Frances Hervey

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  • NAME.ROMN	Frances Harvey
    CHAN.DATE	28 DEC 2006
    CHAN.DATE.TIME	22:32:14
    EVEN.TYPE	info
    EVEN.DATE	1644
    EVEN.Comment	her father>>>Hervey's will, drawn up in August 1644, left his entire estate to his daughter, Frances Hervey, a minor child of no more that three years of age. No wife was mentioned in the will, which was probated on June 28, 1647. The second wife, Jane, who had been his wife but a brief time, remarried a Thomas Green shortly after Hervey's death, and left Maryland for Virginia. Young Frances was left to be cared for by neighbors. Jane Hervey Green and her new husband claimed their dower interest in St. Joseph's Manor in March 1654/6 by selling their share of it to Edward Lloyd of Maryland. The responsibility for the manor and for the orphan fell to Cuthbert Fenwick, Gent., and later to John Dandy, blacksmith. In 1657, George Beckwith, Gent., became involved in administration of the estate and married the young heiress. Mr. Beckwith rebuilt the small house into a grand English manor which is said to have survived for over 200 years. George Beckwith is thought to be of the Beckwith family originating in Yorkshire, England. He emigrated to Maryland in 1648 as an apprentice to Thomas Hatton, Secretary of State for Maryland. He was a Protestant. He served his apprenticeship and then went back to England for a short time. By 1657 he returned to Maryland, bringing with him several transportees. He was married by October 3, 1657 to Frances Hervey, orphan and heiress of Nicholas Hervey and thereby gained rights to St. Joseph manor. George Beckwith maintained an inn and a ferry at St. Joseph's. He served in some minor public capacities, such as coroner and overseer of the public roads. Beckwith died at London, England, before his wife, Frances (Hervey) Beckwith, who died April 19, 1676. The estate was administered in Maryland by John Halls and later by Cuthbert Fenwick, Esq. and still later by Thomas Banks. The plantation was considered to be among the wealthiest in America at the time of the appraisal. The appraised value was 108,726 lbs. tobacco, with debts of 24,994 lbs tobacco and an additional inventory of over 516 English pounds sterling. Frances and George Beckwith had six children, five of whom survived them