| There were two other Trent
families in early colonial America in addition to the Trents of
Virginia: the Trents of Pennsylvania/New Jersey (who will be called
the NJ Trents for simplicity) and the Trents of
Barbados. The NJ family has "daughtered
out", meaning that there are no living patrilineal
descendants who could be tested and compared to the Virginia families.
It's hard to tell whether the Barbados line has daughtered out or
not; the male line persisted into the middle of the 20th century,
but public documents are hard to obtain after that and we can't tell
whether the males of this generation had any sons. The paper
trail is insufficient to connect any of these families (Virginia,
New Jersey, Barbados) to each other, so we can't tell whether they
are related. It's possible to speculate
about a connection between the NJ family and Group 2 of the
Virginia Trents, but there's no way to determine whether it's true.
The NJ family descends from a Trent family in
Inverness, Scotland which is closely related to the Trents of Leith, Scotland. The part of
this family that never left Scotland has also daughtered out, so
there doesn't seem to be anyone anywhere who can be DNA tested for
comparison to the Virginia Trents. It's unclear
where the Virginia families came from. The
Barbados family relates to the Trents of the
Midlothian/Edinburgh/East Lothian area of Scotland, but we can't
tell whether these Trents have any connection to the Inverness/Leith
family. It's
possible that any of these families could be related to Trent DNA
Group 3 (the descendants of Henry Trent of Henrico) or to Trent DNA
Group 2 (the families that descend from Henry Trent of Amherst and
William Trent/Sarah Bryant), but there's no paper trail and no DNA
trail to prove or disprove it.
This article is primarily concerned with the Y-DNA
trail or lack thereof, so the female descendants of these families
will mostly be ignored.
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The Inverness/Leith
Scotland Trents.
The story begins with two brothers named William and Maurice Trent who
apparently were born in England and settled in Scotland in the wake of
Cromwell's invasion in 1650.
Trent is an English name not a Scottish name.
Jim
Mackay has a long and very well-researched article about them, including
information on the sons of William who moved first to Pennsylvania and then
to New Jersey.
William settled in Inverness and lived there until his
death in 1677. He will be called William of Inverness in this article. He
was a merchant, and it's documented that he married Issobel Stewart in 1662
(Jim
Mackay).
They had seven children:
- James (abt 1663-1698), no known wife or children, who served
in the Swedish military for a time and was also a merchant sea captain
who traveled to the New World including visits to Barbados and to his brothers in
Philadelphia; place of
residence unknown, possibly a dual resident of Inverness and
Philadelphia.
- Maurice of Philadelphia (abt 1665-1697), married Mary
Sandelands around 1693 and had two
daughters. Merchant and sea captain who immigrated to the New World and
lived in Philadelphia. His daughters were Isabella Trent who married
Ephraim Augustus Herman and Eleanor Trent who married John Hore.
- Janet (abt 1667-1734), stayed in Scotland, married Angus McBean and
Robert Baillie
- William of Trenton (abt 1667-1724), immigrated to the New World.
Merchant in Philadelphia until 1721, then moved to New Jersey and
founded the town of Trenton. Married twice, had four sons who lived to
adulthood. May or may not have a daughter. More on this family in
the next section.
- Elizabeth (bef 1674-aft 1724), stayed in Scotland, married Robert
Neilson and Alexander Anderson
- Anna (born 1675, no further record)
- Thomas (born 1676, no further record)
Maurice Trent settled in Leith, Scotland and lived there
until his death in 1701. He was a sea captain with a reputation for
smuggling and other questionable activities. There are three Maurices who
are relevant to this story and they will be identified by their place of
residence. Maurice of Leith is the brother of William of Inverness.
Maurice of Philadelphia is the nephew of Maurice of Leith, the son of
William of Inverness, and the brother of William of Trenton. William
of Trenton had a son named Maurice (born around 1695, died 1730) who died
without issue and didn't do much of anything; but when
it's necessary to talk about him he will be called Maurice of Trenton.
Maurice of Leith married Margaret Young in 1652. They had seven children who
all remained in Scotland. Maurice subsequently married Jonet Young in 1669
but there's no record of children from this marriage. The children from his first marriage were: - Elizabeth (1655-1748) who married Sir James Falconer of Phesdo and
had at least 13 children with him. This high-status marriage shows
how wealthy and prominent her father was.
- William of Pitcullo (1666-1706), the only surviving son of Maurice of Leith. Maurice of Leith bought Pitcullo Castle for
William. William of Pitcullo had a son named Maurice and a
grandson named Maurice who each inherited Pitcullo in turn. There might
or might not be one more Maurice in this line - the records are unclear
- but documents show that the last Maurice had no children when he died
in 1786. That was the end of the known patrilineal line of Maurice
of Leith.
