Margaret Brent, born about 1601 in Gloucester, England, was one of thirteen children born to Richard and Elizabeth Brent. In 1638, she migrated to Maryland with her brother Giles and her sister Mary. The Brents were a Catholic family, and Margaret Brent and her siblings might have been motivated to move to Maryland where, unlike England, they could practice their religion without penalty. They were likely associated with or related to another Catholic family, the Calverts, who founded Maryland. After the Brents arrived, Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore and proprietor of Maryland, granted them the same generous amount of land as the original Maryland settlers.
Indigenous Acknowledgment
Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation, the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
We invite you to learn more about Indians in Virginia in our
Encyclopedia Virginia.
Early Years
Bacon was born on January 2, 1647, at Friston Hall in Suffolk County, England, the seat of his father. He was the only son and one of several children of Thomas Bacon and Elizabeth Brooke Bacon; his mother died shortly after his birth. Bacon matriculated at Saint Catherine’s College, Cambridge University, on May 5, 1661, but two years later his father withdrew him from school, probably due to his inattention to his studies, and hired a tutor to teach him. He made a tour of the Continent in the company of his tutor, was admitted to Gray’s Inn on November 22, 1664, and returned to Cambridge, where he received his M.B. in 1667.
The rebellion traces its origins to 1675 and a trading dispute between the Algonquian-speaking Doeg Indians and the Potomac River planter and merchant Thomas Mathew. As relations worsened, Mathew and his neighbors killed several Indians as they were making away with livestock. The Doegs retaliated by killing one of Mathew’s herdsmen. Virginia militia pursued the Doegs to Maryland and attacked their cabin, along with the cabin of innocent Susquehannock hunters, who were taken completely by surprise. In the ensuing war the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannocks were forced from their town in southern Maryland, taking refuge in the southern piedmont of Virginia and raiding the English frontier.
The Anglo-Powhatan Wars (also given as Powhatan Wars) were a series of conflicts between the English colonists of Virginia, North America, and the indigenous.