Samuel Sharpe (burgess)

Samuel Sharpe
Member Virginia House of Burgesses
In office
1619–1623/24
Personal details
BornEngland
Diedunknown
SpouseElizabeth
ResidenceCharles City County, Virginia
OccupationAncient planter, Burgess

Samuel Sharpe, sometimes referred to as Samuel Sharp or "Ssamuel"[1] was an early Virginia colonist who settled in the area that became Charles City County, Virginia. He came to Virginia in 1610 with most of the passengers and crew of the Sea Venture as they made their way to the colony after 10 months in Bermuda. They had wrecked in a storm there and built two small boats to complete their journey to Jamestown. Along with Samuel Jordan, he represented Charles City as a burgess in the first general assembly of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619.[2] He was a representative for Westover, an incorporation of Charles City, in the 1623/24 assembly and signed a letter along with several burgesses at the time of that assembly.

Sharpe and his wife, Elizabeth, survived the Indian massacre of 1622. He became a landowner and planter. His life and fate after he returned to England, presumably temporarily, on business in 1626 is unknown.

Samuel Sharpe should not be confused with William Sharpe (Sergeant Sharp(e)), another early Virginia colonist and member of the House of Burgesses in 1629 with whom he is sometimes erroneously conflated.[3][4]

  1. ^ Deetz, James. Flowerdew Hundred: The Archaeology of a Virginia Plantation, 1619-1864. United Kingdom, University Press of Virginia, 1995.
  2. ^ Stanard, William G. and Mary Newton Stanard. The Virginia Colonial Register. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons Publishers, 1902. OCLC 253261475, Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 52.
  3. ^ See separate entries for Samuel Sharpe and William Sharpe at McCartney, Martha W. Virginia immigrants and adventurers, 1607-1635: a biographical dictionary. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 2007. ISBN 978-0-8063-1774-8. p. 631.
  4. ^ Lists of the Livinge & the Dead in Virginia, compiled February 16, 1623, as transcribed in Walker, R. F., Colonial Records of Virginia R.F. Walker, Superintendent Public Printing, Richmond, VA: Clemmitt & Jones, Printers, 1874, pp 37 – 68 shows "Serjeant William Sharpe" residing at the Neck of Land.