Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/136

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

in Kicotan, now Hampton. He acquired by patent large tracts of land in various localities, Ihe latest being "granted to him at the espe- ciall recommendation of him from their Lord- shipps and others, his Ma'ties most Hon'ble privie Councell to the Governor and Councell of State for Virginia." Capt. Adam Thorough- good was a commissioner and burgess for Elizabeth City in 1629 and 1630 and was ap- pointed to the council in 1637 and the same year was presiding justice of the county court CI Lower Norfolk. He died in the spring of 1640. leaving descendants in Virginia.

Townsend, Richard, was born in 1606 or 1607 and came to \'irginia in 1620 as an ap- prentice to Dr. John Pott, afterward governor, who was to teach him the art of an apothe- cary. The doctor did not carry out his part of the contract satisfactorily to Townsend, who in 1626, complained to the authorities that Pott had neglected to do his duty in the mat- ler. The student of drugs probably aban- doned his intended profession when he came of age, and in course of time rose to be one of the leading men of the colony. He was burgess for the plantations between "Archer's Hope" and "Martin's Hundred," in Oct., 1628 and, removing in 1630, to what is now York county, became a commissioner or justice there ill 1633, and presiding justice in 1646. Some- time in 1636-37, the secretary in England wrote to the governor and council in Virginia that Capt. Richard Townsend, having been recommended as "an able man for the execu- tion of that service, in respect to his knowledge of the affairs of the Country," had been ap- pointed a member of the council and that the King directed that he be forthwith sworn. He was probably turned out of office as some of the councillors were at the accession of Wyatt

10 the governorship, for he appears again a- a burgess in 1642. He was again sworn to the council in that year, however, and prob- ably retained his seat until his death, although his name does not appear in that connection hiter than Feb.. 1645-46. Townsend was a prominent man in the colony and acquired considerable tracts of land there by grant. He seems to have made a number of trips to Eng- land.

Wcrmeley, Christopher, a son of Christo- fiher W'ormeley of Yorkshire and a descend- ant of Sir John de W'ormeley, was governor of the island of Tortuga from 1632 to 1635, during which last year it w^as taken by the Span- iards, a loss said to have been due to the care- lessness of the governor. He appears to have come directly to \'irginia as he was a justice of Charles River county in 1636. In 1639 and 1640, he was commander-in-chief of Charles River and Elizabeth City counties. In 1636- 37, he was appointed a member of the council, and, being a supporter of Harvey, received a share of the governor's unpopularity. When Secretary Kemp fled to England in 1640, W'or- meley seems to have accompanied him. ?Ie and Kemp were accused of cruelty and op- pression in the colony and had considerable difificulty in making their return to Virginia, being twice prevented from doing so by orders from the house of lords, the second order being served on them when they were already on shipboard and about to depart. These charges seem to have had a foundation in fact. Wor- meley actually confessed later to having tried a case against one Taylor unjustly, when a jcommissioner of Elizabeth City. Moral standards seem to have been somewhat lax in Virginia in 1640 for, although the council di- rected Wormeley to make reparation to Tay-