This website was last updated on:
31 July 2011
Introduction
During the period 1984-1999, I
did considerable genealogical research regarding the
Norfleet family in both the United States and England. This web site presents some of the
results of that research but is not intended to be an exhaustive exposition of
Norfleet family history.
The Norfleet
family in America appears to be of English origin. Based upon evidence from
official English records, dating from the Middle Ages through the 17th century,
these Norfleets primarily resided in the southern English
county of Kent. The American branch of
the family seems to descend from a single immigrant to Virginia Colony, Thomas
Northfleete, who acquired 300 acres of land in Nansemond County along the
western side of the southern branch of the Nansemond River in the year 1666.
There
is no primary evidence that establishes Thomas Northfleete's provenance;
however, I can offer the following information based upon my study of the
English and Colonial Virginia records:
Norfleet Surname
My analysis of the information summarized in my essay on the
English Norfleets has led me to conclude that the surname Norfleet
first arose in Kent County, England and was derived from the name of the Manor
and Parish of "Northfleet." I suspect that the first Norfleet immigrant to
America, Thomas Northfleete, who settled in Virginia Colony about the year 1666,
came from Northeast Kent in the vicinity of the towns of Faversham and
Canterbury. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to conclusively identify the
specific family or the exact place of origin in England.
Village of
Northfleet in Kent
The modern-day village of Northfleet is now a suburb of the town
of Gravesend in Kent. I visited Northfleet in 1995 and took several photos of the
village and parish church. The
picturesque parish church, Saint
Boltoph's, is located near a craggy chalk
cliff and overlooks a wooded quarry.
The church is basically a
fourteenth
century structure, with some evidence of much
earlier Saxon masonry. The restored stained glass windows reflect Kentish
geometrical tracery and the chancel screen dates to 1313.
Photographs of
Saint Boltoph's Parish Church in Northfleet
English Norfleet Family Relationships
Analysis of the information extracted from the County Kent parish registers,
marriage licenses and wills permits at least a tentative reconstruction of four
Norfleet family groups who lived in Kent during the mid-to-late seventeenth
century. Three of these groups resided in the Town of Faversham and the fourth
in the nearby Parish of Molash. The heads of family for these groups are:
1. John Norfleete, Mariner of Faversham
2. Thomas Norfleete, Yeoman of Molash
3. John Norfleet, Blacksmith of Faversham
4. Thomas Norfleete, Shipwright of Faversham
Analysis of all the available records indicates that at least some of the
Norfleets of Chilham, Molash and Faversham were related. Thomas Norfleete,
yeoman of Molash appears to be son of John Norfleet of Chilham, and also the
father of John Norfleet, blacksmith of Faversham. Also, John Norfleete, mariner
of Faversham may be the brother of Thomas, yeoman of Molash.
Norfleet Land Grants in Colonial Virginia
The
Library of Virginia in Richmond is the repository of all the extant records of
the Colonial Virginia Land Office. In this repository, I have located a total of
ten land grants made to members of the Norfleet family (two by assignment and
eight by direct patent) in colonial times.
Norfleet Family Land Grants in Colonial Virginia
Name of
Grantee |
Date of Grant |
# of Acres |
Location |
Remarks |
North Fleete |
22 Oct 1666 |
300 |
Nansemond County, Northern Side of the
Southern Branch of the Nansemond River |
By Assignment from John Skerrett |
Thomas Northfleete |
30 Sep 1668 |
300 |
Nansemond County, Northern Side of the
Southern Branch of the Nansemond River |
By Assignment from John Skerrett |
Thomas Norfleet Junr |
25 Oct 1695 |
130 |
Nansemond County, "Barbicue Swamp" |
For import of 3 persons: William Higdon,
Ahallo and Sarah |
Christopher Norfleet |
28 Apr 1711 |
60 |
Nansemond County, Westward Side of the
Southern Branch of the Nansemond River |
For payment of 120 Pounds of tobacco |
Thomas Norfleet |
14 Jul 1718 |
130 |
Nansemond County, "Barbakew Swamp" |
For import of 3 persons: Phillip Watson,
Elizabeth Harris and Lewis Skinner |
James Norfleet |
31 Oct 1726 |
50 |
Nansemond County, White Oak Spring Marsh |
For payment of 5 Shillings |
Edward Norfleet |
20 Jun 1733 |
319 |
Nansemond County, North Side of the Southern
Branch of the Nansemond River |
For payment of 35 Shillings; "95 acres
part of the said Tract being Surplus Land found within bounds of a Patent granted to
Thomas Norfleet for 300 acres bearing date the 30th day of September 1668
" |
Christopher Norfleet |
16 Jun 1756 |
220 |
Nansemond County, Southern Branch of the
Nansemond River |
For payment of 25 Shillings; 60 acres of this
tract "was formerly granted unto the said Christopher Norfleet by our Letters patent
bearing Date the 28th day of April 1711
" |
Cordall Norfleet |
16 Aug 1756 |
200 |
Southampton County, "on the North Side of
Meherrin River
" |
For payment of 20 Shillings; Land is located
"Beginning at a Cypress [at] a corner of Joseph Norfleet Deceased his land by the
side of Tarraro Creek
" |
James Norfleet |
23 May 1763 |
537 |
Nansemond County, "in the fork of
Summerton Creek
," Land adjoins a tract owned by "George Laurence" |
For payment of 30 Shillings; 132 acres of
tract is part of former grant to Thomas Laurence; 150 acres of tract is part of former
grant to Abraham Riddick |
My analysis of the
above tabulated grants indicates
that the first record of a Norfleet in Virginia Colony occurs on 22 October
1666. A man, referred to in the entry as "North Fleete," had a 300 acre tract of
land recorded in the Land Office at Jamestown; he had acquired this land by
assignment from a certain John Skerrett, who had originally patented the land on
17 March 1654/55. Two years later, on 30 September 1668, "Thomas Northfleete"
again recorded an entry for the same land. Apparently, the acquisition was
recorded the second time to correct the name of the assignee, which had been
garbled on the 1666 entry under the name "North Fleete.
