There is a PRO (Public Record Office) document called the " 5th Return Party from England 16 Sept 1717 (OS)" . It was found by Henry Z Jones, Jr., in the Public Record Office in London, and was transcribed by Marlene Groves, CG. It has been printed in its entirety in the multivolume book, " Even More Palatine Families ". The document is a list of names in the form of a petition, headed by the statement:
"A Liste of Those Poor Palatines, Wirtembergers, Etc. Who Are Willing to Return into Germany, and Humbly Desiring His Majesty's Most Gracious Bounty, for Their Transportation into Holland, for Their Charges to Their Own Country, Taken the 16th September 1717."
There follows the names of 51 heads of families and the number of people in each family unit for a total of 200 people. We do not know, in spite of the title given to the document, whether the petition was successful, as there is no record of the decision by the English government on the petition.
Of the Germans present in London in late 1717, we know some came to Virginia, others were present in the London Church Records, and other names are on the petition above. The people who did not embark on the ship "Scott" are represented by the unknowns in the church records and by those who petitioned for financial aid to return to England.
Three parties are headed by Christofle Uhl, Frederic Kapler, and Hans George Long on the 1717 petition. We know that all three of these people did go to Virginia shortly after the group that went in 1717. Though their names are on the petition for financial support to return to Germany, it is more likely they did not return to Germany but stayed in England until they found transportation to America. Their experience supports the idea that the petition was not accepted and that the petitioners remained in England, except that some individuals found their own way back to Germany, or other places.
I would emphasize that the known people on the ship "Scott", and the list of names on the petition, are not a complete list of the Germans present late in the summer of 1717, since there are other names of Germans in the London Church Records. And then we should add those whose names appear on no record.
The question is posed, "Should Christopher Yowell, Frederick Kabler, and George Long be counted as members of the Second Colony?" They left Germany at the same time as other Second Colony members did, but their passage to the New World was delayed for a couple of years. Michael Willheit, in my estimation, may be in this category also.
(17 Jul 04)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.