Thomas Forest (1572 - 1641)

Born May 1572 in Morborne, Huntingdonshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Foxe) Forrest — married 16 Aug 1605 in St. Giles in the Fields, London, England

Descendants

Died 1641 at about age 68 in St. Mary's, Province of Maryland

Biography

Thomas Forest was a Jamestown colonist.

Thomas Forest, gentleman, born in England c. 1572, was a son of Robert Forest.

1572 Birth and Parents

Thomas Forrest was born in May 1572 the son of Robert. ^{[citation needed]}

1608 To Virginia

Thomas was an investor in the Virginia Company of London^[1] and in 1608 traveled to Jamestown to see firsthand how his investment was doing. He sailed on the Mary and Margaret,^[2] a ship of the Second Supply of goods for the colonists of Jamestown.

Traveling with Thomas were his wife, Margaret Foxe (known as "Mistress Forest") and her ladies maid, Anne Burras. They were the only woman aboard the ship, and when they reached Jamestown were the first English women to set foot in the new colony.

Thomas Forrest and his wife "Mistress" Forrest came from England to Jamestown, Virginia with their only child Peter, age seven years in 1608, with Captain Newport. It is stated that Mistress Forret was the first "gentlewoman" to arrive in the Colony.^[3]

Marriage of Maid

The marriage of her maid Ann Burras, to John Layden in said to have been the first marriage to take place in Virginia. ^[3]

Death of Wife

Unfortunately Mistress Forest did not survive very long after reaching their destination. Anne Burras conveniently (and perhaps of necessity) married one of no-doubt many available suitors, the first wedding in Jamestown. We do not know what became of Thomas at that point in time. He may have returned to England, possibly on the same ship that brought him to Jamestown.

To Maryland

There is no record of Thomas for about a decade before he and his grown son Peter appear in Maryland.^[4]

The Forrests, with other Virginia families, removed to St. Mary's County, Maryland, in 1635. Their only child, Peter, born 1601, died 1665, married and left five children. ^[3]

1641 Death

Thomas Forrest died there in 1641 in St. Mary's County.^{[citation needed]}

Children

They had one child, Peter,born in 1601. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Smith, Captain John. The Generall Historie of Virginia Electronic Version. Apex Data Services, Inc. University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2. ↑ List of Passengers on the Mary and Margaret 1608 Research and compilation by Anne Stevens, packrat-pro.com.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} George Norbury Mackenzie. Colonial Families Of The United States of America. Page 229 Page 10/36. Mackenzie does not provide further sourcing of his material. Accessed 28 September 2023 jhd
4. ↑ Wikipedia:Thomas_Forrest_(colonist)