Letter Of Ralph Wormeley; Wm. and Mary College Qrtly., Vol. 6, No. 3 Transcribed by Barb Hill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Ralph Wormeley William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 3. (Janl, 1898), pp. 152-153 Page 152 William and Mary College Quarterly. Mary, daughter of Edmund and Mary Berkeley, born January 15th, baptized January 30, 1737/8. Sarah, daughter of Edm and Mary Berkeley, born January 27th, baptized 1741/2. Sarah Berkeley interred on Sunday, Aug 16th, 1795, Edmund Berkeley died July 8th, 1802, 5m past 7 p.m. Thomas L. Churchill and Elizabeth B. Berkeley married May 28th, (1801) Henry Hefferman and Lucy N. Berkeley Sept 28, 1800. Corbin Griffin (of York county) and Mary Berkeley married April 20th, 1771. LETTER OF RALPH WORMELEY.1 Virginia, Rosegill, 25 April, 1795. I hear there lives at Riccal, in Yorkshire, a Mr. Wormeley. I wish to know his Christian name, whether he be a married man, of what age and what peculiar turn, where educated - in short, all circumstances concerning him and his family. I would also convey to him, if I could, the following information as to his family in this country: that it has been settled here upwards of one hundred and fifty years, that the grandfather of the subscriber was carried to England by his mother, who was a daughter of Eltonhead2 (Ben'l), at three years old, she being then a widow. While in England (her Christian name was Agatha) she married Sir Henry Chicheley,2 a Knight and Alderman of London. Her son, after his education at school, Oxford, and the Temple 1 Copied by Dr. A.G. Grinnan from Ralph Wormeley's letter-book. 2 The Wormeley family of Virginia was one of the F.F.Vs. The emigrant, Ralph Wormeley, was descended from Sir John de Wormeley, of Hadfield, Co. York. The writer of the above letter was descended from the emigrant thus: Ralph, 1 the emigrant, member of the Council; died 1649; Ralph, 2 of "Rosegill," on the Rappahannock River, in Middlesex county, born 1620, did 1665; member of the Council; married Agatha, daughter of Richard Eltonhead and widow of Luke Stubbins, of Northampton county, Virginia; and she married, 3dly, Sir Henry Chicheley, 3 governor, who died in Virginia; Ralph, 3 born 1650; died December 5, 1703; educated at Oxford; Secretary of State in 1693, and President of the Council; John, 4 born 1689, died 1726; grandfather of Ralph, 6 the writer of the letter above. This last was a member of the Council, and for many years a gurgess. He sympathized with the royal cause in the Revolution, but took no active part. Towards the close of the war a privateer descended upon "Rosegill," took away thirty-six slaves, and robbed him of his plate and other valuable property. His son James was the father of Ralph Randolph Wormeley, admiral in the Royal Navy of England. In the letter above Ralph Wormeley skips a generation, and his dates are not exact. See account of "Wormeley Family" in Lee's Lee of Virginia, p.144. This letter adds some new and interesting details. 3 Sir Henry Chicheley died Feb. 5, 1682-'88