Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Spouses
1Sarah Shelton 
1222, 7G Grandmother
1222, 7G GrandmotherBirth1682, St Paul’s Psh, Hanover Co VA
Death10 Mar 1733, Louisa Co VA1252 Age: 51
FatherJohn Shelton (1650-1706)
MotherJane Pollard (1649-)
ChildrenRalph (1698-1743)
Notes for Richard Gissage
One online family tree gives the date of birth of Richard Gissage as 25 Sep 16781252 and another gives it as 1782.1253 However, these cannot be right as Richard owned land in New Kent Co VA as early as 1 June 1678, as shown by references in Cavaliers & Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Grants:
Vol II, p.187, covering patent book No. 6: “Thomas Carter, 1000 acres in New Kent County, VA, St. Stephen's Parish, dated 1 June 1678, book page 651, land is bound by branches of Apostecoque Creek & Timber Branch, Mr. Richardson by Cheescake Path, in sight of Abbot's plantation, by GIZAGE'S line, to Maj William Wyatt, to Mr. Bird's path….?
Vol II, p. 255, covering patent book 7: “Mr. Thomas Plunkett, 582 acres in New Kent Co, St. Stephen's Parish, dated 16 Apr 1683, original page 238, bound by RICHARD GIZAGE, by Richason's (cf. Richardson above) line, by Chescurack (cf. Cheescake above) Path, Nicholas Abbot to William Burch (cf. Bird above)...”
[In 1691, King & Queen County was formed in a redistrict of lands from New Kent County, and it appears that Richard Gizage (Gissedge) was rezoned so that his property was in new King & Queen Co.]
Vol III, p. 2, covering patent book 9 : Col Richard Johnson, 3285 acres in King & Queen County in Pamunkey Neck on both sides of Goodwin or Monkewin Swamp, next above Thomas Bray, RICHARD GISSEDGE & James Minge, dated 25 Oct 1695.
Researcher Ken Shelton has drawn the following reasonable conclusion: “This places Richard Gissege / Gissedge as being born prior to 1657 realistically to be a landowner in right by June 1678. This would make him most likely in his 40's or more around the time of his marriage to Sarah Shelton, and being a landowner for at least 22 years prior, she is most likely a second or more marriage.”1254
Vol II, p.187, covering patent book No. 6: “Thomas Carter, 1000 acres in New Kent County, VA, St. Stephen's Parish, dated 1 June 1678, book page 651, land is bound by branches of Apostecoque Creek & Timber Branch, Mr. Richardson by Cheescake Path, in sight of Abbot's plantation, by GIZAGE'S line, to Maj William Wyatt, to Mr. Bird's path….?
Vol II, p. 255, covering patent book 7: “Mr. Thomas Plunkett, 582 acres in New Kent Co, St. Stephen's Parish, dated 16 Apr 1683, original page 238, bound by RICHARD GIZAGE, by Richason's (cf. Richardson above) line, by Chescurack (cf. Cheescake above) Path, Nicholas Abbot to William Burch (cf. Bird above)...”
[In 1691, King & Queen County was formed in a redistrict of lands from New Kent County, and it appears that Richard Gizage (Gissedge) was rezoned so that his property was in new King & Queen Co.]
Vol III, p. 2, covering patent book 9 : Col Richard Johnson, 3285 acres in King & Queen County in Pamunkey Neck on both sides of Goodwin or Monkewin Swamp, next above Thomas Bray, RICHARD GISSEDGE & James Minge, dated 25 Oct 1695.
Researcher Ken Shelton has drawn the following reasonable conclusion: “This places Richard Gissege / Gissedge as being born prior to 1657 realistically to be a landowner in right by June 1678. This would make him most likely in his 40's or more around the time of his marriage to Sarah Shelton, and being a landowner for at least 22 years prior, she is most likely a second or more marriage.”1254
Research notes for Richard Gissage
According to an article on the Gorsuch famiy in “Notes and Queries,” Gossage is the provincial pronunciation of Gorsuch. The author of the note recites several entries in the Parish Register of Holy Cross, Shrewsbury. These include:
20 Oct 1664: Rowland, s. of Richard and Jane Gossage
15 Aug 1667: Rowland s. of Richard Gossage, bur.
25 Mar 1669: Richard, s. of Richard Gossage, bap; bur. on 28th
1 Jun 1671: John, s. of Richard Gossage, bap.
1 May 1674: Elizabeth, d. of Richard Gossage, bap.
16 Sep 1700: Richard Gossage, poor laborer, bur.
10 Mar 1716: Widow Gossage, pauper, bur.
20 Oct 1664: Rowland, s. of Richard and Jane Gossage
15 Aug 1667: Rowland s. of Richard Gossage, bur.
25 Mar 1669: Richard, s. of Richard Gossage, bap; bur. on 28th
1 Jun 1671: John, s. of Richard Gossage, bap.
1 May 1674: Elizabeth, d. of Richard Gossage, bap.
16 Sep 1700: Richard Gossage, poor laborer, bur.
10 Mar 1716: Widow Gossage, pauper, bur.
Notes for Sarah (Spouse 1)
From Cavaliers & Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Grants:
Vol. III, p. 55, covering patent book 9: Lewis Davis, 320 acres in King & Queen County, St. John's Parish, in Pamunkey Neck on John Davis' spring branch to the mouth in the Acquinton Swamp, to Thomas Herbert's corner, dated 24 oct 1701, original book page 418, for importation of 7 persons, Lewis Davis & his wife Anne, John Pore, Elizabeth Dode, SARAH SHELTON, John Saxon, Thomas Coakes.
