George Marten (abt. 1610 - abt. 1667)

Born about 1610 in St Katherine By The Tower, London, England [uncertain]

Husband of Frances (Weld) Marten — married 10 Jan 1638 in City of London, England

Died about 1667 at about age 57 in Fort Zeelandia, Paramaribo, Suriname

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Biography

George Martin (son of Sir Henry Martin Knight) and Frances Weld (daughter of Sir john Weld deceased) were married at St Olave, Old Jewry, City of London on 10 January 1637/38.^[1][2] Upon his marriage he was given the manor of South Leigh in Oxfordshire by his father, but after his father's death in 1641 he and his brother Henry sold the manor to the London merchant William Gore of Morden.^[3]

Marten was captain of the family's merchant ship, named the Marten, which was placed at the service of Parliament during the English Civil War.^[4] On 5 November 1642 he was given leave by Parliament to travel to France with three horses and two servants.^[5]

He was a planter in Barbados in 1650 when the Royalist governor Francis Willoughby, on learning of the execution of the king in England, sent George Marten (brother of Henry Marten, q.v.) to London to negotiate a free trade agreement between Parliament and an independent Barbados. The mission failed, and Parliament sent a force to re-take the island. George Marten signed a motion calling on the Barbadians to recognise the authority of Parliament.^[6]

Between 1652 and 1657 he was writing to his brother from Barbados. On 28 March 1652 he says, "Sir George [Ayscue] has performed the trust layd on him by the Parliament with greate honor, justice and wisdome; hee has delivered us from the Lord Willoughby and those that with him meant to have raised their fortunes upon or by the ruines of this place, has left us in a willinge and cherfull obedience to the Parliament, the supreme authoritye of England, and has caryed with him what wee humbly desire from that authority," which is chiefly the sanctioning the defraying losses and charges by the only means which the Governor, Council and Assembly can find possible, viz. the "continuinge the custome of 4 and 2 per cent. upon all the goods of the groweth of this place exported, 4 upon what goes off upon the merchants' accompt, 2 of what goes off upon the planters'." In the next letter, of 11 July 1656, he introduces the bearer, Major Anthony Rouse, "whoe is my very kind and lovinge freind, and a person of as much honesty and honor as I have ever mett with in these perts. Hee has lately married a rich widowe heere, and with her some troble, which hee will acquaint you with." In the last letter, 20 May 1657, he desires his brother to help "Susan" to come out to him.^[7]

In 1656 he had 259 acres and 60 slaves.^[8]

In 1665 he was Speaker of the House of Assembly for the island.^[9]

In the meantime, Royalists expelled from Barbados in 1652, led by Francis Willoughby, founded a colony in Surinam on the South American mainland: Fort Willoughby, captured by the Dutch in 1667 and renamed Fort Zeelandia.^[10] A letter from William Byam to Sir Robert Harley, dated Antigua, 6 November 1668, reports that Captain George Marten was amongst more than 500 who died of pestilence in the Surinam colony in late 1666, prior to the arrival of the Dutch fleet.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NV1V-NY4 : 10 February 2018), George Martin and Frances Weld, 10 Jan 1637; citing Saint Olave Old Jewry,London,London,England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 380,325, 380,326.
2. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/OLA2/A/002/MS04400/001 Ancestry uk Record 1624 #7817709
3. ↑ A P Baggs, W J Blair, Eleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, Janet Cooper, C J Day, Nesta Selwyn and S C Townley, 'South Leigh: Manors and other estates', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 12, Wootton Hundred (South) Including Woodstock, ed. Alan Crossley and C R Elrington (London, 1990), pp. 242-244. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol12/pp242-244 [accessed 20 May 2022].
4. ↑ The Private Journals of the Long Parliament, 3 January to 5 March 1642 (Yale University Press, 1982), (page 372
5. ↑ 'House of Lords Journal Volume 5: 5 November 1642', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 5, 1642-1643 (London, 1767-1830), pp. 433-434. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol5/pp433-434 [accessed 20 May 2022].
6. ↑ Matthew Parker. Willoughbyland: England's Lost Colony (Random House, 2015) Google Books extract
7. ↑ Historical Manuscripts Commission, 'The manuscripts of Capt. F.C. Loder-Symonds', in The Manuscripts of Rye and Hereford Corporations, Etc. Thirteenth Report, Appendix: Part IV (London, 1892), pp. 378-404. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/hist-mss-comm/vol31/pt4/pp378-404 [accessed 16 March 2020].
8. ↑ Richard S. Dunn. Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies. UNC Press, 2012, Page 68.
9. ↑ https://www.barbadosparliament.com/main_page_content/show_content/7
10. ↑ https://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/britains-forgotten-south-american-colony
11. ↑ Bijdregen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap. Deel 40. Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse letteren

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