John Burrows, born in December 1594, Norfolk, England, immigrated in 1608 to Jamestown, Virginia, in British Colonial America was he was about 17 years old. In 1624 he had a plantation of 150 acres near the James River which he named Burrows Mount or Burrows Hill. He married Bridget, who some say was the daughter of Rev. Bucke, minister to the Jamestown area. This version of the story states that Bridget emigrated with her parents from England to Virginia. Others say she was the widow of Bucke; some say she was neither. Many family trees on various online family genealogy sites say her maiden name was Bucke, Bromfield or Langley. After researching Bridget, I found the following:
There are conflicting records:
-A Bridget Bromefield was christened on 30 September 1592 in Lincolnshire, England; her father is listed as John
Bromefield
-A Bridget Buck was christened on 18 November 1608, Kent, England; her father was listed as Richard Buck.
Find A Grave has a Bridget Langley Bromfield, wife of John Burrows, born on 18 November 1608 in Kent,
England, dying in 1654, Jamestown (they've been wrong before)
There are conflicting passenger list index entries:
-A John Burrows arrived in Virginia in 1608
-A Bridget Burrows arrived in Virginia in 1624-1625 with husband John Burrows
-A Richard Buck arrived in Jamestown in 1610
Conflicting narratives:
-The Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography plainly states that Bridget was the widow of Rev. Buck
-The Virginia Genealogy Society cites some contemporaneous records and states that John Burrows arrived in Virginia in 1608 and by 1624 was married to Bridget, who was not [itialics mine] the daughter or widow of Rev. Richard Bucke, but someone unrelated to him "by blood or by marriage" (no Bridget is listed in the Virginia Bucke family records they found), but she was possibly related to someone acting as a guardian for one of the Bucke children. They state that Bridget's maiden name is unknown. They go on to state that after John Burrow was murdered on 1 January 1628, Bridget married William Davis sometime after 1642; when Davis died, Bridget married a man named Bromfield.
What can we conclude from these "facts"?
-The Bridget Bromefield born in Lincolnshire, England, is not our Bridget, the wife of our John Burrows
-The John and Bridget Burrows who immigrated in 1624-1625 are not our John and Bridget (this could have been a
transcription error)
-Bridget may or may not have been related to Rev. Richard Buck
-There is no other record of Bridget's maiden name
-That a woman named Bridget, born in England, immigrated to Colonial Virginia, and was married to a John
Burrows. The name Bromfield is not her maiden name, but was the name of her 3rd husband.
Beyond that, we'll probably never know. While England kept written records of birth, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials beginning in 1538, Colonial Virginia was not as diligent.
*If you see any errors here, I want to know so please message me. I don't pretend to be an authority on this subject, but due to the general confusion, wanted to share my findings.
Sources:
Southside Virginia Families, Vol. I, p. 109: John Burrows
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: John Burrow
Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and Other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current: John Burrows
U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s: John Burrows
Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890: John Burrows
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: Bridget Bromefield
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: Bridget Bucke
Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and Other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current: Bridget Langley Bromfield
U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s: Bridget Burrows
U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s: Richard Bucke
Virginia Genealogy Society Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 261-270
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