I feel that we now have enough circumstantial evidence to defend the theory that we American Blackards are all descendants of a John Blackard who came to Virginia in 1649 aboard an immigrant ship called "The Perfect." The place where he arrived, south of the James River, was part of Charles City County then, but is now called Prince George (PG) County, Virginia.
There are no surviving records in Virginia to verify this proposed migration of the Blackard family from Prince George County Virginia to Granville/Bute County North Carolina between 1650 and 1750.. The necessary records were all destroyed in the Civil War and courthouse fires. However, comparing the appearance of the Blackard family with the known migration of several other families offers considerable circumstantial evidence for establishing the veracity of this theory. But that is all that we are likely to ever have, I'm afraid. On the other hand, there are literally dozens of family parallels and historical trails that indirectly connect immigrant John Blackard to our ancestor Charles Blackard who was first recorded in North Carolina in 1755.
There are some theories that the name Blackard was derived from various other surnames. However, I believe that we have been Blackards for at least 500 years. However, the spelling of the name was badly distorted in colonial records of Virginia and may have even been spelled Black, Blancherd, Blacker and Blackbond at various times among numerous other phonetic, sound-alike misspellings. It was clear that our ancestors were not literate and recordkeepers spelled our name any way they wanted to and simply remembered whom they were referring to.
It may be very significant that 16th century parish priests in 12 separate churches for over 100 years around Grimsby/Clee, Lincolnshire were more consistent in the spelling of our name than anyone in America prior to the 19th century. I think the clergy there may have actually invented our surname and agreed on a spelling for some unfamiliar-sounding name, like the Bleeker of folk legend who was said to have founded the fishing village of Grimsby. Therefore, I think that Lincolnshire was our family home at least back to the early 16th century.
The Blackard name appears to occur often near the name Willoughby. Francis Willoughby was Earl of Lindsey, the community where these Blackards lived. The name Blackard was also recorded across the country, near the port of Bristol, Somerset and a Willoughby from Lincolnshire relocated there in 1440 where he was married. Later when the Francis Willoughby line relocated to the West Indies, they filed land deeds in Bristol, Somerset instead of their Lincolnshire home for some reason. A Francis Blackard in the West Indies witnessed the christening of a great-niece of Francis Willoughby, possibly another indication of this family connection. Besides Francis Blackard, another of our family, Willoughby Blackard, appears to have been named after this influential Lincolnshire family.
I think that immigrant John Blackard was born in Lincolnshire, England where a group of Blackards had been living up to the time of his immigration. The presence of the Blackard family in Lincolnshire back to 1540 has been proven by the family research firm, BritFinders, using microfilm of the original church records at the Lincolnshire Archives. These records are the original church parish documents and not the bishops transcripts which have been transcribed in such sources as the I.G.I. Therefore, there is no question of transcription error.
At the same time that John Blackard arrived on the James River in Virginia other Blackards appear to have arrived on the island of Barbados and in Maryland, but our line appears to go back to John Blackard. Other Blackards moved north into Yorkshire and Lancashire, however, the Blackard family disappeared from Lincolnshire forever.
Circumstantial evidence also suggests that John Blackard may have been a Royalist soldier who had supported King Charles I in the Second English Civil War (1642-1649). The war started on the Lincolnshire border only about 35 miles from where the Blackards lived in the twin fishing villages of Grimsby/Clees(thorpe).
There were 2 major battles shortly before John Blackard's arrival in Virginia.
After this time Cromwell sold 900-1000 captured soldiers as indentured servants in the Americas. Some of these were sent to the James River in Virginia and others to Maryland and Barbados.
According to various family researchers, other immigrants arrived this same year too. John Holland of Lincolnshire settled in Virginia in 1649. Richard Radley of Lincolnshire settled in Virginia in 1649. William Stanley immigrated to Virginia in 1649. Captain John Norwood, immigrant to Maryland, of the Wykeham line in Lincolnshire, arrived first in Virginia. John Trousdale left Lincolnshire at this time and resettled in northern Ireland. Francis Willoughby was exiled from Lincolnshire to Barbabos and become governor there.
After the war, there seems to have been a diaspora and the Blackard family appears almost simultaneously in Yorkshire, Lancashire,Virginia, Maryland and Barbados. A Thomas Blackard from Lincolnshire filed his will in Lancashire after the war. In 1688 Elizabeth Blackard was transported from Liverpool, Lancashire to Maryland. Yorkshire is directly across the Humber River from Lincolnshire and the deepwater port of Hull was on the Yorkshire side of the Humber. I have found dozens of references in the Virginia Gazette in the 18th century documenting the regular arrival of trade ships from Hull to the James River.
I think that it was no coincidence that after the war, Blackards disappear from Lincolnshire and appear simultaneously in shires where two of the final wars of the Second Civil War were fought. And we know from his will that Thomas Blackard migrated in this direction from Lincolnshire. This evidence and the time of arrival could be an indication that our purposed ancestor John Blackard, was a Royalist soldier who was captured by Cromwell either at Preston or Pontefract Castle and sold to ships captains Sparrow & Tye as an indentured servant.
