Captain John Rolfe, Ancient Planter - Parents?

Henry Rolfe, of London Was his brother.

Who were the parents of John Rolfe?

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/590317/who-were-the-parents-of-john-rolfe

While searching for something else related to Pocahontas, I came across a reference to a 1990 article in The Virginia Genealogist that suggest that what we currently have as the parents of John Rolfe are inaccurate. While there was a 6 May 1585 baptism of one John Rolfe in Heacham, co. Norfolk, son of John Rolfe and Dorothy Mason, it may not have been the Virginia immigrant nor spouse of Pocahontas. Pertinent quotes:

"... John Rolfe [alleged father of John Rolfe the Virginia immigrant] died suddenly in 1594 (without a will), and on 8 March 1594/5 at Heacham the widow Dorothea Rolph married Robert Redmayne, widower... The 1618 will of Robert Redmaine... names his wife Dorothy and ... mentions no Rolfes nor any of his wife's family. The will of Dorothy Redmayne of Heacham, widow, in 1645 likewise names no Rolfes but does give bequests to... more than sixty persons... The will seems that of a prosperous widow without any descendants. Would the lady give so much money to so many people and yet ignore her own grandson and his family, even if that grandson was in Virginia? Further the immigrant John Rolfe had a brother Henry--the Heacham church register has no Henry Rolfe- so was Henry deadby 1645 without descendants? By inference, Dorothy (Mason) Rolfe Redmaine was not the mother of the Virginia immigrant, and therefore the English ancestry of John Rolfe of Virginia remains unknown."

This suggests we should detach his parents.

Thoughts?

Source: William Thorndale, "Two Rolfe Negatives," in The Virginia Genealogist, 34(1990):209-210.

I’m looking for the Thorndale article and Dorothy Redmaynes Will.

The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.)

https://www.americanancestors.org/DB285/rd/12089/209/137203068

There’s another clue to origins.

“John and Dorothy had no daughters. Henry is listed as an additional son in the book Old Sandringham," by Mrs. Herbert Jones, however, there is no Dorothy or Henry recorded in the Parish records. Wilson Miles Cary of Baltimore, the distinguished genealogist, proposes that that John Rolfe, of Virginia, was not a son of John and Dorothea Rolfe, but belonged to another branch of the same family.”

Here’s the article.

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000180964797882

• https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/rolfe-john-d-1622/ cites
  • William Thorndale, "Two Rolfe Negatives," in The Virginia Genealogist, 34(1990):209-210. AmericanAncestors

Geni is binary, either / or, and the burden of proof is affirmative: that is, it needs to be demonstrated that these are the parents. So as I understand it, it cannot be shown that John Rolfe, ancient planter of Virginia, was the same person as John Rolfe, Jr.

The argument you are making is “show me he wasn’t their child.” But geni doesn’t work that way. If it can’t be shown he was, we try not to link. Mileage, of course, varies; and everyone is more than welcome to show in their private databases.

A DNA proof would need be fairly sophisticated, if it’s even conceivable, as there are no Ys to compare, in England or America.

There should be more research available in England. John Rolfe apparently had a mother living in 1645, and I don’t know who raised his son Thomas Rolfe - does anyone know?

As to other Rolfe families, there were plenty.

Anthony Rolfe, Esq.

John Rolfe, of Wiltshire

Here’s about genealogist Wilson Miles Cary (b 1838 - )

University of Virginia: Its History, Influence, Equipment and ..., Volume 1
edited by Paul Brandon Barringer, James Mercer Garnett, Rosewell Page 426. GoogleBooks

• “The Ancestors and Descendants of John Rolfe with Notices of Some Connected Families (Continued).” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 21, no. 2 (1913): 208–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4243266. [Mr. Wilson Miles Cary, Jr. of Baltimore, the distinguished genealogist, thinks that he has discovered that John Rolfe, of Virginia, was not a son of John and Dorothea Rolfe, but belonged to another branch of the same family. The proof is not yet positive, but Mr. Cary is still having the matter investigated, and has promised to give this Magazine the results of his researches.]

Note: the article was published in 1913, and Mr. Cary died in 1915. I wonder was became of his Genealogical queries in progress ….

By the way, it was Henry Rolfe, of London who raised Thomas Rolfe in England - answering my own question from https://www.geni.com/discussions/242696?msg=1530443

Henry and John Rolfe are known brothers, and Dorothy Mason did not have a son Henry, or any other “blood” relatives at her death. Yet she was a wealthy & connected widow. Would she “not” have raised an orphaned grandchild?

Too many contorted explanations would be needed to place John Rolfe in that family. I do think John & Henry’s parents could be found.

Or Rolf.

Was Captain John Rolfe, Ancient Planter the son of Edmund Rolfe of Narford & his wife Katherine Rolfe

https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/b/r/a/Glenn-D-Braunstein-CA/WEBSITE-0... Thinks so but doesn’t offer any citations.