- Marie, John, Samuel, Maurice Junior, and Margaret, all born between
1653 and 1660. It's documented that Maurice Junior died in infancy and it's not known what
became of the rest.
William of Inverness and Maurice of Leith built a trading empire that
grew to include William's sons Captain James, Maurice of Philadelphia, and William
of Trenton. Lawrence Trent of Barbados was also involved in the
transatlantic trade, but it's not clear whether he had any connection to the
trading activities of the other Trents.
Links:
- Jim
Mackay has a long and very well-researched article about William of
Inverness and Maurice of Leith, including
information on the sons of William who moved first to Pennsylvania and then
to New Jersey.
-
Forgotten Children
is an article on the trade in trafficking Scottish children to the
Americas as indentured servants. Chapter 2 (starting on page 25) is a
study of the Trent and Coutts families. It talks about the Inverness/Leith
families, the Pennsylvania/New Jersey families, and the Barbados family,
and discusses the illegal trading activities of Maurice of Leith. Maurice
of Philadelphia participated enthusiastically in the trafficking of
Scottish children. It is not clear whether Maurice of Leith did the
same, but
Capitalism, Colonial Expansion and Forced Child Indenture in the British
Atlantic 1618-1776 (which also reports on the activities of the
Trent and Coutts families beginning on page 171 of the text) says on
page 174 that a ship owned by Maurice Trent was searched at Leith in
1673 following allegations that adults and children had been kidnapped
and forced onto the vessel to be transported as servants. This must be
Maurice of Leith, since Maurice of Philadelphia was still a child in
1673. The next paragraph talks about Maurice Trent appearing in the
Philadelphia courts with at least 114 child servants between 1693 and
1697, but this appears to be Maurice of Philadelphia.
-
The
Jim
Mackay article talks about the illicit trading activities of Maurice of
Leith. United
States Land Records 1702–1748, 1689–1697 mentions activities in the 1690s involving
"Maurice Trent a Scotchman an old transgressor merchant" obviously
meaning Maurice of Leith, with another copy
here.
-
Barbados and Scotland links, 1627-1877
tell it to
search for Trent within the text. The results show numerous
instances where Maurice of Leith transported prisoners to Barbados. There
is also a searchable copy on
Google Books.
- Maurice of Leith marries Jonet Young on 12/1/1669 in Leith, Scotland
(Scottish Record Society on
Ancestry)
1695
New Jersey History Records Maurice Trent of Leith, Scotland gives
power of attorney to his nephew Maurice Trent of Pennsylvania, to serve
as his agent in a land transaction in West Jersey. There's an
additional entry
here.
Pitcullo Castle:
Carneycastle.com has history, pictures, and floor plans. It says the
Trent owners were two Williams and a Maurice, but records have been
found for only one William and at least two Maurices.
Landed Families of Britain and Ireland has the early history of
Pitcullo but doesn't mention the Trents.
Trove.scot has a collection of old photos.
Colin McLean Photography has a newer photo.
Service of Heirs in Scotland has multiple entries showing William of
Pitcullo inheriting the property from his father Maurice of Leith who
died in 1701, and Maurice of Pitcullo inheriting from his father William
of Pitcullo who died in 1706.
Miscellaneous activities involving the Maurices of
Pitcullo:
1706
Maurice
of Pitcullo is listed as a subscriber on a list of the Scottish peerage,
and he’s an Esq. He’s not an actual peer apparently.
1726 Maurice Trent of Pitcullo joins the Royal Company of Scottish Archers.
It’s an archery club founded in 1676. See page 362 of the text.
Another variation is
here.
1754 Maurice of Pitcullo is one of the founders of the St Andrews
Golf Club.
Service of Heirs in Scotland shows the widow of the last Maurice of
Pitcullo inheriting the property from her husband in 1786.
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The New Jersey Trents.
There is a considerable amount of online biographical information
about William of Trenton and his most famous son, Major William Trent.
This article is focused on tracing patrilineal lines of descent and
documenting dates and relationships, so look elsewhere if you want
a biography. The Jim
Mackay article has considerable information on William of Trenton and
his brothers, and other links within this section are very informative. It is frequently claimed that William of Trenton was born in 1653, but
this is incompatible with documentation showing that his parents married
in 1662 and he was their third son. It looks like William was actually born around 1667, and his older
brothers Captain James and Maurice of Philadelphia were born around 1663 and 1665,
respectively. It is frequently claimed that the children of William of
Trenton were born in the 1680s, which is incompatible with records showing
that William married his first wife Mary Burge between 1692 and 1696.
As mentioned in the previous section, William of Trenton's
brother James had no known wife or children. His brother Maurice of
Philadelphia had two daughters but no sons. Therefore the known Y-DNA line
of William of Inverness passed down only through his son
William of Trenton, and continued to filter down through a rather sparse
number of sons until it finally daughtered out in 2002. It is possible
that patrilineal descendants of the William of Inverness line still exist,
but Y-DNA testing can't prove anything without a documented line of descent.
