Person:Margaret Spiller (1)

Identity and Evidence

Apparently, a Margaret Spiller married an Edward Gwatkins (evidence unknown and possibly no more than speculation). There is a reference to Margaret (Spiller) Gwatkins, wife of Edward Gwatkins, in a blog that discusses the identity of Mary Maysey, who, with her husband John, received a deed of gift from her grandfather William Spiller in 1748.^[1] The blog hypothesizes that Mary Maysey was the daughter of Margaret (Spiller) and Edward Gwatkins because Edward witnessed the deed. If so, then Margaret was born by about 1715, but probably earlier (to have a married daughter by 1748). This would also mean that there was an Edward Gwatkins who was older than the known Edward Gwatkins, who was born about 1722 and apparently still married to his first wife Mary in 1749.

An alternative explanation is that Mary Maysey was the sister of the known Edward Gwatkins, whose mother's name is apparently unknown. That would put Edward and Mary's mother as an unknown daughter of William Spiller (who could have been born between 1700 and 1705, fitting nicely into this family). It is possible that Edward's second wife Margaret (mentioned as testifying on behalf of William Spiller in 1761^[2]) was not a Spiller at all.

1. ↑ William Spiller, Stafford and Prince William Counties, Virginia, died 1754, in Wordpress.com.
2. ↑ Dorman, John Frederick, ed. The Virginia Genealogist. (Washington, District of Columbia: Dorman, John Frederick)
   23:131.
3. ↑ Birth year estimated to fit between her brothers, and on the possibility that she was the mother of Edward Gwatkins (born 1722).
4. ↑ See notes - her name might not have been Margaret.