fatal has it been to France; first
for abetting clandestinely the Americans against England, and at last
throwing away the mask, openly assisting her with her arms. Since then,
what calamities have befallen her, and may even yet befall her. Had we
then, as Macaulay says, had a Clive at the head of our armies, and a
Hastings in council, that separation might either have been deferred, or
we might have parted friendly, instead of in enmity. Had I time to glean
it, I have no doubt I could furnish much important matter connected with
New Albion, derived from sources within my reach.