I hesitate to broach the subject of the ancestry of this man, since I am in no way an authority on this line. He’s not a direct ancestor, and I only very briefly looked into him because my ancestor, David Watts who is supposed to be the son of and Edward Watts of Stafford and Anne Martin, was extensively involved with the Capt. Joseph Martin Family in Louisa and Albemarle.
Assuming that he had been shown to not be the son of William Martin Merchant of Bristol, I started to look for a possible connection to the Martins in Stafford instead. I could very easily be wrong of course, but from the documentation I see it appears to me that your Capt. Joseph Martin actually was quite closely tied to William Martin and his brother Thomas Martin, Merchants of Bristol.
Forgive me if all of this is been analyzed previously but here goes.
The first thing I see is Joseph Martin’s 1762 will. ( not to digress but this will shows 11 children not 19 listed in the profile, and since he leaves bequests to all of his offspring including daughters and a couple grandchildren, and since there are also separately deeds to almost all of these children, but not other Martins , I would be surprised if he had any more adult children other than the 11 listed)
But back to his ancestry, the item that stands out in his will is the bequest to his son Joseph: “ I give to my son Joseph Martin my right and title of all my land lying on Goose Creek branch of Pertomach (Potomac ) that I have in partnership with Col. Francis Warin (Waring) living in Essex Co“. This apparently was an investment property with a mill etc.
Col. Francis Waring of Essex was the eldest son of Col. Thomas Waring. The same Col. Thomas Waring who is in the following deed:
" Benjamin Grayson of Pr. Wm. to ...Thomas Waring of Essex Co., Gent, and Thomas Martin and William Martin of City Bristol in Great Britain, merchants....for 500 lbs. sterl. money .... 1/3 part unto Thomas Waring, and 1/3 unto Thomas and William Martin.... tract on north side of Goose Cr....1009 a......
At court Nov. 23, 1733 Benjamin Grayson acknowledged this release to Alexander McCarty, Thomas Waring, and Thomas and William Martin."
(source: Prince William County,: Liber B; 1732-1735; Pages 182-186. Nov. 20, 1733.
Col. Thomas Waring was thus partners with William Martin and Thomas Martin, Merchants of Bristol, for the Goose Creek land and mill in 1733. Col. Thomas Waring wills his interest in this property to his eldest son Col. Francis Waring in 1754, (source: Essex County, Virginia Will Book 9, page 280). The interest of his partners William Martin and Thomas Martin, Merchants of Bristol‘has passed to Capt. Joseph Martin of Albemarle, by 1762 as proven by the latter’s will.
This isn’t absolute proof that Capt. Joseph Martin is part of this Bristol family, but there seems to be a number of other documents that support the connection. For example, in the find-a-grave biography prominently quoted on Geni, Joe Martin states that he could not find any shipping records for Joseph Martin from Bristol to Virginia. However the following sources, reprinted in The Complete Book of Emigrants 1700-1750 by Peter Wilson Coldham are clearly relevant:
.
21 Oct - 9 Nov 1725 Shippers by the Brice, Mr Joseph Martin, bound from
Bristol for Virginia; Thomas Chamberlayne, Thomas Martin & Co. William
Curnock. source: PRO: E:190-1197/1-1)
27 October - 14 November 1726, Shippers by the Brice, Mr. Thomas Church, bound from Bristol for Virginia: Thomas and William Martin, Elizabeth
Hollister, Thomas Hughes, Samuel Deer, George Bearpacker & Co. (Pro:
E190/1199/1)
10-12 January Jan 1727/28, , Shippers by the Brice, Mr Thomas Church, bound from Bristol for Virginia: Thomas Martin, William Martin, William Woodward
Here you have primary source documentation directly connecting Joseph Martin to Thomas Martin and William Martin, merchants of Bristol. Joseph Martin’s ship was indeed Brice as the “legend” states. This is obviously the Capt. Joseph Martin of Louisa, Albemarle and Caroline counties, who named his son Brice and has the Goose Creek connection with Bristol. And of course the contemporaneous Col. John Martin, also of Louisa, Albemarle and Caroline counties, is proven through other records to be part of this Bristol Martin family as well.
(One last aside ... I highly doubt the William Martin, Merchant of Bristol in the Geni profile died age 105 , was the Mayor of Bristol serving at aged 97, etc. Perhaps the William Martin who died in 1765 was Joseph's brother rather than his potential father?) )
Again I apologize if I’m just retreading old ground on all of this.
Sincerely,
Michael Wingfield Walker
William Martin, merchant of Bristol