A more realistic timeline for the William of Trenton Family, focusing on the
patrilineal line:
- William of Trenton (about 1667-12/25/1724). Died intestate, oldest son
James inherited the estate.
- Children with first wife Mary Burge (aft 1671-1708; she married
William of Trenton between 1692 and 1696). The birthdates below are
estimates assuming that
children were born about every two years.
- James of Trenton (about 1696 - bef 10/21/1734).
Died intestate and deeply in debt under circumstances suggesting
that he may have been embezzling from the government. Seems to have frittered
away the family fortune during his lifetime. There are no records
naming his heirs, possibly because there was nothing left for anyone
to inherit. No record of a wife or children, but also no
evidence that he wasn't married. He had outlived his brothers John
and Maurice. If he had no wife or children, his heir would have been
his half-brother Major William.
- John (about 1698 - bef 10/11/1726). Died intestate. No record of
a wife or children, but also no evidence that he wasn't married.
Seems less likely than James to have married and had children, since
he was younger and didn't have inherited property at his disposal.
- Maurice of Trenton (abt 1700 - 1730). No wife or children. His will
left his property to his brothers James and William and his friend Thomas
Palmer; James Trent was an executor.
- Mary???? Despite longtime claims, it is not clear whether
William of Trenton actually had a daughter. If he did, she did
not marry Nathaniel French. If she existed, we can estimate a birthdate around 1702. There is no other information.
According to
Jim
Mackay some of our information on the family came from William of
Trenton's great-great-granddaughter Anna Rossell. Her information wasn't
entirely correct, since she is the source of the apparently erroneous
immigration date. But if the information on a daughter Mary came from her,
there might be something to it.
- Children
with second wife Mary Coddington (1692-1772; married William of Trenton
in 1710)
- Thomas (6/1/1711-8/29/1711)
- Major William Trent (about 1715-1787). The only child of
William of Trenton with known descendants; his patrilineal
descendants were not abundant, but the line continued
into the 21st century, daughtering out in 2002. Captain William
had a colorful career as a fur trader and military officer, and is famous enough to have a lengthy
Wikipedia biography.
- the children of Major William
Trent included four daughters; a son William (1754-bef 1784) who
died without known issue; and Dr. John Trent (1768-1809)
who did have issue.
- the children of Dr. John Trent were two daughters; sons Isaac
Dubose Trent (1800-1855, no known issue); John Edward Trent
(1805-1812, no issue), and William Henry Trent (1802-1854)
who did have issue.
- The only son of William Henry Trent was John Locke Trent
(1839-1910). John Locke's sons John Junior, James and Harral had no known
issue. His son Wylie J. Trent had an adopted son named Morris
and a biological son named Wylie D. Trent. Wylie D died in
2002 with no known issue, and that was the end of the known
patrilineal line of the Pennsylvania/New Jersey Trents.
It is often reported, incorrectly, that William of Trenton immigrated to
Pennsylvania in 1682. Jim
Mackay says that the records show that William was a student in
Inverness in 1683, but both William and his brother James were listed as
residents of Philadelphia on the 1693 Pennsylvania tax rolls, giving an
arrival date of 1683-1693. There is a record of Maurice in Philadelphia in
1689. The origin of
the 1682 claim is apparently William's great-great-granddaughter Anna Rossell
as well as a fawning book chapter in Genealogy of Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing "Old Hunterdon County" New Jersey.
This chapter includes the information that William of Trenton's son James was probably
unmarried or without children (which has no evidence to support it); that
William's son John was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas in Philadelphia and
was succeeded by his brother Maurice in that office
(which is true); and that William's daughter Mary married Nathaniel French
(which is untrue. Nathaniel French's wife Mary was not the daughter of
William of Trenton, and there is no known evidence showing that William had
a daughter at all). There is a full-text version of this book on
Archive.org - tell it to search for William Trent within the text.
William lived in Philadelphia until 1721, when he made the move to New
Jersey, founding the city of Trenton in the process. He didn't live there
for very long. William's death on Christmas Day 1724 was initially attributed
to apoplexy.
Then in March 1737, two enslaved African men were arrested, tried and hanged
for poisoning a number of people including William of Trenton. Whether they
were actually guilty is very questionable (The William Trent House).
But at the very least they were claiming to have poisoned people to
advertise their poisoning skills to would-be customers. There's more on the case at
Mercer Genealogies and
New Jersey Colonial Documents.
Other links:-
The William Trent House history of the region and biography of
William of Trenton. It details the legal fight between William's oldest son
James and William's widow Mary Coddington over her dower rights after William died intestate
in 1724.
