When these facts are made clear the rest of the identification of Governor Lovelace seems easy. Sir William Lovelace, of Kent, the father of Mrs. Anne Gorsuch, was also the father of Richard Lovelace, the poet. The other sons of Sir William were “Col. Francis” (of “Lucasta”), Thomas and Dudley. The Dictionary of National Biography only knows of Col. Francis Lovelace, that he served the Royalist Cause in Wales and commanded Caermarthen from June, 1664, until it was captured by Langhorne in October, 1645. From Governor Lovelace’s friendship with Berkeley it seems very probable that it was indeed he (and not the son of Lord Lovelace as stated in the D. N. B.) who received license from the Council in 1650 to go to Virginia, and who in May, 1652, was sent by Berkeley to inform Charles II. of the surrender of Virginia to the Parliamentary forces.
Francis Lovelace and the members of the Gorsuch family evidently came in the large royalist emigration to Virginia during the Civil War.
In conclusion it may be worth while to trace Governor Lovelace’s kinsman and protégé, William Whitby.
William Whitby, the elder, the husband of Ruth Gorsuch, lived in Warwick County, Va., and was Speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1653. He received two considerable grants of land, one in Warwick, where he lived, and another on Potomac Creek.
The son resided in Middlesex County, Va., and appears to have led an uneventful life, and to have died unmarried. His will, as that of “William Whitby, of Pyanketank River in the County of Middlesex, planter,” was dated July, 1676, and proved July 23, 1677. He gave “to Major Robert Beverley £100, Mrs. Mary Kibble [Keeble] £100, and my brother, Joseph Summers £200, all out of a rent due me out of Kent in England”; John Cocking to have 700 acres, and John Wright 500, both on Moratico Creek; his land on Potomac Creek to be divided equally between his brother, Joseph Summers, and Mrs. Mary Kibble, and also makes a bequest to Thomas Todd. Summers and Beverly, executors.
The following chart shows the relationship which would seem from the records cited to be correct:
W. G. Stanard.
Richmond, Va.
Note—Since the above was written I have recalled the account of “The Interment of William Lovelace, N. Y., 1671.” This, in mentioning Thomas and Dudley Lovelace, as brothers of the Governor, corroborates the genealogy I have given.—W. G. S.