Many souls in Virginia were there because they were sentenced in England to transportation. That is, they had committed a crime in England, and, in lieu of imprisonment or even the death penalty, they were ordered transported to Virginia, usually to spend their life there. Why Virginia? Virginia was a Royal Colony that was owned by the Crown.
I can think of three people who were connected with the Germanna Colonies who were in Virginia because they had been sentenced to transportation. The first that comes to mind is Francis Hume. He had revolted against the Crown and was sentenced to transportation. His case was unusual because he was a second cousin of Alexander Spotswood, who was the Royal representative in Virginia. This made an embarrassing situation for Spotswood and he tried to hide Francis Hume from view. He sent him to the frontier as the supervisor of the Germans at Fort Germanna. This was about 1715. (By then, some of the Germans had probably learned enough English to communicate with him.) Unfortunately, Hume died after about a year. He was buried along the Rapidan River.
A brother of Francis, George Hume, was involved in the same revolt against the Crown. George was first sentenced to be hung and quartered, but this was commutated to serving on a ship (a man without a country?). When it called at Virginia, his freedom was purchased to the extent that he was released from the ship. He, too, of course, was a second cousin of Spotswood. This time, Spotswood aided him in getting established in a livelihood. He passed the test given for surveyors by the William and Mary College and became a surveyor on the western frontier.
In this connection he met many of the Germans. He purchased land in several localities, including in the Robinson River Valley. Here his descendants married several of the Germanna people. (Some Germanna branches have genes from the ancestors of Alexander Spotswood.) As a surveyor, he had a long and honorable life measuring the lands of the King Georges. Thus, he went from revolting against the throne to supporting the Crown.
Somewhat later, John Millbank(s) appears in the Robinson River Valley. He would appear to be the John Millbank who was tried for robbery at Old Bailey in London in 1770 and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to transportation for life. He came to America on the ship Scarsdale . Normally, he would have been sold as an indentured servant. He married Mary Barlow, the young daughter of Christopher Barlow and his wife Catherine Fleshman. The first child of Mary and John was baptized in 1774. Mary was not yet confirmed at this time, but two years later she was confirmed. Later they moved to Kentucky.
In the situations mentioned here, the "convict" appears to have achieved a normal life in Virginia. Were it to be known, many of the ancestors of Virginians were convicts who found new opportunities in America.
(19 Dec 05)
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.