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Col. READE George

Male 1608 - 1671  (63 years)


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  • Name READE George  [1
    Prefix Col. 
    Birth 25 Oct 1608  Linkenholt, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Immigration Jan 1637  [1
    Living In Abt 1655  Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Death 21 Nov 1671  Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Burial Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    • Here lyeth intered Coll George Read Esqr who was born ye 25th day October in ye yeare of our Lord 1608 and deceased October 1674 he being in the 66th yr of his age.
      http://www.gracechurchyorktown.com/home/home.asp

      "These Ledgers in Memory of Colonel George Read and his wife Elizabeth Martiau Read Discovered while excavating on Buckner Street, Yorktown Were restored and preserved by their descendant Letitia Pate Evans 1931 The graves of George Reade and his wife Elizabeth were discovered while excavating on Buckner Street in Yorktown. In 1931, descendant Letitia Pate Evans had the tablets restored and moved to the church yard of Grace Episcopal Church. The Reade tablets sit adjacent to the plots of Gov. Thomas Nelson (Declaration of Independence signer), his father, and grandfather (who married a George Reade descendant.)
      Yorktown, Va.

      Headstone Details
           Cemetery name
      Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery
           Name on headstone George Read and Elizabeth Martiau Read
           Birth
           Death
    Notes 
    • George was the original immigrant from England to Virginia

      VIII.
      16. Mildred Reade (See item 14), died December, 1694, was the daughter of George Reade, and Elizabeth Martieu, or Marthian. (See item 17).

      Colonel George Reade of Lincoln Holt Parish, Hants, England; came to Virginia in January 1637. He was then unmarried and lived with Governor Harvey at Jamestown for a year or two. Was Deputy-Secetary of the Colony in 1640-1642; member of the House of Burgesses 1644 and again in 1640, from James City, and voted for the act declaring that the excution of Charles I was treasonable and that his son Charles was the rightful air to the Crown. In 1652 he was also a Burgess and submitted to the English Commonwealth; was a member of the county Court from 1655 to 1657; member of a committee to revise the statutes in 1656-1657, and Councillor from 1657 to his death in 1671, and at all times supported Governor Berkeley's administration. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Martieu, before 1649. He moved to Martieu's home at Yourktown about 1655 and his wife afterwards having fallen heir to Martieu's homestead, he made that his home for the remainder of his life.
      George Read was the great-grandfather of George Washington and the Great-grandfather of General Thomas Nelson, and Mildred Wyndebank (was a daughter of Sir Thomas Wyndebank and Frances Dymoke and thourgh the latter Mr. Browning traces Georges Reade's lineage to thirtheen of the signers of Magna Charta 1215 and back to Alfred the Great. This Mildred Wyndebank furnishes the earliest appearance in this genealogy of Mr. Trumbull's mother's name, "Mildred", but we fine it many times since).
      Mildred Wyndebank's brother, Sir Francis Wyndebank, was appointed Secretary to King Charles in 1633 on the recommendation of Archbishop Laud and this position he held until the King left London in 1641, never to return, except as a prisoner and to death.
      When Governor John Harvey went to England in 1635 to answer charges preferred against him by the Virginians, after having been thrust out of the governorship, he met George Reade who was then visiting his brother, Robert Reade, who was Secretary to Secretary Wyndebank, his uncle. When Harvey returned to Virginia in 1637, Colonel George Reade came with him and stayed with him for a year at Jamestown.

      George Reade, a native of London, came to Virginia 1637 in Sir John Harvey's party. Harvey was returning to Virginia to assume the office of Governor of the Colony. Reade was appointed Secretary of State, pro tem of the colony in 1640 and served as Acting Governor in the absence of Governor Harvey. He was a member of the House of Burgesses and a member of the Colonial Council until his death. His will, no longer extant, is documented in a York County 18th century land transaction.