-
1689
Philadelphia Deeds 1683–1885
Maurice
Trent witnesses a document. This is probably Maurice of
Philadelphia, establishing that he was in Pennsylvania by 1689
- 1692
Philadelphia Wills 1682–1859,
1683–1706 Will of Sarah Eckley indicating
that all her children (William Burge, Mary Burge, Sarah Eckley
Jr) are underage and unmarried.
"Allsoe my will is that my son & daughter William & Mary Burge shall be under the tuition and Guardianship of my Executr in
Pensilvania during their minority, And that my daughter Sarah shall be placed
with my friend Hanah Delavall to be Educated untill shee attaine the her full age of one & twenty yeares or be married”
1693
William
Trent & Company is on the
Philadelphia tax list, the first one ever
made. Also on
JSTOR.
1695
New Jersey History Records Maurice Trent of Leith, Scotland gives
power of attorney to his nephew Maurice Trent of Pennsylvania, to serve
as his agent in a land transaction in West Jersey. There's an
additional entry
here.
1696
Pennsylvania Land Records 1696–1705
Establishes that William Trent and Mary Burge had married by
1696."the said Sarah Eckley being so seized of the said messuage and
other the premises did make her last will and testant in
writing dated the seventeenth day of the sixth month one
thousand six hundred ninety two and thereby did will and devise
(amongst other things) that her Estate both in this province
and elsewhere should be equally divided between her three
children to wit, William Burge , Mary Burge and Sarah Eckley
and in case if were found necessary or advantageous to her said
children that any of her real estate lands or tenent should be
sold before they should come of age… the said Burge being
attained unto his full age of one and twenty years and the said
Mary being intermarried with the said William Trent their
dividends or portions of their said mother Estate is become due".
1697
Philadelphia Wills on Ancestry - will of Captain James Trent,
dated 10/30/1697 and proved 7/29/1698. "Trent, James. Inverness,
Murryshire, Scotland. Merchant. Oct. 30, 1697. A. 407. At present in the
Province of PA, intending a voyage to sea. Whole estate to brother
William Trent of Phila. who is sole Executor. Edward Burwash, commander
of the ship Charles; Thomas Courts of London, merchant; Patrick Coutts
of Edinburgh, Scotland, merchant, and David Amya of Gottenburgh, Sweden,
merchant are mentioned. The original will is missing."
1697
Philadelphia Probate Records 1686–1699 Establishes
that Maurice of Philadelphia had died. Hard to read, but it involves Mary Trent the widow of Maurice Trent
of Philadelphia. Her second husband was Robert French.
United States Religious Histories mentions the marriage between Robert
French and Maurice's widow, as well as making some confusing statements about an
Andrew Hamilton who was born in Scotland around 1676 and was previously called
Trent. No idea what that's all about. It is not clear whether there is any
connection between Robert French and Nathaniel French (a real person who
apparently knew the family but did not marry William of Trenton's daughter).
1697
Pennsylvania Archives William Trent witnesses an Indian deed to William
Penn. William Trent purchased land from William Penn Junior in 1704 (History
of West Norriton)
1719 William Trent House Museum Facebook page article on the
research proving that the wife of Nathaniel French was not the daughter
of William of Trenton. Apparently the museum now takes for granted that
William didn't have a daughter at all, which seems rather extreme.
It can be difficult to document people in this time period, especially
women. It's still possible that William had a daughter, and we don't
know what became of her.
1724
New Jersey History Records James Trent and Alexander Lockart are bondsmen on the
estate of William Trent.
William's widow Mary Coddington renounces her right to serve as
administrator, which frees her up to sue James Trent over her dower
rights; apparently she already knew that she would have trouble getting
what she was owed. The estate is worth
£1100.
1726
Pennsylvania Genealogies Maurice of Trenton is
appointed Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the Court of Common
Pleas, taking the place of his deceased brother John. This
is the only record of John that I have seen. A 1726
Hunterdon Court record shows Maurice doing the clerk job in
a case where his brother James is a judge. A new clerk was
appointed in February 1730 to replace Maurice, who had died (Pennsylvania
Genealogies)
1729 William's oldest son James sold the Trent House to Mary Coddington's half-brother William Morris of Barbados (William
Trent House history of the building). The price/value is not
specified. In 1728, James Trent lost a legal fight with his stepmother Mary Coddington
over her dower rights in William of Trenton's estate, and had to turn over considerable
property to her (The William Trent House).
It is not clear whether the transfer of the home is related to this;
apparently James wasn't legally required to transfer ownership of the
house, but it might have been a
financial necessity. William Morris's place of residence doesn't seem to indicate
any connection to the Trent family of Barbados.
1730
New Jersey History Records says the will of Maurice Trent leaves land to half-brother William Trent. Brother James Trent is executor.
