Anne Orthwood's bastard : sex and law in early Virginia

233 Pages·2003·0.875 MB·English

by  Pagan, John Ruston

Anne Orthwood’s Bastard:
Sex and Law in
Early Virginia
JOHN RUSTON PAGAN
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Anne Orthwood’s Bastard
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Anne Orthwood’s Bastard
Sex and Law in Early Virginia
(cid:1)(cid:2)
(cid:3)(cid:4)
JOHN RUSTON PAGAN
1
2003
1
Oxford New York
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Copyright ©2003by John Ruston Pagan
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pagan, John Ruston.
Anne Orthwood’s bastard : sex and law in early Virginia / John Ruston Pagan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-514478-3; 0-19-514479-1(pbk.)
1. Sex and law—Virginia—History—17th century. 2.Illegitimacy—Virginia—
History—17th century. 3. Orthwood, Anne, 1639–1664—Trials, litigation, etc.
4. Kendall, John, fl. 1663—Trials, litigation, etc. I. Title.
KFV2967.S3 P34 2002
364.15(cid:1)3—dc21 2002025273
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For
Clive Holmes
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acknowledgments
This book began as a summer research project funded by the
Mellon Fellowship program at the Virginia Historical Society. I
am grateful for the Society’s generous support and for the expert
assistance of its library staff. I also appreciate the help I received
from the staffs of the Bodleian Library at the University of Ox-
ford; the Law Library of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock;
the Muse Law Library at the University of Richmond; the clerk’s
offices of Northampton and Accomack Counties; and the Norfolk
Record Office. Special thanks go to Branda and David Littleton,
who computerized my data; to J.J. Tyzbir, my research assistant at
the University of Richmond; to David Thomas Konig, Kris Mar-
zolf, and Hamilton Bryson for their critiques of my manuscript;
and to Susan Ferber, my editor at Oxford University Press, whose
suggestions were invaluable.
Much of the credit for the book belongs to the wonderful
teachers with whom I have had the pleasure of studying history
and law. I shall always be indebted to Cam Walker, Boyd Coyner,
and Thad Tate, my friends and mentors in the history department
of the College of William and Mary, for inspiring my love of Vir-
ginia history; to Harold L. Fowler, professor of Tudor and Stuart
history at William and Mary, Ivan Roots, my tutor at the Univer-
sity of Exeter, and John P. Cooper, my master’s thesis supervisor
at Oxford, for stimulating my interest in the seventeenth century;
to the Harvard law faculty, for training me to analyze legal issues;
to Roger Highfield and John Roberts, fellows of Merton College,
Oxford, for encouraging me over the years; and especially to Clive
Holmes, my doctoral supervisor at Oxford, for patiently guiding
my research.
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contents
3
Introduction,
1 11
Anne Orthwood, Indentured Servant,
2 27
William Kendall, Parvenu,
3 39
William Waters, Gentleman,
4 51
John Stringer, Presiding Justice,
5 65
Robert Hutchinson, Clerk of Court,
6 81
Eleanor Gething, Midwife,
7 91
John Waterson, Trial Jury Foreman,
8 103
John Kendall, Putative Father,
9 117
John Stockley, Grand Jury Foreman,
10 131
Jasper Orthwood, Free Man,
147
Conclusion,
151
Notes,
193
Bibliography,
212
Index,