      York Co, VA Deeds & Bonds Book 5 pp 3 - 6
      This Indenture made the sixteenth day of May in the fortieth year of the Reign of our Sovernge Lord George the Second King of Great Britain and in the year of our Lord Christ one thousand seven hundred & forty one between James Mitchell of the Town & County of York and Janet his wife of the one part and Richard Ambler of the same Town & county aforesaid . Whereas George Reade late of the sd county of York Esq decd being siezed in fee of a certain tract or parcel of land lying & being in the said County of York containing by Estimation Eight hundred & fifty acres did by his last Will and Testament in writing bearing date the twenty ninth day of September in the Year of our Lord One thousand six hundred & Seventy devise the same by the name of all that Tract of Land wherein he lived to his wife during life and after her decease to be equally divided between his sons, George & Robert and the heirs of their bodies but and fault of such heirs in either or both of them or in case either or both of them should dye during their minority then he gave and devises his and their parts of the land aforesaid to his sons Francis and Benjamin and the heirs of their bodies with other remainders over as by the said Will duly proved in the General Court of this Colony being thereunto had may more at large appear and whereas the said George Reade one of the sons of the Testator dyed many years ago without issue and after his death the said Francis & Benjamin Reade intend into one ninety or half part of this premises to as afore devised and afterwards the said Robert Reade, Francis Reade & Benjamin Reade by Deed bearing date the twelfth day of November in the Year of our Lord one thousand and six hundred & eighty eight made partition of the premises aforesaid .........

      George Reade married Elizabeth Martiau, daughter of Nicolas Martiau (Father of Yorktown). Their daughter Mildred, wife of Col. Augustine Warner, was the g-grandmother of George Washington.

      George Read, the son of Robert Read of London and his wife Mildred Windebank, was one of the about one hundred colonists, who emigrated to the colonies from England and Wales before the end of the 17th century, known to have legitimate descent from a Plantagenet King of England.

      The illustrious ancestry of George Reade is documented nicely in Colonial Records during the period of 18 January 1638/9 - 11 December 1641. The file includes letters from the Colonial Governor, Secretary of State and George Reade to Sir Francis Windebank and/or Windebank's personal secretary Robert Reade (George Reade's brother.) The correspondence file is quite interesting, alluding to the politics behind George Reade's appointment as Secretary of State during Richard Kemp's sojourn in England. It also includes personal requests from George Reade to his brother for servants and money. Earlier correspondence puts a personal face on George Reade's life. "Sir John Harvey to Robert Reade, 17 Nov. 1637. Hopes to employ Reade's brother against the Indians. He is well and stays at the writer's house." "George Reade to Robert Reade, his brother, 26 Febr. 1637/8. Does not think much of Mr. Hawley. Thanks to the support of the Governor and Mr. Kemp, the writer has survived. Mr. Menephe has brought many servants. Mr. Hawley has promised the writer that the next lot of servants coming to Virginia would be for him but he does not believe it as Hawley is in Maryland."

      "Adventurers of Purse and Person 1607 - 1624/5 and Their Families" published by the Order of First Families of Virginia, indicates in a footnote (pp. 419-420) the discrepancy between the dates inscribed on his Grace Church tablets and the filing of the wills for George Read and his wife Elizabeth as follows: "His and his wife's gravestones were discovered during street excavations in Yorktown in 1931. The inscriptions on both were recut with errors. George Reade's stone now states he died Oct. 1674, "he being in the 66th yr of his age." Since the date should be 1671 (per his will), either the age shown, or his year of birth, is in error as well....The gravestone of Elizabeth (Martiau) Read now states she was born in 1625 and died in 1696, "being in ye 71st yeare of her age." Since the year of death should be 1686 (per her will), again the age or year of birth is in error. Since Nicholas Martiau claimed...his daughter Elizabeth as headrights...it would appear Elizabeth was born prior to his arrival in Virginia in 1620...and that Elizabeth's birth occurred in 1615 rather than 1625."

      The graves of George Reade and his wife Elizabeth were discovered while excavating on Buckner Street in Yorktown. In 1931, descendant Letitia Pate Evans had the tablets restored and moved to the church yard of Grace Episcopal Church. The Reade tablets sit adjacent to the plots of Gov. Thomas Nelson (Declaration of Independence signer), his father, and grandfather (who married a George Reade descendant.)