Another entry
here says that James and William both inherited property from
their deceased brother Maurice. A
1731 grantor record confirms that James inherited land from Maurice.
Other records related to Maurice's estate:
#1,
#2,
#3,
#4,
#5,
#6
1735
Hunterdon Court Records Nathaniel French is the administrator of the
estate of James Trent. French's connection to the Trents is unclear; he
was previously thought to have married William of Trenton's daughter
Mary, but this has been disproved. There are numerous entries in this
record all mentioning debt, but no amounts are specified. There's
another record
here; other records for the estate exist but I didn't bother to
collect all the links since they didn't provide information on heirs or
debt amounts.
1742
New Jersey History Records The estate of James Trent, deceased commissioner of
the Hunterdon County loan office, still owes
£20,000 to the county for monies
that were in his hands prior to his death in 1734. There's no
indication that the county ever collected this debt, and apparently no
one knows where the money went. It makes you wonder whether James was
embezzling, and whether his death was a suicide to escape his financial
problems. You also have to wonder what James could have done with that
much money. Did he have a gambling problem? There are several entries about the
£20K in this record, plus
an entry about £10K where it's not
clear whether this is a separate item or is included in the
£20K. Compare this massive
debt to the estate worth
£1100 that James inherited from his
father William of Trenton.
1742
New Jersey History Records William Burge (the brother of William of
Trenton's first wife Mary Burge) is a creditor of the estate of William Trent, unadministered by James Trent deceased. Samuel Burge
(William Burge's son) is administrator now. It is shocking that
the estate of William Trent is still open 18 years after his death in
1724. Most estates were closed within a year or two of death. The
settlement of William's estate would have been delayed by the legal
battle between his son James and his widow Mary Coddington, but that
case was settled in 1728. After that there was no known obstacle
to settling the estate, but we can guess that James Trent (the
administrator) didn't have the money to pay the debts and that's why the
estate remained open. There is no indication that the Burges ever
received the money they were owed.
Forgotten Children
is an article on the trade in trafficking Scottish children to the
Americas as indentured servants. Chapter 2 (starting on page 25) is a
study of the Trent and Coutts families. It talks about the Inverness/Leith
families, the Pennsylvania/New Jersey families, and the Barbados family.
Maurice of Philadelphia participated enthusiastically in the trafficking
of Scottish children in the late 1690s. Here are some court
records related to his activities:
#1,
#2,
#3,
#4
Burlington Court Book of
West New Jersey 1680-1709 Capt James Trent was trading in Scottish
children too (multiple mentions, search for James Trent in the text). The
Archives of Maryland Online
contain a July 1697 letter reporting an incident where James Trent came
to Philadelphia in a ship with 36 guns, bringing in 150 Scottish
servants, with plans to go to Barbados next.
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| Group 2 speculation including the Burgess connection.
Is it possible that Group 2 descends from the Scotland/New Jersey
Trents? The answer is yes, it is entirely possible, but
we can't use DNA to prove anything since the known patrilineal lines
have daughtered out for all the Scotland/New Jersey families. The
discovery of some previously-unknown documents might establish a
link, but without a documented line to compare to there's no way to
prove a connection using DNA. All we can do is speculate on how such a
connection might have come about.
Group 2 has a mysterious connection to two family
lines named Burgess in the southern US, and we can't tell whether the common ancestor
was a Trent, a Burgess, or a different surname that somehow inserted
its DNA into both families. We can't tell exactly when or where the
common ancestor lived. Trent Group 2 consists of lines descending
from two individuals who lived in Virginia: Henry Trent of Amherst
who was born before 1725, and William Trent husband of Sarah Bryant
(called William/Bryant in this article) who was born before 1740. No
known birthplace or parent/sibling information for either one of them We
don't have enough information to determine the relationship between
Henry of Amherst and William/Bryant, but they were probably not
father and son since Henry's will doesn't mention a son named
William. They could have been brothers, first cousins, uncle
and nephew, or some other relationship.
The Group 2 Trents share a Y-DNA match with the descendants of (1)
Rev. William Burgess (1742-1838), possibly born in Virginia then
lived successively in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama (Burgess
Surname DNA Project) and (2) William Burgess of Ninety Six
District South Carolina (1744-1785) (Burgess
Surname DNA Project). The relationship between these two
William Burgesses is unknown, but they probably aren't brothers
since they have the same first name, and they're too close in age to
be father and son.
The common ancestor between the Group 2 Trents and these Burgess
lines obviously must have been born no later than about 1720, and
was probably born before 1700. The Scotland/New Jersey Trent
families had three merchant sea captains who were active before 1700
(Maurice of Leith, Maurice of Philadelphia, and Captain James),
definitely trading between Britain, Philadelphia and Barbados, but
probably stopping in other American ports as well. It would have
been very easy for one of them to have a son or two with a woman
named Burgess in one of these ports, and for their DNA line to
spread out from there. A ship belonging to Lawrence Trent of
Barbados is known to have traded with Virginia, but there's no
indication that any Trents were on board the ship.
