This also had been copied into the Virginia records and attested by
Awborne.
In the present discussion this last paper is valuable as proving that
the writer of the letter to Berkeley was certainly Governor Lovelace of
New York.
The chain of evidence which appears to contradict the commonly accepted
statement in regard to Governor Lovelace’s family begins with the
pedigree of a family of Gorsuch in the Visitation of London, 1633–4.
(Harleian Society, p. 327.) In this pedigree it is stated that John
Gorsuch, rector of Walkhome, Hertfordshire, 1633, married Anne, daughter
of Sir William Lovelace, of Kent, Knight, and had the following children
at the time of the visitation: 1. Daniel “about 4a^o 1633”; 2. John; 3.
William; 4. Cathrin.
On April 1st, 1657, Richard, Robert and Charles Gorsuch, sons and
co-heirs of John Gorsuch, “P’fessor in Divinity,” petitioned the Court
of Lancaster County, Va., that their sister Katherine Whitby might be
their guardian for “such estate as doth in any ways belong to them in
England,” and that Francis Moryson [afterwards governor of Virginia] be
their guardian for Virginia. Shortly afterwards all of these boys
removed to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The records of that colony not
only make notice of them, but also show that they had another brother
Lovelace Gorsuch, and a sister Anne, who married Thomas Todd, of
Mockjack (now Mobjack) Bay, Gloucester County, Va.
The Quaker records of West River, Maryland, contain the records of the
marriage, in 1690, of Charles Gorsuch, “son of John and Anne Gorsuch, of
the Kingdom of England, deceased,” and Anne Hawkins. In 1669, Charles
and Lovelace Gorsuch confirmed title to certain land which had been
granted to Lovelace Gorsuch in 1661. On Jan. 13, 1676–7, Mrs. Anne Todd
made a deed to her children and appointed her brother, Chas. Gorsuch,
trustee. It seems certain that that John Gorsuch, the “P’fessor in
Divinity,” was identical with Rev. John Gorsuch of Walkhome, who married
Anne, daughter of Sir William Lovelace, of Kent, and that one of his
daughters, Ruth, married William Whitby, of Virginia, while another,
Anne, married Thomas Todd, of the same colony. This explains at once why
Thomas Todd was appointed, as stated by Governor Lovelace, guardian to
William Whitby, Jr. Young Whitby was the nephew of Todd’s wife.
When these facts are made clear the rest of the identification of
Governor Lovelace seems easy. Sir William Lovelace, of Kent, the father
of Mrs. Anne Gorsuch, was also the father of Richard Lovelace, the poet.
The other sons of Sir William were “Col. Francis” (of “Lucasta”), Thomas
and Dudley. The Dictionary of National Biography only knows of Col.
Francis Lovelace, that he served the Royalist Cause in Wales and
commanded Caermarthen from June, 1664, until it was captured by
Langhorne in October, 1645. From Governor Lovelace’s friendship with
Berkeley it seems very probable that it was indeed he (and not the son
of Lord Lovelace as stated in the D. N. B.) who received license from
the Council in 1650 to go to Virginia, and who in May, 1652, was sent by
Berkeley to inform Charles II. of the surrender of Virginia to the
Parliamentary forces.
Francis Lovelace and the members of the Gorsuch family evidently came in
the large royalist emigration to Virginia during the Civil War.
In conclusion it may be worth while to trace Governor Lovelace’s kinsman
and protégé, William Whitby.
William Whitby, the elder, the husband of Ruth Gorsuch, lived in Warwick
County, Va., and was Speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1653. He
received two considerable grants of land, one in Warwick, where he
lived, and another on Potomac Creek.
The son resided in Middlesex County, Va., and appears to have led an
uneventful life, and to have died unmarried. His will, as that of
“William Whitby, of Pyanketank River in the County of Middlesex,
planter,” was dated July, 1676, and proved July 23, 1677. He gave “to
Major Robert Beverley £100, Mrs. Mary Kibble [Keeble] £100, and my
brother, Joseph Summers £200, all out of a rent due me out of Kent in
England”; John Cocking to have 700 acres, and John Wright 500, both on
Moratico Creek; his land on Potomac Creek to be divided equally between
his brother, Joseph Summers, and Mrs. Mary Kibble, and also makes a
bequest to Thomas Todd. Summers and Beverly, executors.
The following chart shows the relationship which would seem from the
records cited to be correct:
Sir Wm. Lovelace=
of Kent |
+----------+-----------+----+------+----------------+
| | | | |
Rev. John Gorsuch=Anne Francis Richard Thomas Dudley
| Governor of the served in N. Y. served in N. Y.
| New York Poet under Gov. under Gov.
| Lovelace Lovelace
|
--+-------+------+---------+----------+------------+---------+--------+--------+----
| | | | | | | | |
Daniel John William Katherine Ruth Anne Richard Charles Robert
m. m. m. Lovelace
—Whitby Wm. Whitby Thos. Todd
of Va. of Va.