      Born in Linkenholt, England to Robert & Mildred (Windebank) Reade. He married Elizabeth Martiau in 1641 in York Co., Virginia. George was the Secretary of the Colony and Acting Governor of Virginia (1638-39); member of the Council of Virginia; member of the House of Burgesses from James City Co.,VA in 1649 and frequently thereafer. He became a member of the Governor's Council on 13 Mar 1657-58, which office he held until his death in 1671. Father of Mildred (Warner).
      Adventurers of Purse and Person 1607 - 1624/5 and Their Families" published by the Order of First Families of Virginia, indicates in a footnote (pp. 419-420) the discrepancy between the dates inscribed on his Grace Church tablets and the filing of the wills for George Read and his wife Elizabeth as follows: "His and his wife's gravestones were discovered during street excavations in Yorktown in 1931. The inscriptions on both were recut with errors. George Reade's stone now states he died Oct. 1674, "he being in the 66th yr of his age." Since the date should be 1671 (per his will), either the age shown, or his year of birth, is in error as well....The gravestone of Elizabeth (Martiau) Read now states she was born in 1625 and died in 1696, "being in ye 71st yeare of her age." Since the year of death should be 1686 (per her will), again the age or year of birth is in error. Since Nicholas Martiau claimed...his daughter Elizabeth as headrights...it would appear Elizabeth was born prior to his arrival in Virginia in 1620...and that Elizabeth's birth occurred in 1615 rather than 1625."


      Lionel, Duke of Clarence, married Lady Elizabeth de Brugh, and their only daughter, Lady Philippa Plantagenet, married Edward Mortimer, Earl of March; their daughter, Lady Elizabeth Mortimer, married Sir Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, first Earl of Northumberland, b. 1366; killed at the battle of Shrewsbury. His son, Henry Percy, second Earl of Northumberland, married Lady Eleanor Nevil, and was killed at the battle of St. Albans, 1455. His son, Henry Percy, third Earl of Northumberland, married Lady Eleanor Poynings. Their daughter, Lady Margaret Percy, married Sir William Gascoigne. Their daughter, Lady Elizabeth Gascoigne, married Sir George Telboise, who was descended from Ivo de Tailleboise, a Norman Knight, and follower of William the Conqueror. Their daughter, Lady Anne Telboise, married Sir Edmond Dymoke, "Hereditary Champion of England," and Master of Scrivelsby Court. His daughter, Frances Dymoke, Aug. 20, 1566, married Sir Thomas Windebank, "Clerk of the Signet, to the good Queen Bess." Their daughter, Mildred Windebank, married Robert Reade, Esq., of Yorkshire. Their son, George Reade, Hon., married Elizabeth Martain, daughter of Capt. Nicholas Martain; and their daughter, Mildred Reade, married Speaker, the Hon. Augustine Warner, of Warner's Hall, Gloucester Co., Va.

      The Hon. George Reade came to Virginia in 1637, settled in York Co.; one out of five or six other children of Andrew Reade, of Linkbout, Hampshire. Will proved, Oct. 24, 1623.     
          
      I. Andrew, mentioned in House of Lords calendar, as "Andrew Reade, D. D., of Lugershall Hall, Wiltshire."     
          
      II. William.     
          
      III. Dr. Thomas Reade, b. Linkenholt, 1606; admitted student, New College, Oxford, Dec. 10, 1624; Fellow, Jan. 15, 1626; LL. D., 1638; Principal Med. Hall, Oxford, 1643. In 1642, he volunteered in the King's army and saw some service in the decline of the royal cause. He went to France and became a Catholic priest. In 1659, he published a work in defense of Catholicity. He returned to England at the restoration of King Charles II, and died, 1669.     

      IV. Robert, private secretary to his uncle, Sir Francis Windebank; Secretary of State to Charles I. March, 1641, he went to Paris with Secretary Windebank, to escape prosecution by Parliament. He was living in 1669.     

