http://www.rootschat.com/links/index.phpAn excerpt from Geoge Somers's will in response to a query about
"A 'Martha Somers,' said to be a descendant of the Admiral's, married a 'Thomas Penny,' July 23rd, 1764"
It quotes:
"Nicholas Somers, gent., his cousin and heir, aged 26 or more. Lady Johanna his wife still living at Whitchurch"
(who apparently gave the inventory of his estate)
-- ah, I had interpreted this as meaning Johanna was George Somers's wife, but I think it must mean Nicholas's wife?
"I, the said Geo. Somers, do give and bequeth to Mathew Somers and his heirs all that ..., and all other lands not bequeath, to Mat. Somers and his heirs for ever".
So it's not looking good for being a direct descendant of Admiral George Somers.
http://www.thebermudian.com/past-issues/678"There is one loose thread left to tie up in Sir George’s story: Matthew Somers, troubled teen and protégé, who carted his uncle’s body back to England to prove he was dead and thus claim his inheritance. Somers’s will left most of his property to Matthew, but a 1612 document reveals that Matthew’s older brother, Nicholas, was then in possession of most of the estate: apparently, doubts had cropped up about the authenticity of the will that Matthew had produced. ..."
"Nathaniel Butler apparently took Matthew Somers’s self-serving spin on the relationship between Sir George, Carter, Waters and Chard at face value, though, and allowed it to shape how he portrayed Somers as he wrote his history. We last hear of Matthew in February 1624 when, still in jail, he asked for his half of the £470 that the Virginia Company admitted Sir George had invested. The company told him that the investment belonged to Nicholas Somers, the 'right heir'; Nicholas was two years Matthew’s senior, and primogeniture in intestate cases bestowed all of Sir George’s assets upon him. In the end, Matthew got nothing. From beyond the grave (or rather, graves), Sir George no doubt approved."
So now where is this history written by this Nathaniel Butler ...
It's also looking like Matthew didn't have descendants either, but perhaps Nicholas?
You posted in between -- yup, I had got to Sam Bellamy the pirate from the Jack Hawkins wiki page, too.
I have a great Armada tale a well -- my Bonds of Cornwall, apparently the ancestors of 007. (The motto Orbis Non Sufficit was theirs, along with a coat of arms involving a wingèd Pegasus, all allegedly lifted from a mural in Granada ... and of course we all know that is the Latin for The World Is Not Enough! Ian Fleming knew his Bond stuff, although he probably didn't know that the motto went back to Cornwall. Which it did, only if Victorian genealogists are to be trusted.
)
Ah, and a new post -- I'll have a look at your link!
