Charles Beaven (1640-1699) was a successful planter in the colonial Province of Maryland. Charles already achieved genealogical notoriety with his second wife Mary, subject of a legend in which she was Mary Brent, daughter of Piscataway princess Mary Kittimaquund. His first wife has been supposed to be Martha Paca, although her relationship to the prominent Paca family has not been ascertained.
Research in England has identified Charles' birth family in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England where the spelling Beavan alternated with Abevan (surely pronounced as the Welsh-derived "Ab-evan", not "Abe-van"!). Documents refer to Charles' apprenticeship as a "soap-boiler" in Bristol and later appointment as a burgess of Bristol. A statement by his brother Thomas, of Berkeley, attests that Charles and his wife Martha were in Bristol before Charles went "across the seas."
The Martha married to Charles in England -- now identified as Martha Unknown -- is not likely Martha of the Maryland Paca family. A review of the current write-up of Charles reveals a number of suppositions about Martha Paca which may not be true. The initial result of this research is to pose the question -- was there only one Martha, born in England, requiring the Martha Paca narrative to be abandoned -- or were there two Martha's, with the English Martha deceased soon after arrival in Maryland, soon replaced in Charles' life by the Martha Paca we already know? The questions and research related to it are posed on the profile of Martha Unknown.
