Our American family is descended from Samuel I, about (1675 – 1769). DNA evidence attests that the genealogies that the reader can download from this site show descents from this ancestor. In the UK our kinsman Steve Jones can claim descent from a common ancestor to Samuel I. Samuel I appears in Virginia, buys property, and commences his American life as a man of substance, builds Woodpecker, and fathers a small multitude. We presently do not know his parents, nor where he came from for sure. Why not? Because this was a time of choas in England; Cromwell and the Civil Wars, and Regicide.

“I think that sometime during these decades of chaos (bearing in mind that piracy was also at a peak in the Caribbean at the end of the 17th century much of it involving merchants) that Samuel moved to Virginia. He probably very wisely figured his life expectancy in Virginia was much better than on the Islands. At some later point (1730s?) my line also moved back to London. I also have the problem of proving where they came from. Unsurprisingly there is little documentation of these moves as there was little law or legal processes; little Church representation; baptismal, death and marriage records are slim, high mortality from disease, war or sea travel; an aversion to documentation and a tendency to not want the authorities in England to know what was happening; the impact of destructive weather, hurricanes, earthquakes – not only on property but also on any documents that were produced.

However the circles that Samuel I moved in subsequent to his arrival in Virginia suggest prior connections between his Hawes family and other families established in Virginia. There are several families in Virginia who had connections to Antigua (eg the Byrd family). It is these connections between merchant families in London and overseas that I am trying to build out but what I am finding is that the families of many of these 17th century merchants just became extinct which is easy to understand. I know my line also had direct connections with Carolina eg John Hawes sold an insurance policy to Edward Rutledge in Charleston in 1786. I think it inconceivable that this business could have happened unless John Hawes was very familiar with Charleston society. These were relationships that could not be built in the space of a few years, they were built over generations. This was to a large degree a closed society that was impenetrable without education, money and connections.”

quoted from Steve Jones’ researches on the blog page. We are hopeful that further DNA results and research will solve this puzzle.