Person:Joseph Royall (1)

Order of the First Families of Virginia, 1607-1624/5, 1987, Adventures of Purse and Person, Royall Family, pp. 517-523. (FHL book 975.5H2j) Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah

Joseph Royall, I, aged 20 years, came to Virginia in the Charitie, July 1622, and was listed in the census, 16 Feb 1623/4, at Neck of Land in Charles City 2. As shown in the muster, 24 Jan. 1624/5 he was in the same place and he and Robert Hallom were servants of Luke Boyse. After her husband's death, Mrs. Boyse petitioned the Court regarding an agreement entered into between her husband and young Royall:

At this Court [11 Jan. 1626/7] there was a petition preferred by Mrs. Alice Boise widow agst. Joseph Royall servant unto her late husband Luke Boise & shewed a Covenant bearing date the 25th day Febr: 1625[1625/6], wherein the said Joseph Royall was bound unto the said Luke Boice to perform certaine conditions therein mentioned, whereuppon it is ordered according to the said Covenant that the said Joseph Royall shall make or cause to be made gratis for the said Alice Boise her child & such servants as were then of his family all such apparell as they shall weare or use till such day & time as he shall depart this land, so longe as those of the Family shall either serve her or the child.3

A decree of this sort would be difficult to enforce and it is reasonable to conclude that circumstances freed young Royall from the permanent obligations under which Mrs. Boyse sought to place him.

Came from England in the Charitie, July, 1622. Living at "Ye Neak of Land", Feb. 16, 1623. At "Charles Cittie", Feb. 24, 1624....Virginia. Patent Books I, II, III, show 1100 acres of land granted by the king for transportation of twenty persons into the colony, many of whom were of well known families. Location on Turkey Island Creek, Diggs Hundred, and on the James above Shirley Hundred. Since 1637 part of this land has been in possession of descendants, the ancestral home known as Doghams, said to be a variation of some French name of a stream in Normandy, from which country the family went to England with William the Conqueror. According to Brock, and aged Royalls, an old wax seals on Virginia Records, there was a coat of arms. There is no will of record, but that of Katherine, his wife, who married Henry Isham, and of her son by the same name, Henrico court records, the children can be authoritatively traced. The junior Henry Isham died unmarried. Mary Isham married William Randolph and Ann, Francis Eppes. (From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,Published Quarterly by the Virginia Historical Society, for the Year Ending December 31, 1924, Volume XXXII, p. 411: Genealogy, The Colonial Royalls of Virginia by John Royall Harris, President of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn., Chapter I., First Two Josephs.)

In 1637 Joseph Royall had land grant for transportation of his brother Henry into the colony. There is later documentary mention of a Henry in Elizabeth City County, as late as 1696, and earlier in Warwick County. In 1704 Henry Royall was sheriff of Elizabeth City County. Later tracings will show connection of the name.

Sibill Royall was among the dead at "James Cittie" and "In theIsland", 1624. She was referred to in minutes of council and general court as a widow, with a goddaughter in England. Possibly her husband was Roger Royall, killed in the Charles City massacre, 1622.

New England records, refer to Royalls quite early, with names similar to those of Virginia, but no connection between the two families is known, nor between Joseph Royall and Roger and Sibill Royall. (Ibid,p. 412.)

By 15 Aug. 1637 he was a landowner in his own right, having patented 300 acres later included in the Isham-Royall plantation known as "Doghams." 4 The land lay on the north side of James River above "Shirley" and remained in the Royall family for more than 200 years. On 4 May 1638 he added 200 acres on the south side of James River to his holdings, and on 20 Aug. 1642 he patented 600 acres "above Sherley hundred, North by East upon the River to Dockman's Creek...adjoining Daniel Lewellin."5 He was dead by 10 March 1655/6 as is shown in a patent to Capt. Daniel Luellin "next land lately belonging to Joseph Royall, dec'd."6

1 John Royall Harris, "The Colonial Royalls of Virginia." VXXXII, pp.411-12; XXXIII, pp. 208-212, 322-27, 420-23. 2 Hotten, p. 169. 3 MCGC, p. 132. 4 Patent Bk. 1, p. 452. His read rights included his (1) wife Thomasin, his now wife Ann and his brother Henry Royall (of whom no further record has been found). 5. Ibid., pp. 631, 790. 6. Patent Bk. 3, p. 379.

researcher JC Schriber ( www.jcsisle.com)
1622-arrived at age 22 on the ship Charitee, July 22, 1622.
1623-census-listed at Neck of Land, Charles City. Muster shows him as serving Luke Boyce.
1624-Boise outfitted a ship for transporting colonists from England. Joseph Royal was the shipmaster.
1637-Became landowner, 300 acres north side of James River above "Shirley". (later left to his wife Katherine who remarried Henry Isham--property became known as Dogham)
1638-added 200 more acres on the south side of the James which he sold to Edward Martin.
1642-pateneted 600 acres

1655-noted as deceased in land patent for Daniel Llewellyn (listed him as deceased adjacent landowner excerpt book by Jason Duncan: "Joseph Royall, Sr. was born in 1600 and might be the son of Peter Royall, Joseph Royall, or William Royall. He left England on the Charitie and arrived in VA in July 1622. This was only 13 years after the first colony of settlers arrived in New World. 'By Easter of 1621, there were only 843 English People in VA, and in March of 1622 the Indians killed 347 colonists. Saying that life was hard in the first years of colonization would be an understatement.
Stagnant Marshlands where the colonists gathered led to diseases such as typhoid, dysentery , and salt poisoning. Joseph, Sr. survived an outbreak of 'burning fever' which killed 500 colonists in 1622. The following year he was living in Charles City Co.
On August 15, 1637 Joseph Royall, Sr, received 300 acres of land in Henrico Co on Turkey Island Creek for bringing colonists to the New World. According to the record, he was due '50 acres for his own personal adventure, 50 acres for the transportation of his first wife, Thomasin, 50 acres for the transportation of Ann, his now wife, 50 for the transportation of his brother Henry, and 100 for the transportation of two persons, Rob(er)t and Jon(athan) Wells.'
He received 200 acres in Charles City Co for transporting four people the next year. In 1642 he received 600 more acres there for transporting twelve people including his third wife, Katherine Banks. His Plantation eventually grew to 1,100 acres, and he built a residence called 'Dogham', named after the French River D' Augham. Joseph Royall Sr. died befor March 10, 1655.

Joseph's younger brother Henry settled in Charles City Co and also transported immigrants. 'He reared a large family and served in county offices.'
The Royall name dates back to the time of William, the Conquerer in eleventh century England. They lived on Royall Hill in Northumberland Co, England, where rye was grown."

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s.

   Gale Research. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: Filby, P. William, edit. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, 2005.