These two land patents constitute two of the three known references to Thomas
Northfleete, the original immigrant to Virginia. The third reference is a court
record (writ) indicating that a certain "Thomas Norfleet" had served on a Jury
of Escheat in Nansemond County on 21 October 1673.
The third (dated 1695) and fourth (dated 1718) Virginia land
grants to a certain Thomas Norfleet probably
refer to a son of the original immigrant, Thomas
Northfleete. The third grant, dated 25 October 1695,
refers to "Thomas Norfleet, Junr" indicates that the original immigrant and
father of Thomas, Junior was still living at this time. My experience with the
official records of early America strongly indicates that the use of the terms
senior and junior are mainly used to differentiate two people of different ages,
with the same name, living in the same area at the same time. The senior person
would be older than the person with the junior designation; the terms would not
necessarily indicate a father-son relationship. However, it is reasonable to
assume that very few Norfleets lived in Virginia at that time. Accordingly, the
designation "Thomas Norfleet Junr" cited on the 1695 land patent probably
indicates not only that a senior (older) Thomas Norfleet was still living in the
area, but also that the elder Norfleet was probably the father of the younger.
With the exception of the two grants to Thomas Norfleet in 1695 and 1718, all of
the eighteenth century Norfleet grants are in exchange for money or tobacco paid
to the Secretary of Virginia Colony. It should also be noted that several grants
were, at least in part, composed of land that had earlier been patented by other
people (including members of the Norfleet family). Apparently these previously
granted tracts had never been seated and/or planted as required by law, hence
the title to this land had "lapsed" and the Crown had resumed ownership, making
such land available for regranting. The earliest Norfleet land grants were in
the area just north of the town of Suffolk (established in 1742), on the western
side of the southern branch of the Nansemond River. Today, Thomas Northfleete’s
land grant is in the vicinity of Thompson Landing.
Virginia Quit-Rent Roll of 1704
Land
granted by the King to settlers in Virginia Colony was subject to a perpetual
duty or quit-rent of one shilling for every 50 acres, payable in tobacco at the
rate of one penny per pound. The amount of revenue generated by this source was
of considerable importance to the British government. However, throughout the
entire Seventeenth Century, the Royal Governors had great difficulty in
collecting this tax. In their letters to the Board of Trade in London, the
Governors were always reporting that there were large arrears of quit-rents
which it was impossible to make the landowners (particularly the large
landowners) pay. The quit-rent lists were usually quite inaccurate and
incomplete, substantially understating the amount of land and associated tax due
the King.
One of the Royal Governors, Francis Nicholson, made an unusually strenuous
effort to obtain a truly accurate rent roll for the colony. He produced this
list for the year 1704 and had a true copy of the roll sent to the Board of
Trade. The list includes the twenty Virginia counties whose quitrents were
payable to the King. Excluded were the five counties of the Northern Neck, the
quit-rents of which were paid to the Lords Proprietors (the Fairfax-Culpepper
family). Today the Board of Trade copy is on file at the Public Record Office,
Chancery Lane, London. This roll has been published many times and is readily
available to historians and genealogists. Except for fragments, pertaining to
only a few counties, no other quit-rent lists have survived in either Virginia
or England!
A total of four members of the Norfleet family are identified on the 1704
Quit-Rent Roll, all living in Nansemond County, as follows:
John Norfleet -- 600 Acres
Thomas Norfleet -- 500 Acres
Christopher Norfleet -- 400 Acres
Edward Norfleet -- 200 Acres
The above four individuals are all
probably sons of Thomas Northfleete, the first Norfleet immigrant; Thomas
Norfleet (called Thomas Norfleet, Jr. in a 1695 VA land grant) is probably his
eldest son. While these four men were obviously not wealthy, the size of their
plantations compares favorably with the average plantation size (313 acres) for
Nansemond County in 1704. John Norfleet is undoubtedly the father of John
Norfleet (1699-1753) who died testate in Chowan
County, North Carolina. Thomas Norfleet, Jr. is almost
certainly the father of Thomas (d. 1746), James (d. 1732) and Marmaduke Norfleet
(1700-1774) who died testate in Edgecombe, Perquimans
and Northampton Counties, North Carolina, respectively.
Christopher and Edward Norfleet are probably the youngest sons of the original
immigrant, Thomas Northfleete. There is no hard evidence regarding the
descendants (if any) of Christopher and Edward; however, the use of these names
in later generations of Norfleets strongly implies that they had male progeny
who continued to live in Nansemond county throughout the eighteenth century. In
particular, these men were probably the fathers of the Christopher Norfleet (d.
1751) and Edward Norfleet (d. 1747) who were members of the Vestry of the Upper
Parish of Nansemond County VA.
Introductory Essays
The following two essays should provide a useful introduction to
Norfleet family genealogy:
NORFLEETS OF 17th Century ENGLAND
NORFLEETS OF COLONIAL VA AND NC