Mistress Forrest

Margaret Forrest
Ladies in a boat, landing on shore to be greeted by Jamestown men
Conjectural sketch of Mistress Forrest and Anne Burras arrival in Jamestown, Virginia (1608)
Born
Margaret Foxe
Died1608(1608-00-00) (aged 34–35)
Jamestown, Virginia Colony
Other namesLucy Forrest,[1] Margaret Fox, Foxxe, Forest[2]
Known forFirst lady in Jamestown
SpouseThomas Forrest (presumed)

Margaret Forrest (née Foxe, known as "Mistress Forrest") and her maid servant Anne Burras, were the first two European women to emigrate to the Virginia Colony.[3][4]

Arriving on October 1, 1608, in what is known as the Second Supply aboard the English ship the Mary and Margaret under Captain Christopher Newport to resupply the colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Her husband Thomas Forrest, Esq., was listed as a gentleman on that ship as shown on its manifest, whereas she was listed only as Mistress Forrest.[5] Thomas and Margaret had married on August 16, 1605, in St. Giles in the Fields, London, England.[6]

Passenger list of the second supply to Jamestown

Mistress Forrest, probably the wife of gentleman Thomas Forrest, is not mentioned again in the historical record.

In 1997,[7] a skeleton within a gabled coffin was found within the walls of James Fort, which is believed to be Margaret Forrest.[8] The remains of the skeleton assert that Forrest was about 35 years old, about 4.67 feet (1.42 m) tall, and died within the first years of Jamestown.[9]

  1. ^ https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=33871
  2. ^ Barnes, Robert William. Colonial Families of Maryland: Bound and Determined to Succeed. United States, Clearfield, 2007.
  3. ^ Bernhard, Virginia. “‘Men, Women and Children’ at Jamestown: Population and Gender in Early Virginia, 1607-1610.” The Journal of Southern History, vol. 58, no. 4, 1992, pp. 599–618. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2210786. Accessed 22 Sept. 2024.
  4. ^ Barnes, Robert William. Colonial Families of Maryland: Bound and Determined to Succeed. United States, Clearfield, 2007.
  5. ^ "The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles..." docsouth.unc.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  6. ^ Barnes, R.W. (2007). Colonial Families of Maryland: Bound and Determined to Succeed. Clearfield. p. 86. ISBN 9780806353166. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  7. ^ "ABOUT FACE: RESEARCHERS RECONSTRUCT IMAGE OF A 2ND SETTLER". November 25, 1998.
  8. ^ "Jamestown's First Lady - Archaeology Magazine Archive". archive.archaeology.org.
  9. ^ "ARCHEOLOGISTS SEEK CLUES FROM `FIRST LADY'". Chicago Tribune. November 29, 1998.