That's one possible explanation for how
Scotland/New Jersey Trent DNA could have ended up in the Burgess
family. But we still have to explain how Henry of Amherst and
William/Bryant could have acquired this DNA. The timeline suggests that one of the sons from William of Trenton's first
marriage could be their father. James and John Trent were old enough
to marry and have children in the right time period. We have no
evidence indicating that either one had a wife and children, but we also
have no evidence indicating that they didn't. There is no
information on the estate settlement or heirs of James Trent, who
seems to have been surrounded by debt and financial chaos when he
died in 1734. If he had any sons, their prospects would have been poor
in New Jersey after his death, and starting a new life in Virginia may
have seemed liked a good idea. The first record of Henry of Amherst
is in Virginia in 1746. The first definite record of William/Bryant
is in Henry County VA in 1783, when he already had adult children;
he might or might not be the same William Trent who was recorded in
Amelia County VA starting in 1753.
The son from William of Trenton's second marriage, Major William,
doesn't look like a viable candidate to be the founder of this line
even though he was a traveling man who had opportunities to spread
his DNA around. He was born around 1715 and is too young to be the
father of Henry of Amherst, who was born before 1725. Major William
was old enough to sire children in the 1740s but apparently wasn't in Virginia until the 1750s,
and is
not known to have spent any time in the Carolinas (Wikipedia).
There's also Mary, the possibly-nonexistent daughter of William of
Trenton. If she did exist, we know that she didn't marry Nathaniel
French, but she could have had illegitimate children whose last
name would have been Trent. We can hypothesize about a traveling man
named Burgess who did the deed, or an unsavory option where she had children
resulting from incest.
Of course it's very possible that the Group 2
Trents and their Burgess cousins have nothing at all to do with the
Scotland/New Jersey Trents. Their common ancestor could have been
someone who lived in Britain a long time ago, and the surname
difference may have arisen before immigration to the New World began. Henry
Trent of Varina Parish is the only early-immigrant Trent in
Virginia whose line can be documented, but there were other Trent
immigrants to Virginia (Genealogy.com)
who didn't leave a paper trail. The Group 2 Trents could have
descended from any one of them, or from an immigrant Trent who
didn't leave any record at all.
Before the DNA project established that Henry of
Varina Parish was NOT the ancestor of the Group 2 Trents, it was
plausibly speculated that he was the grandfather of Henry of Amherst
through his son John, and the grandfather of William/Bryant through
his son William/Ursula (see my Virginia Trent articles including the
sections
here and
here). But even though Henry is not their grandfather, it is
still possible that Henry's wife Elizabeth Sherman is their
grandmother, if Henry's son John had unexpected paternity and was
the father of both Henry of Amherst and William/Bryant. This is
certainly possible. We have no information on John's descendants or
his DNA type, but we
know that his brother William/Ursula has unexpected paternity, with
Y-DNA matching the Howells of Southampton instead of the Trents of
Varina Parish. We don't have documentation showing a man named
Burgess in the area who could be John's
father, but that doesn't mean that someone wasn't there.
The first wife of William of Trenton was named Mary Burge, and the
names Burge and Burgess are very similar to each other. On the
surface, it looks like hanky panky between the Burge and Trent
families might explain the Group 2 Trent-Burgess connection.
But on closer inspection this does NOT appear to be a viable
explanation. This is discussed in the next section.
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| The Mary Burge family.
Mary Burge (aft 1671-1708) was the daughter of John Burge, a
Quaker who apparently immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1681 with William Penn
and died by 1685. Burge's widow Sarah then married a man named John Eckley who died before 1692, and she is called Sarah Eckley in the
relevant documents. These documents show that Sarah had only two
children with John Burge, a son William and a daughter Mary; she
also had a
daughter Sarah Junior with her second husband John Eckley.
As discussed earlier, Mary Burge married William of
Trenton between 1692 and 1696. They definitely had three sons named
James, John and Maurice, born around 1700 more or less, and may or
may not have had a daughter named Mary born before 1708. There
are no rumors of any other children from this marriage.
Mary's brother William Burge (abt 1673-1745) had
only one child, a son named Samuel who was born before 1721 and died
in Philadelphia in 1779. Samuel had three daughters who survived to
adulthood, all born in the 1760s, and no surviving sons.