"By" is Danish suffix that means "place" and so "Willoughby" meant place of the willows. The descendants of Richard Bertie were called the Lords of Willoughby, however, they used Willoughby as a surname instead of Bertie when they came to America. Bertie County, North Carolina was named for their family as Francis Willoughby was instrumental in the settling of North Carolina and his letter to the king promoting colonization is in the NC State Archives.
Francis, Lord Willoughby (later called just Francis Willoughby) of Lincolnshire, was earl of the district where the Blackards had lived. He was also a ship's captain and a cavalry commander and lead the attack on Dublin, Ireland. At the end of the Civil War he was exiled to the island of Barbados in 1650 because he changed sides and began to oppose Oliver Cromwell and support King Charles I. He became the first governor of Barbados and later a Francis Blackard witnessed the christening of a the daughter of John Willoughby (probably a nephew of Francis Willoughby) in Barbados in 1722. Earlier in 1688 Bridget Blackhead [sic] was married in Barbados. The democratic-minded people of Lincolnshire openly opposed Cromwell. Therefore, a Royalist allegiance may explain the disappearance of the Blackards from Lincolnshire at the end of the war.
Another Royalist soldier named John Trousdale left Lincolnshire, England for Ireland at this same time too. His descendants passed down a recollection of being associated with the emigration of the Blackard family (actually claiming Trousdale and Blackard were on the same ship to America).
The neighborhood where John Blackard appeared on the James River was known for its Royalist leanings, a fact known by Cromwell. The year that Blackard arrived, 1649, is significant. The upper James River in Virginia was the destination of many Royalist soldiers fleeing England to avoid execution by Cromwell after the 1649 beheading of King Charles at the conclusion of the English Civil War. One neighbor, David Peebles, was said to have been condemned to be beheaded before he escaped to Virginia. Cromwell once sent a gun boat up the James River as a warning to these ex-Royalists to behave.
However, the very sons of some of these independent-minded folk later started Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia and John Willoughby played a roll in Culpepper's Rebellion in the early years of the colonization of North Carolina.
John Blackard was first recorded in America on a 1650 Charles City land patent that was issued to two ship's captains named Charles Sparrow and Richard Tye in what became Prince George County, Virginia. This means that our John Blackard was an indentured servant and had to work for Sparrow and Tye for a period of 4-7 years in exchange for his transportation to America. These headrights patents were given by the crown for transporting people to America and usually took about 6 months to process - though there was a 7 year waiting period to receive the actual land grant. The Sparrow and Tye land land was located near Powell's Creek and the town own Merchants Hope which was near the old Weynoake Indian village. The was about 12-15 miles east of the town of Hopewell.
We have no further record of John Blackard because of the near-total loss of colonial Prince George records. However; one-hundred years later, the great grandchildren of two men from the 1650 Merchant's Hope community appear in Granville/Bute North Carolina near Charles Blackard, whom we now think was a common ancestor of all of us American Blackards. Many other people from that community arrived in Granville/Bute NC but two are tied to directly to immigrant John Blackard.
A Royalist soldier named David Peebles also arrived in 1649 and patented land on Powell's Creek (1650 patent dated the same month as Sparrow & Tye's). His son William Peebles later purchased land adjoining that of Charles Sparrow. His great grandson Nathan Peebles was born in Bute County NC in 1769, where Willoughby Blackard, son of Charles Blackard, was living when he enlisted in the army in 1776.
Another immigrant named Thomas Chappell was recorded on the same 1650 land patent as John Blackard. His great great grandson, also named Thomas Chappell was born in Granville County, NC in 1761, just three years after Willoughby Blackard was born there. That part of Granville became Bute County in 1762.
I believe that the births of these three boys: Willoughby Blackard (1758), Thomas Chappell (1761) and Nathan Peebles (1769) in close-proximity on Fishing Creek in North Carolina indicates that all 3 families had common origins back in Prince George County, Virginia and probably knew each other well. There are more families that appear to have migrated in the same direction to support this claim.
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Charles Blackard first appears in North Carolina in 1755 working as a chain carrier on a land survey for a wealthy Welsh landowner named Samuel Williams, another family with Barbados connections. The surveyor was John Haywood from Barbados, where many of the early North Carolinians originated. The Williams family settled Welchman's Gulch in Barbados but no direct link to Samuel Williams is known as of yet.
Near Charles on Fishing Creek in 1755 was Isaac Hudson who was another descendent of a Prince George family. The Blackards and Hudsons were found near each other for the next 75 years in 3 states as they migrated west along the same route.
Some Charles City(CC) / Prince George(PG), Virginia families who migrated to Edgecombe/Granville/Bute North Carolina:
- Hal Hudson patented land in PG in 1722. Hal sold land in Amelia "whereon Isaac Hudson late did dwell." Isaac Hudson first appears in NC in 1756 on Fishing Creek near Charles Blackard.
- Nathaniel Peebles born in Bute NC in 1769. Descendent of 1650 Merchants Hope, PG residents David & William Peebles.