      V. George((1)), who came to Virginia. There was a Benjamin Reade, probably of the same English family, who came to Virginia about the same time, and is supposed to have been a son of Robert Reade and Mildred Windebank, but his name is not included in any definite record of relationship I have seen.     

      Mildred Windebank was the daughter of Sir Thomas Windebank, of Harnes Hill, parish of Hurst, Berkshire (Clerk of the Signet to Queen Elizabeth and King James I), who married, Aug. 20, 1566, Frances, daughter of Sir Edmond Dymoke, Hereditary Champion of England.     

      George Reade came to Virginia in 1637. He was a friend and adherent of Governor Harvey, and Secretary Kemp, and when Kemp went to England, in 1640, George Reade was appointed Secretary of State, pro tem., and acted as governor, when Harvey was absent. He was burgess for James City County in 1649, and again in 1656; then probably for Gloucester Co. He was a member of the Council, appointed March 13, 1658, and reappointed, May 3, 1658, and held the office until his death, in 1671. On Nov. 20, 1671, the will of Col. George Reade was admitted to probate in the General Court.     
          
      George((1)) Reade married Elizabeth Martain, daughter of Captain Nicholas Martain, born in Belgium, and came to Virginia with her parents. Capt. Nicholas Martain represented Kent Island, York, and Chiskiack, in the House of Burgesses, in 1632. They had issue:     
          
      I. George((2)) Reade, to whom Sir William Berkeley, Governor, gave a bay mare, in 1665. This son died without issue.     
          
      II. Mildred((2)) Reade, married, about 1665, Colonel Augustine Warner, of Warner's Hall, Gloucester Co., Va.; Speaker of the House of Burgesses, in 1675, and member of the Council until his death, June 19, 1681.     
          
      III. Elizabeth((2)) Reade. Married Capt. Thomas Chisman.     

      IV. Robert((2)) Reade. Married Mary, daughter of John Lily.     

      V. Francis((2)) Reade. Married, first, Chisman; married, second, Ann -.     
          
      VI. Benjamin((2)) Reade. Married Mary Gwynn.     
          
      VII. Thomas((2)) Reade. Married Lucy, daughter of Edmund Gwynn.     

      Mildred((2)) Reade (George((1))) married Colonel and Speaker Augustine Warner, of Warner's Hall, Gloucester Co., and had six children:     

      A son, Augustine Warner, b. June 17, 1666; died, unmarried, March 17, 1687.     
          
      A son, George Warner, died young; unmarried.      [1]
    Person ID I12200  Booth Family
    Last Modified 17 Feb 2015 

    Father READE Robert,   b. 1551, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Dec 1636, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years) 
    Mother WINDEBANK Mildred,   b. 21 Jul 1585, Hiene Hill, Berkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1630, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years) 
    Family ID F1655  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family MARTIAU Elizabeth,   b. 12 Dec 1625, Elizabeth City, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Feb 1685, Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 59 years) 
    Marriage 1641  Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Children 
     1. READE Mildred,   b. 2 Oct 1643, Warner Hall, Gloucester, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Oct 1694, Warner Hall, Gloucester, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 51 years)
     2. READE Robert,   b. 1644, Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 30 Dec 1712, Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 68 years)
     3. READE Francis,   b. 1645, Gloucester County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1694, James City County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 49 years)
     4. READE Benjamin,   b. 1647, Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1731, Gloucester, Gloucester, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years)
     5. READE Thomas,   b. 1649, Ware Parrish, Gloucester, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1720, Gloucester, Gloucester, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 71 years)
     6. READE Elizabeth,   b. 1651, Gloucester, Gloucester, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 Nov 1717, Yorktown, VA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 66 years)
    Family ID F1639  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 17 Feb 2015 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1641 - Yorktown, VA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsLiving In - Abt 1655 - Yorktown, VA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 21 Nov 1671 - Yorktown, VA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Yorktown, VA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S148] LDS microfilm (Reliability: 3).