Interesting History on the Virginia-Audley, England Connection

Cold Harbour Mill Farm Tapestry Confirms the Yeardley Connection

last updated 22 May, 2002

Very exciting news has been uncovered by Frank Eardley at Cold Harbour Mill in
the village of Uffculme near Tiverton in Devonshire, England. Art Historian Tom More
spent 30 years researching the early history of Virginia and has created an enormous
tapestry, depicting the major events and characters of the Jamestown story. Her Majesty
The Queen and Prince Charles have both contributed a few stitches to the project,
which measures 267 feet in length, and is 4 feet high.

Click the thumbnail for a larger image

Sir George Yeardley is mentioned several times and most interesting of all, above
his name is the exact family crest many of us have witnessed in St. James Church,
Audley, England. This would seem to be conclusive proof that Sir George's
grandfather was indeed William Yeardley of Eardley Hall. Remember our name
has had three different spellings over the centuries.

After seeing active service in Holland in the army of Prince Maurice, George
was selected to be aboard the 'Sea Venture', flagship of a nine strong fleet
of ships carrying 500 would-be settlers to Jamestown, Virginia.

In overall charge of the expedition was Admiral George Somers. Also aboard
the ship were Sir Thomas Gates (the Godfather of Sir George Yeardley) and John
Rolfe. There were 150 people on board, and 350 spread amongst the other 8
ships. They were taking a 'virgin route' to the Jamestown Settlement, which
to some extent may have accounted for the ships being blown off course in a
violent storm. One ship was lost, while the 'Sea Venture'was separated from
the rest,and struck rocks just off the coast of Bermuda and was damaged
beyond repair. However, all the passengers were saved and once on Bermuda,
they found plenty of fruit and fish to survive.

In the meantime, the remaining 7 ships made their way to Jamestown, where
many of them died from starvation, disease and Indian attacks. Meanwhile, the
150 crew and passengers of the 'Sea Venture' set about constructing 2
smaller ships from the wreckage. They spent 42 weeks on Bermuda, and
eventually managed to build 2 new boats - 'The Deliverance' and 'The
Patience'.

The only person to succumb on the island was the wife of John Rolfe. It was he
who later married Indian Princess, Pocohontas, who was to be extremely
helpful in building bridges between the white settlers and the Indian
tribes.

Eventually on 24th May 1610, 'Deliverance' and 'Patience' arrived at
Jamestown to discover less than 100 bedraggled survivors from the rest of
the fleet and the colony managed to survive by the skin of its teeth.

It is interesting to note that it was Jamestown, rather than Plymouth Rock
which is entitled to be called the first permanent English settlement on
the Atlantic Seaboard.The Pilgrim Fathers established their colony in 1620 -
some 10 years later than 'ours'.

On board the 'Sea Venture' was a certain Mr. William Strachey, whose
role was to record the history of the expedition. His report was duly sent
back to London, and it is widely believed that Shakespeare used the story
as background to one of his most famous plays - 'The Tempest'.

George went on to be Governor of Virginia three times before his untimely
death at the age of 39. His son, Argoll, married into the Custis Family, from
which line eventually emerged the wife of George Washington.

Much of this information has already been reported to you in previous
letters - but now the picture is becoming ever clearer and more
fascinating.This is an ongoing story and we invite all of you to use the
internet in order to attempt to discover new information which will fill out
the story in even more detail.

As you know,The Flowerdew Hundred - a thousand acre tract of land granted to
Sir George, and named after his wife - is to hold it's inaugural 'Descendants
of Flowerdew' gathering on August 24th of this year.We are all invited,
along with the descendants and family members of all the other families who
lived at Flowerdew in those early days.

Robert Francis Eardley

Click here to view the pictures of Flowerdew Hundred Descendants Gathering
Eardley / Moreton Halls connection / Tapestry Record