Person:John Bristow (8)

Sixty years of research by many persons have failed to disclose the exact date and place of birth for John Bristow........ The close association of middlesex County, Virginia with London, England,favors a tie with the Bristow family living in Surry and Sussex Counties,or to the cadet members of these families living as tradesmen andmerchants in London. There were also Bristows living during the 1600s inthe West of England (vicinity of Bristol) in the Midlands, Yorkshire andin Ulster.

The Bristers of Southeast England claim male line descent from StephenFitz Hamon whose heirs settled in the Weald of Surry at Burstow(pre-Norman locale meaning Battle-Bur Place=Stow) and in time adopted thesurname deBurstow, deBristowe, Bristow(e).

Through sucessive generations , heirs are reported in Pipe Rolls, ParishRecords, and other ancient documents as remaining in this area of England south of London as Yeoman-sometimes as Knights of the Shire-throughfuedal into modern times. As more of these ancient records aretranscribed, the history of this family and its contributions andaccomplishments are uncovered. The Bristowe branch of the family is well documented and a descendent now living in Austrailia hears the Arms usually displaced by the Bristows and origonally granted 3 OCt 1544 by Henry VIII at Boulogne, Flanders-----signed by Andrew M Bristow 615 Hickory Ave, Belair, MD USA 21014. The above was sent to Jessie Lea Ritchie on Sept 28, 1972

The first recorded record of John is an entry in the Lancaster OrderBook, Lancaster County, Virignia dated Feb 10, 1663...."John Bristow svntto John Hughes coming into this country without indenture & appearing tothis Cort is ordered to serve seaven years from his arrival"

Note-John Bristow was an active communicant of the church of England(Protestant Episcopal in the United States after 1789). Christ Church as the mother church of Christ Church Parish. There was an Upper and Lower Chapel located as convenient places of worship for persons living some distance from the mother church. On January 29th, 1666, a general vestry meeting was held at which it was decided that the two parishes formerly called Lancaster and Peanckatanck would be undited as one and called Christ Church Parish. That a Mother Church would be built in about the midddle of the Parish. The first building appears to have been of clapboard contruction and was used until 1712, when a Vestry meeting ordered a new church to be built of brick by June 14, 1714. The presentCHrist Church occupies the same ground as the 1666 church.

Additional information says that John was found, as a youth, wandering in Virginia, and because he could offer no good reason for being there, he was indentured for a period of seven years. This seems to aggre with a previous story of John coming to Jamestown Cololny as a stowaway, and subsequently being indentured. He died 10 Oct 1716 in Middlesex County VA. His will was written 20 Feb 1716 and probated 6 Nov 1716 in Middlesex Co Va. He left a substantial estate in land and slaves, and had a reputation for service to his community and to his church.