Person:Francis Triplett (12)

Francis came from London, England about 1660. On October 10, 1664, he sold a parcel of land in Rappahannock Co., VA. A patent for one thousand and fifty acres of land in Rappahannock Co., was given to him, 21st January, 1666, in payment for transporting twenty-two persons from England to Virginia. On the 28th of September, 1668, Francis sold land in Rappahannock for six thousand pounds of tobacco, that being the medium of exchange at the time.

Francis Triplett and his wife, Abigail, signed a deed, 30th of April, 1669, selling a tract of land for thirty-five hundred pounds of tobacco. As Abigail had not been mentioned in the earlier land transactions, it would seem that they may have been married earlier that year. His will was proved 4th of March, 1701, in Richmond Co., VA.

He patented 1,050 acres of land in old Rappahannock Co. in 1666 (Virginia County Records, Vol. VI, pg. 194, by Crozier). He is mentioned in Deeds (see Virginia Magazine, Vol. XVII, pg. 144). His will is dated Nov. 20th, 1700, and was proved in Richmond Co., March 4, 1701. He mentions his children and grandchildren, disposes of the plantation on which he lived, containing 200 acres, another tract of 1,050 acres, and several smaller tracts. He mentions his wife, Abigail. His children mentioned are as follows: Thomas, William, Francis, Eliza (not mentioned in the will of Francis Triplett, but believed to have been his daughter. The grounds for this belief are given in the following record.

In the will of Francis Triplett, of Richmond Co., a bequest is made to “Francis Jett, son of John and Eliza Jett.” In the will of John Jett, proved in Richmond Co., Sept. 16th, 1710, he mentions his son Francis and also a daughter Abigail, which was the name of the wife of Francis Triplett. The fact that John and Eliza Jett named two of their children for Francis Triplett and his wife, that one of these children was a legatee in the will of Francis Triplett, and that we find many legal transactions between the Triplett and Jett families, suggests a strong probability that Eliza Jett was a daughter of Francis and Abigail Triplett.

1. ↑ Genealogies of Virginia Families.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Mary Louise Marshall Hutton. Mary Louise Marshall Hutton Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983. (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983).
3.   Hortense Abbott. Hortense Abbott Crown Printing, Fullerton, CA. (Crown Printing, Fullerton, CA).
4.   http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/thomas-triplet.

   Thomas Triplet
   
   Thomas Triplet was christened on 6th April 1602, at St Nicholas Cole Abbey, London (near St Paul's Cathedral), the son of Robert Triplet, Master of the Stationers Company of London, and Margery (Cartwright). Thomas was educated at St Paul's School London and Christ Church College, Oxford where he graduated M.A. in 1625. In the 1630s he was rector of various parishes in County Durham in the north of England, including Washington (where George Washington's ancestors originated). He was appointed to a canonry at York in 1641, another at Salisbury in 1645, and yet another at Durham in 1648 or 1649. His career was interrupted by the English Civil War and the Commonwealth period when cathedrals and canonries were abolished. He had to earn his living as a schoolmaster, first in Dublin and then in Hayes in Middlesex. When King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 cathedrals were re-established and in 1662 Triplet was made a Canon at Westminster Abbey. By his death in 1670 he was Sub-Dean and was buried in the south transept of the Abbey.
   Monument
   
   His white marble monument is on the west wall of the South Transept. The Latin epitaph can be translated:
   
   Here rests the Reverend Doctor Thomas Triplett, of the county of Oxford, prebendary of this church: who, right through to his seventieth year of age, made himself dear to God by his piety and constant devotion; to the Learned, by his uncommon skill in the Greek language; to the Poor, by his generosity and continual good works; and to All, by the innocent charm of his character; and finally passed from this life to a better one, on the 18th of July A.D. 1670.
   
   At the top of the monument is a carving (uncoloured) of his coat of arms (a hind courant, pierced through the neck with an arrow, a chief indented).
   His life
   
   Thomas does not appear to have been married. Most of his estate at his death was left to his sister Katherine Warne and her three children, then living in Ireland. He founded two charities: one to help apprentices from Washington and nearby places in County Durham, the other to help apprentices from Hayes, Petersham and Richmond and scholars at Westminster School. Both these charities still exist. In his will he mentioned his relatives in Oxfordshire (cousin Christopher and his brother Richard Triplet, Henry Triplet son of Paul, and another cousin Dr Ralph Triplet) and his large collection of books left to various people shows he must have been a scholar, though we do not know of any writings. Several books with his signature are in the Abbey Library - he signed his name Triplet.
   
   Several persons named Triplet went to America in the 17th century. A John Triplet went to Virginia but died without issue. Francis Triplet also went to Virginia, to old Rappahannock County, in 1658. He died in 170l and had five sons. Most of the Triplet family in America seem to have descended from this man. He could have been a distant relative of Thomas' uncle Francis.
   
   A photo of monument can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.
   Further reading:
   
   unpublished work by T.Triplet Russell of Florida (available for consultation in the Library).