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The universal belief is that William Hurt, immigrant to Virginia about 1650 was the son of Thomas Hurt, grocer of Bristol and his wife, Martha Winston. New information has surfaced that brings the validity of this belief into question.
On April 16, 1673, William Hurt, ". . . of Dartmouth in the County of Devon, Gent.," filed a complaint against Joane Winston (and others) in the High Court of Chancery [British National Archives Catalog Number C 22/840/16] involving a dispute over the ownership of real property located in Sandhurst, Gloucestershire, after the August 1672 death of Phillip Winston, husband of Joane Winston. In the Bill of Complaint William Hurt says: "the said Phillip Winston (his said mother being dead & also his sister Hester being dead in his lifetime xx unmarried & without issue) in or about the month of August 1672 also dyed without issue, leaving your orator, his cozen and heir (that is to say) the eldest son of Thomas Hurt of the City of Bristol, grocer, and Martha his wife, who was the only sister of Giles Winston, father of the said Phillip Winston . . . ."
What this lawsuit proves is that William Hurt, son of Thomas Hurt and Martha Winston, was a gentleman and resident of Dartmouth, Devon County, England in 1673 and most likely was not an immigrant to Virginia in 1650. It also raises serious doubts as to whether he was ever an immigrant to Virginia. If he did immigrate to Virginia, it would have been after this 1673 lawsuit.
Also, Martha Hurt, widow of Thomas Hurt wrote her will in 1651 (proved at the PCC in 1651) in which she states that her son, William Hurt, was a "Citizen and Marchant of London."
A collection at the Library of Virginia is called the Colonial Records Project. It contains three references to William Hurt of Dartmouth (Devon County, England)as follows:
1. Survey Report 6567. Item 64: "William Hurt at Dartmouth to Hickes (a letter), 12 May 172, asking for 6 small frigates to clear the coast between the Isle of Wight and Lands End, otherwise the Virginia fleet, daily expected, will be in danger of being lost."
2. Survey Report 6569. Item 31: "W.(illiam) H.(urt) to Hickes (a letter), from Dartmouth, 19 May 1672. A flete of 14 sail passed by at about 8 o'clock this morning; hope they were Virginian and Barbadoes men."
3. Survey Report 6571. Iteme 252: "Wm. Hurt at Dartmouth to Hickes (a letter), we June 1672: Yesterday's arrival of the "Society" of Dartmouth from Virginia, having left three ships from Virginia about 200 leagues to the west, one from Falmouth, two bound for London. The "Society" heard nothing of the Dutch war until she came to Land's End."
A William Hurt was a headright of Stephen Hamelin who received a land patent in Charles City Co., VA on 26 Oct. 1650 (Patent Book 2, page 266). It is unclear who this William Hurt was. If it was William Hurt, son of Thomas Hurt and Martha Winston, this was just a temporary trip to Virginia.
The is evidence that some William Hurt was a resident in New Kent/King & Queen County, Virginia from 1660 onward. On 4 January 1653/54 John Madeson received a land patent of 600 acres in Gloucester Co., VA on the North side of the Mattapony River(Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 217). The apparent original or this land patent is located at the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia among the Baylor Collection (Accession No. 2257, Box 2, Legal Papers, 1653-1712). Below the land patent itself are several assignments apparently showing the line of ownership of this parcel of property. John Maddison and his wife, Mary, assigned the property to Thomas Jones on 24 Feb. 1659 (presumably 1659/60). William Hurt was a witness to this assignment. Thomas Jones assigned the property to William Hurt on 10 May 1660. William Hurt and his wife, Margaret, assigned the property to William Nichalls (sic) on 3 Feb. 1682 (presumably 1682/83).
Also on On 18 Feb. 1673/74, William Hurt patented 213 acres in New Kent Co., VA, adjacent to William Peck and the Mill path. [Patent Book 6, page 502]. This land is located very near to the above-mentioned John Maddison parcel.
William Hurt of Virginia had three known children, Isabella, John and William, Jr., born between 1654-1661 or thereabouts in Virginia. This also suggests that the William Hurt in Virginia was established in Virginia by the Mid-1650s. That does not square with William Hurt, son of Thomas Hurt and Martha Winston who was a gentleman in Dartmouth, Devon County, England in 1673.
I wonder if William Hurt, son of Thomas Hurt and Martha Winston had a son named William Hurt born in the 1630s who came of age in the 1650s and he was the person who came to Virginia? Otherwise, maybe he was a descendant of William Hurt who married Rebecca Sallway, brother of Thomas Hurt who married Martha Winston.
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