Robert Beheathland (1587 – 1628)
born in Cornwall England
The first to the New World
In 1606 Robert Beheathland was a teenager, the fourth son of
“gentleman” Richard Beheathland in Cornwall, England. There was little hope in securing
any real inheritance from his father. Traditionally, at that time, the first son
got the estate, the second son was to go into the law, and the third son was expected
to enter the clergy. A solution came when
his father invested in The Virginia Company. The company was formed to send ships to Virginia
with Colonists to explore and populate a new city in the new land. Robert would sail with Captain Christopher Newport
on the Susan B Constant to the new continent.
The ship’s manifest shows seventy-one passengers on the Constant
and lists them by position or occupation. Robert was listed as a “gentleman” as was Captain
John Smith. During the voyage, some kind of altercation resulted in Captain Smith
being charged by Captain Newport and isolated, or imprisoned, on the Ship. Robert,
being a gentleman, became Smith’s contact with the rest of the crew and Captain
Newport. Charges against Smith were eventually
dropped when after landing in Jamestown it was discovered that Smith was expected
to be the Leader of the Colony.
The effect of the difficult voyage was to cement a relationship
between Smith and Robert such that Robert accompanied Smith on many of his short
voyages up Chesapeake Bay and the James River. He was in Smith’s company, mapping the areas and
being present during good and bad meetings with the local Indian tribes. According to Smith’s diary when the band of explorers was held by an Indian Chieftain,
Robert was assigned to guard the door when Captain Smith grabbed the Powhatan king
and used him as a hostage to secure their release.
Robert Beheathland remained at Jamestown through the First Resupply
in 1608, and the great starving time. He apparently returned to England around 1615
to settle his father’s estate and signed a petition to the King in 1620 requesting
a permanent governor for Virginia. He then returned to Jamestown to his wife, Mary
Nicholson, and their children. There were at least 2 children: Dorothy (perhaps
born in England) and Mary born in 1615 in Jamestown.
Robert was an “Ancient Planter” and was entitled to land in
the Colony. Some records indicate that he may have left Jamestown to live in Elizabeth
City. His wife Mary Nicholson Beheathland was granted land there in 1628 after Robert’s
death. He is the only original Jamestown settler known to be survived by descendants
living today.
Robert Beheathland’s daughter Mary was born in 1615 in Jamestown.
When she married Thomas Bernard in 1631 the use of the Beheathland
surname ended. Thomas Bernard owned or patented more than 1000 acres of land along
the Warwick River and throughout what is now Warwick County. He was a Burgess for Warwick County from 1640 to
1646 and was the county sheriff as well. Their daughter was Beheathland Bernard, thus keeping
the Beheathland name in play for a few more generations. So, when she married Andrew
Gilson in1664 they had a daughter named Beheathland Gilson. This ended the use of
Beheathland as a name at least in this line of our ancestry.
Andrew Gilson was a Major and served as the Lancaster and Stafford
County Justice and Sheriff. Major Gilson’s daughter, Beheathland, married Nehemiah
Stork. They had a daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth
Stork married Captain Thomas Newton from Westmorland County. Their son Willoughby married Sarah, the daughter
of George Eskridge, joining two prominent early Virginia settlers.
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History of a Gentleman |
Jamestown Society Bio |