We can't explain the Trent-Burgess connection by
hanky panky amongst this family because there simply weren't enough
family members for anyone to have hanky panky with. The Trent boys
and Samuel Burge didn't have female cousins that they could mess
around with. One hopes that William Burge didn't fool around with
his brother-in-law's wife, because she was his sister. Nothing would
have been accomplished if William of Trenton fooled around with his
brother-in-law's wife, because she had only one son whose line
daughtered out in the next generation. There's no sign of
anyone who could have headed south to establish Burgess families
there by the 1740s. Links:
"Indenture made the first day Sarah Burge of the first month in the year of… One thousand
Six Hundred eighty and five and in the Second year of the Reign of King James the second over England etc , Between Sarah Burge of the
Town and County of Havetford West, widdow late wife and relict of John Burge of Haverford west
aforesaid clothier now Deceased of the one part and John Eckley"
1689 Pennsylvania
Patent Records it is confirmed that land previously granted to John Burge is now in the right of John Eckley who married the Burge widow
1692
Philadelphia Wills 1682–1859,
1683–1706 Will of Sarah Eckley indicating
that all her children (William Burge, Mary Burge, Sarah Eckley
Jr) are underage and unmarried. "Allsoe my will is that my son & daughter William & Mary Burge shall be under the tuition and Guardianship of my Executr in
Pensilvania during their minority, And that my daughter Sarah shall be placed
with my friend Hanah Delavall to be Educated untill shee attaine the her full age of one & twenty yeares or be married”
1696
Pennsylvania Land Records 1696–1705
Establishes that William Trent and Mary Burge had married by
1696."the said Sarah Eckley being so seized of the said messuage and
other the premises did make her last will and testant in
writing dated the seventeenth day of the sixth month one
thousand six hundred ninety two and thereby did will and devise
(amongst other things) that her Estate both in this province
and elsewhere should be equally divided between her three
children to wit, William Burge, Mary Burge and Sarah Eckley
and in case if were found necessary or advantageous to her said
children that any of her real estate lands or tenent should be
sold before they should come of age… the said the Burge being
attained unto his full age of one and twenty years and the said
Mary being intermarried with the said William Trent their
dividends or portions of their said mother Estate is become due".
1745
Pennsylvania
Wills 1736-1748 Will of William Burge mentioning his wife Elizabeth and stating that Samuel Burge is his only child.
United States Religious Histories Book showing Samuel Burge's lineage.
He had no surviving sons.
1686
Philadelphia Deeds 1683-1885 Anthony Burges, Plaisterer in an agreement with Michael Yard, Carpenter.
This is the only other person named Burge or Burgess recorded in the area
during the relevant time period. He’s also on the
1693 tax list.
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| The Scotland Trents of Midlothian/East Lothian/Edinburgh. Records show a
cluster of Trent families in the Midlothian/East Lothian/Edinburgh
area in the 1600s. These are mostly baptism records that let us
connect children to parents but do little else. One of these
families is apparently connected to the Trents of Barbados. Some of
the place names have changed, for example Midlothian was previously
called Edinburgshire and the town of Newbattle was previously called
Newbottle. All records below are based on birth and baptism records from
FamilySearch and
Ancestry
unless specified otherwise. Records from Newbattle, Midlothian:
- James Trent, died in Newbattle 3/30/1636 (Ancestry)
- The children of William Trent and Margaret Nicholson. This is the line that appears to be connected to the Barbados Trents.
Service of Heirs in Scotland shows that William died in 1689 and
his heir was John Trent son of Laurence Trent Merchant in Barbados
who succeeded to the property of his uncle William Trent in
Newbottle. The record is dated 1703. This suggests (1) that William
outlived all of his own children, or all of them had died without
issue by 1703 leaving William's nephew John of Barbados as the sole
heir, and (2) that Lawrence of Barbados was the brother of William
of Newbattle. William's children were:
- Jennit Trent 7/13/1667; Lawrence Trent 8/9/1668, died before
1673; Alexander Trent 8/9/1668; Beatrix Trent 4/1/1670; Lawrence
Trent 2/16/1673. This is NOT Lawrence Trent of Barbados, who was
born around 1645.
- The children of John Trent and Agnes Lausone.
- John Trent 12/26/1619; Walter Trent 1/2/1621.
- The children of James Trent.
- Agnes Trent 12/14/1642; Robert Trent 7/24/1645; John Trent
2/26/1651, died 7/30/1657 (Ancestry); Alexander Trent 3/1/1652.
- The children of William Trent. Probably not the same William Trent who
married Margaret Nicholson.
Records from Edinburgh:
- The children of Robert Trent and Margaret Gilmour
- James Trent 12/14/1615, died before 1622; Jonet Trent
10/26/1617; Thomas Trent 2/20/1620; James Trent 5/16/1622.
- The children of Alexander Trent and Elizabeth Houme, died before 1624.
- Alexander Trent apparently remarried with Alisone Megget. His children with
her:
- Magdalene Trent 3/4/1624; James Trent 11/3/1626.
