Samuel’s background.The immigrant ancestor of the Despains in America is very clearly (Gervois0, Jean2, Gedeon5, Samuel4) Samuel6 Despaigne, who was born in Canterbury, England, on 11 Oct 1692.1 His parents were members of the French Protestant Church that met in the crypt of the cathedral where Samuel was baptized on 16 Oct 1692.2 His family, probably motivated by economic pressures brought on by the decline in the silk weaving industry, relocated to London around 1705.3 Samuel’s older brother Gedeon returned to, or remained in Canterbury, where he married at the age of 26 in 1708.4 Gideon brought his family to join his parents’ in 1712.5 Their father Samuel died a couple of years later and we may safely assume that it fell to Samuel even before that to support his mother and her family.6 | ||
Adventures at sea.There is a slight possibility that Samuel may have taken to the sea for a season, for on 20 Jun 1718 a certain “Samuel Antoine d’Espaigne” was issued a certificate of membership by the French (Walloone) Reformed Church in Amsterdam prior to his leaving for the Dutch colony of Caraçao.7 This man was received back in Amsterdam on 6 Aug 1719.8 The second given name on the certificate makes it seem likely that this man was one and the same as a certain "Antoine espanhiur" who had been received in Amsterdam from Königsberg on 27 Feb 1718.9 Yet it is true that any young man in London at the time might have fallen prey to the press-gangs ever eager to replace disabled and deceased seamen. In any event there was a "Samuel despayne" who was issued a certificate on 6 Feb 1720 in Amsterdam prior to leaving for London.10 London was where our Samuel married on 6 Jun 1720.11 If we were to accept some variation of the seafaring hypothesis, we might think to understand better Samuel’s motivation for taking part in the new American adventure. | ||
Samuel’s first marriage.Life was not easy in the London of the first half of the eighteenth century. Samuel married Sarah Smith at St. Botolphs, Bishopsgate, London, which would presumably have been her home parish. If she were also French we might search out a birth under the name of “LeFebvre”. They took up residence in George yard, a court just off Shoreditch in St. Leonards parish.12 They had at least three children, all of whom died as infants.13 Samuel’s brother Gideon died in 1722 and his mother died just five months later. It may well have been the fact that his wife departed this life in 1726 and that his only remaining child died eleven months later, that eventually motivated Samuel to start life anew in the American colony of Virginia. | ||
Samuel’s second marriage.There is a hiatus in documenting the events of Samuel’s life between 1727 and 1738, when he appeared in the court records in America.14 This period could well include a presumed marriage around 1732 and the subsequent birth of at least two children: one in about 1733 and a second in 1735. He and his new wife named his new daughter Sarah. This accords with the common custom of thus honoring the name of a deceased wife. Samuel would have been 40 years old at the time of his second marriage. It seems that his bride would not have been very much younger as they appear to have had but two children together, which could conveniently be explained by placing her near the end of her childbearing years. It also seems likely that the vital events of Samuel’s second marriage took place in England. The evidence for this lies in the fact that he was able to claim rights to 200 acres. It was the right of each immigrant to Virginia Colony at the time to settle on 50 acres for himself and each person transported with him. (This would not exclude a number of other possibilities, however, such as Samuel and his wife bringing children by some presumed former marriage of her, or a couple of servants.) Beyond these considerations we would not venture to estimate the year of Samuel’s emigration more precisely. | ||
| Samuel0 & Sarah (Smith) Despaine | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sarah | |
| brn abt 1721 | ||
| brd 29 Mar 172115 | ||
| 2. | Samuel | |
| brn abt 1723 | ||
| brd 9 Dec 172316 | ||
| 3. | George | |
| brn abt 1725 | ||
| brd 19 Apr 172717 | ||
| Samuel0 & Anne (--) Despain | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4. | Sarah | |
| brn abt 1732 | ||
| mrd | Moses Harris | |
| 5. | John | |
| brn abt 1735 | ||
| mrd | Susan Scott | |