- John Lett recorded in PG in 1714 and in 1755/6 on Edgecombe NC land survey with Charles Blackard. Blackard witnessed his 1762 Granville will.
- Thomas Chappell on 1650 headrights patent with John Blackard. Samuel Chappell left PG and 1749 was present in Surry County VA. Sons John and Robert Chappell moved from Sussex County between 1762 and 1770 to Mecklenberg County, Virginia and then on to Granville, NC. Thomas Chappell b. 1761 in Granville.
- Charles Bartholomew was recorded on 1704 PG Rent Rolls. Descendent Charles Bartholomew recorded in Bute NC near Charles Blackard.
- Colo. Willliam Eaton was born in PG and moved to Dinwiddie and then Granville NC before 1754. He organized the first Granville militia in 1754.
- Lewis Bobbitt, Sr b. 1703 in PG moved to Granville NC in 1753 and died there in 1796.
- Bristol Parish, PG Register in 1742 lists Richard Aycock whose son Richard Aycock moved to Granville NC in 1754. Blackard recorded near Aycock.
- John Pettypool born in PG moved to Granville NC.
- Israel Roberson, son of Nicholas Roberson of Bristol Parish PG moved to Edge NC and then to Granville NC by 1754. Ancestor was founder of the first Baptist church in Virginia.
- Edward Gibson, b. c1697, signed his father's 1721 PG deed while residing in NC. He and father were taxed in 1721 in Chowan Co. NC district. He witnessed 1732 Edgecombe NC deed.
- In 1732 Edward Broadway patented land in PG adj. Seth Pettypool. In sold the land in 1737 and moved to Edge. Co. NC
- George Woodlief sold his property in PG in1722 and died in Edge. NC in 1741.
- William Gent appeared in records of Edge. NC in 1744 when he sold his land in Brunswick Co VA. Appeared in the Orphans Court of Henrico Co., VA (adjoins Charles City Co.) in 1691 at the age of 8 (born 1682).
- John Ledbetter (b. c1698 in Bristol Parish, PG and lived there until at least 1744. He moved to Granville County, NC about 1745.
- Edward Colwell of PG patented over 2740 acres on Couches Creek which he sold and moved to Edge. NC in 1752.
- Richard Abernathy III b.1720 CC/PG; named on 1756 Granville deed.
- After selling his CC land to Benjamin Harrison in 1729, Richard Bradford III moved to Caroline County, Virginia, Richard's 1756 will was probated in Granville NC.
- John Hawkins of PG, came to Bute County sometime in the 1760s. Charles Blackard lived on land owned by a Hawkins in 1768.
- Thomas Lanier was born in PG in. 1722 and died 1805 in Granville NC.
- Richard Flewellen in Prince George Co, VA. Son: John moved to Edgecombe CO, NC, and then to Johnston CO, NC.
- Richard Carlisle died in Prince George County, Va. in 1739. Son John died in Edgecombe, leaving a will.
Historians claim that many of the descendants of participants in Bacon's Rebellion ended up on Fishing Creek in North Carolina where we first find Charles Blackard in 1755 and possibly a John Blackard as early as 1748. A Francis Blackard was recorded in Barbados in 1702-1723. Some of the participants in Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia were sent to the West Indies as punishment, so this may explain the presence of Francis Blackard there. These two facts may indicate that some member of the Blackard family was associated with Bacon's Rebellion or allied with those families. In fact, this Francis Blackard was the right age to have been a grandson of immigrant John Blackard.
Church attendance was mandatory at that time. The Merchants Hope Church that John Blackard must have attended was a famous meeting place for the planners of Bacon's Rebellion. It has been observed that many of the grandchildren of the participants of Bacon's Rebellion later appear on Fishing Creek in North Carolina on the Granville-Edgecombe County line.
| Merchants Hope Church also played a part in Bacon's Rebellion. In 1676 at Jordan Point, Bacon and many outraged settlers protested against edicts of the royal governors and demanded home rule. They met at Merchants Hope Church where they signed petitions to Governor Berkeley demanding help against Indian attacks. Berkeley dismissed their petitions leaving Bacon and 211 volunteers to take matters into their own hands. link |
One genealogical researcher wrote the following:
| "It is interesting to note that many of the grandchildren and great grandchildren of Nathaniel Bacon's followers settled around the Fishing Creek region and regions to the west. Governor Tryon of North Carolina found this group to be of a rebellious nature in the 1770s as well. This might explain why there were "no Tories [supporters of the king] in Bute County," as one author put it." link |
We find only one name in the 1704/1705 Virginia Rent Rolls that could potentially be a Blackard.
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1704 Virgnia Rent Roll - James City County Henry Blankitt |
No names that could have been misspelling of Blackard were recorded in Prince George or Charles City in the rent rolls. This absence has also been noted by several families whose ancestors were known to have been involved in Bacon's Rebellion. Their conclusion was that these ancestors had no taxable land in 1704 as a result of their land being seized in punishment for their participation in Bacon's Rebellion.
