Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/237

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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while the terms of surrender were being considered, and returned from the charge with two brass guns wrested from Sheri- dan's troopers. At one period the command of the regiment was entrusted to Captain Bouldin, who as its commander acquitted himself with honor. His father was a con- gressman from \nrginia prior to the war. The only child of Julian and Bessie E. (Bouldin) Meade, is Edwin Baylies Meade, born October 30. 1896. now a student in the Danville School for Boys.

Luther R. Britt. Through the marriage of Exum Britt to a daughter of Benjamin and Eliza (Porter) Riddick, his children trace to Edward III., King of Kngland, who had by his wife, Philippa,

Prince John, of Gaunt, K. G., duke of Lan- caster, who had

Lady Joan, of Beaufort, who married Sir Ralph Xevill, K. G., who was grandfather to Richard Nevill, earl of Warwick, the king maker, and King Edward IV. and Richard III. The Nevills were descended from the earl of Northumberland and his wife, Al- gina, daughter of King Ethelred. Sir Ralph Nevill was first earl of West Moreland. He and his wife had

Sir Edward Nevill, K. G., lord of Aber- gavenny, who had

Sir George Nevill, Knt., second lord of Abergavenny, who had

Sir George Nevill, K. B., third lord of Abergavenny, who had

Lady Ursula Nevill, who married Sir War- ham St. Ledger, who had

Lady Anne or Agnes St. Ledger, who died in 1636, aged eighty-one years. She married Thomas Digges, of Digges Court, in Kent, England, son of Leonard Digges, of Woot- ton Court, county of Kent, England, son of Jacob Digges, of Barham, who married Philippa. his second wife, the daughter of Engham, of Chart, the celebrated mathe- matician ; Jacob Digges was a son of John Digges, who married Joanna, daughter of Gervasius Clifton, a soldier; John Digges was a son of John Digges, who married Joanna, daughter of Mauritius Brume, a soldier ; John Digges was a son of John Digges, who married Juliana, a sister and heiress of Jacob Home, an armor bearer; John Digges was a son of Roger Digges, who married Albina, daughter and heiress of Roger Norwood, a soldier ; Roger Digges

was a son of Thomas Digges, a clergyman, who married Agnes de Sandrino ; Thomas Digges was a son of John, the son of Roger, of Mildenhal, who was called Digges, and who in the reign of Henry III., bought an estate called Bonwitu in Cantuaria, where he was buried. Leonard Digges, afore- mentioned, was famous for his mathematical learning; he married Bridget, daughter of Thomas Wilford, Esq.; he died in 1574- Thomas Digges, aforementioned, died Au- gust 24, 1595. The following is from his tomb. No. 1506, in the north side of the chancel of the Church of St. Mary, Alder- manbury, London, England, translated from the Latin: "Here lieth in an assured hope should rise in Christ, Thomas Digges, Esq., some time Muster-Master General of the English army in the Low Countries ; a man zealously afTected to true religion, was dis- creet, courteous, faithful to his friends and of rare knowledge in geometry, astrology, and other mathematical sciences; who fin- ished his transitory life with a happy end in Anno Dom. 1595. 'That the dead might live Christ died'." The following is from the same tomb : "To Agnes, wife to Thomas Digges, Esq., daughter of George Nevil, Lord of Abergaveny, by whom the said Thomas had issue, Dudley, his sonne and Heyre ; Leonard, his second sonne, and Mar- garett and Ursula, besides, William and ]\Iary, who died young."

Sir Dudley Digges. son of Thomas and Lady Anne or Agnes Digges, was born in 1583. died in 1639. He was master of the rolls in 1619; he erected Chilham castle, in Kent, and an engraving of the castle, made in 1777, shows it to have been a grand place ; on the margin of the picture are the family crest (an eagle's claw) and coat-of-arms, viz. : A shield with three storks or herons. Sir Dudley Digges was a member of the London Company for colonizing Virginia. He married Lady ]Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe, knight of Clantigh, Kent, and had

Hon. Edward Digges, born 1620, young- est son, had an interest in the Virginia- London Company, and served as colonial governor of the Virginia colony from March 30, 1655. to March 13, 1658, when he went to England as one of the agents of the colony, and served as a member of the governor's council from November 22, 1654, until his death, ]\Iarch 15. 1675. His tomb was in