Note that the land tha Lewis Davis chose for this patent was on Pamunkey Neck, the same general area as the land owned by Richard Gissedge.
The History of Pittsylvania Co VA mentions Sarah Shelton and her marriage to a Richard Gassage of New Kent. It also mentions Ralph Shelton who kept his mother's maiden name but does not state a reason. I agree with you that it is probably due to legacy from the Shelton family. It also mentions that Sarah brother's name was Richard Shelton and [that they] were the emigrant children of a ship's captain who was drowned in the English channel in 1691. It also mentions that Joseph Bickley was the first sheriff of Louisa Co VA.1255
Another take on Sarah Shelton’s descent:1256
“It might be interesting in these days of equal rights for women, to mention an ancestress, Sarah Shelton, daughter of Charles Shelton, a commander in the British Navy, who was lost with his ship, the Coronation, in the English Channel, in September, 1691. Tradition says that Sarah came with her brother, William, to Virginia, where she married Richard Gissage, a merchant from London, who settled in New Kent, now King William county. She must have been a most impressive person, as her second son, Ralph, took as his surname, the maiden name of his mother, being known as Ralph Shelton, of St. Mary's Parish.”
This legend was commented on by Hildred Shelton in 2004:1257
“That story about the sea captain and the shipwreck has been assigned to the families of both Ralph of King & Queen (later King William) and the Middlesex line. I have yet to see anyone who can tie it to fact and it appears to me to be one of those genealogical tales that a descendant 100 or 200 years after the fact likes to spin.”
One family web site asserts that Sarah Shelton (Skelton) was the daughter of Dr. James (Skelton) Shelton and Jame Meriwether.1258
Vol. III, p. 55, covering patent book 9: Lewis Davis, 320 acres in King & Queen County, St. John's Parish, in Pamunkey Neck on John Davis' spring branch to the mouth in the Acquinton Swamp, to Thomas Herbert's corner, dated 24 oct 1701, original book page 418, for importation of 7 persons, Lewis Davis & his wife Anne, John Pore, Elizabeth Dode, SARAH SHELTON, John Saxon, Thomas Coakes.
Note that the land tha Lewis Davis chose for this patent was on Pamunkey Neck, the same general area as the land owned by Richard Gissedge.
The History of Pittsylvania Co VA mentions Sarah Shelton and her marriage to a Richard Gassage of New Kent. It also mentions Ralph Shelton who kept his mother's maiden name but does not state a reason. I agree with you that it is probably due to legacy from the Shelton family. It also mentions that Sarah brother's name was Richard Shelton and [that they] were the emigrant children of a ship's captain who was drowned in the English channel in 1691. It also mentions that Joseph Bickley was the first sheriff of Louisa Co VA.1255
Another take on Sarah Shelton’s descent:1256
“It might be interesting in these days of equal rights for women, to mention an ancestress, Sarah Shelton, daughter of Charles Shelton, a commander in the British Navy, who was lost with his ship, the Coronation, in the English Channel, in September, 1691. Tradition says that Sarah came with her brother, William, to Virginia, where she married Richard Gissage, a merchant from London, who settled in New Kent, now King William county. She must have been a most impressive person, as her second son, Ralph, took as his surname, the maiden name of his mother, being known as Ralph Shelton, of St. Mary's Parish.”
This legend was commented on by Hildred Shelton in 2004:1257
“That story about the sea captain and the shipwreck has been assigned to the families of both Ralph of King & Queen (later King William) and the Middlesex line. I have yet to see anyone who can tie it to fact and it appears to me to be one of those genealogical tales that a descendant 100 or 200 years after the fact likes to spin.”
One family web site asserts that Sarah Shelton (Skelton) was the daughter of Dr. James (Skelton) Shelton and Jame Meriwether.1258
Research notes for Sarah (Spouse 1)
Coronation was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard as part of the '30 great ships programme' of 1677, and launched in 1685.
Coronation was commissioned on 14 February 1690 under Captain John Munden, as flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Ralph Delavall, under whom she took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on 30 June 1690. On 29 October 1690 Captain Charles Skelton took command. Coronation was dismasted and wrecked in a storm off Rame Head on 3 September 1691; approximately 600 men drowned, including Skelton. Only 20 survived.1259 See also.1260
Coronation was commissioned on 14 February 1690 under Captain John Munden, as flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Ralph Delavall, under whom she took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on 30 June 1690. On 29 October 1690 Captain Charles Skelton took command. Coronation was dismasted and wrecked in a storm off Rame Head on 3 September 1691; approximately 600 men drowned, including Skelton. Only 20 survived.1259 See also.1260