Records from Haddington, East Lothian:
- The children of William Trent and Cristiane Smith
- Agnes Trent 8/5/1641; Patrick Trent 7/27/1643; Christian
Trent 1/15/1651; Elizabeth Trent 3/9/1653; Archbald Trent
1/5/1655; Helein Trent 8/1/1657; William Trent 6/5/1659;
Marie Trent 1/20/1662.
- Patrick Trent the son of William Trent and Cristiane Smith became a minister
and died around 1737 in Linlithgow. He married Christian Sleig. Their children
were
- Archbald Trent the son of William Trent and Cristiane Smith married Margaret
Hendersone. Their children were:
Records from Stow, Midlothian:
- The children of John Trent
- Elizabeth Trent 7/27/1657.
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The Barbados Trents.
Although documents in the late 1600s-early 1700s indicate a connection to
the Trents of Newbattle, Midlothian, Scotland, the origins of the Barbados
Trents are mysterious. According to
Wikitree,
based on a now-defunct Trant Family Index, the family descends from a
Richard Trant born about 1620 who was governor of Barbados and had five sons
named Patrick, Thomas, Dominic, Richard and Garrett. There are grains
of truth in this story; the records show that Barbados never had a governor
named Trent or Trant, but they do show that Trents named Thomas and Richard
lived in Barbados, and they had a famous kinsman named Sir Patrick Trent who
never lived in Barbados. There is also a Lawrence Trent of Barbados who is
apparently related to the others, but the exact relationship is unclear. Garrett and Dominic Trent are shadowy
characters who actually existed, and both have been proposed as having a connection to Montserrat
(JSTOR Part
1, JSTOR
Part 2,
Wikitree,
Antigua Sugar Mills) but the accuracy of this is unknown and their
connection to the Trents of Barbados is uncertain. In any case we have no
information on the descendants of Garrett and Dominic so they will be
disregarded. JSTOR says that Sir Patrick's parents are unknown.
Lawrence Trent of Barbados (abt 1645-bef March 1693) is the most
visible of the Barbados Trents. He was a merchant involved in the
international shipping trade between Britain, Barbados and other ports.
There is no visible connection between Lawrence Trent and the merchant
families of Inverness/Leith and Philadelphia/New Jersey. But as
discussed in the previous section, Lawrence appears to be the brother of
William Trent of Newbattle, Midlothian, Scotland. William of Newbattle
is not known to have been involved in any kind of trading activities.
Lawrence is mentioned in the will of Richard Trent of Barbados,
demonstrating a connection between them; but the nature of the relationship is not specified.
Links for Lawrence Trent: - 1678
Barbados Wills and Administrations on Ancestry pg 37
Lawrence Trent is an executor of the will of his friend John Bond,
establishing that Lawrence was in Barbados by 1678. James Trent is a
witness. It is not clear who this James Trent is. Captain James
Trent of the Inverness/Philadelphia family was about 15 years old in
1678. He might have been old enough to go to sea but he was too young to witness legal documents.
- 1692
Barbados Wills and Administrations on Ancestry
pg 350 Abstract. Will of Lawrence Trent dated 7/11/1692 proved 3/23/1693. Leaves
property to eldest son John who is apparently of legal age, and to sons
William, Andrew and Lawrence who are all under age 20, specifying their birth order. Mentions daughters Elizabeth Trent and Agnes
Trent.
- 1692
Genealogies of Barbados Families page 528 Full text of the Will of
Lawrence Trent.
-
Forgotten Children
is an article on the trade in trafficking Scottish children to the
Americas as indentured servants. Chapter 2 (starting on page 25) first
calls him Lawrence Trent of Leith, then
says "Dobson reports a Lawrence Trent of Midlothian, also a Quaker,
as the owner of a Barbados plantation." The Dobson reference is
available
here, and it's just an abstract of Lawrence's will; it doesn't say
where the Midlothian information came from or that he was a Quaker. Lawrence is not
normally reported as a resident of Leith, but Leith and Newbattle are
only about 10 miles apart and both are more or less suburbs of
Edinburgh. Leith is the port city of Edinburgh, essential to the
shipping trade, and Newbattle is not. On page
22,
Forgotten Children
says "Some ships such as the Eve and Lamb, owned by
Lawrence Trent, made annual trips" for the transportation of felons, political
prisoners, beggars, vagrants and indentured servants.
Capitalism, Colonial Expansion and Forced Child Indenture in the British
Atlantic 1618-1776 says on
page 174 that the Ewe & Lamb owned by Lawrence Trent was searched at Leith in
1688 following allegations that adults and children had been kidnapped
and forced onto the vessel to be transported as servants.
-
Guthrie Genealogy
“I believe that these entries belong to Capt. John Guthrie, master of the Ewe and Lamb, a ship owned by several merchants in
Leith, Scotland,
a port town north of Edinburgh. The ship made no less than 5 transatlantic voyages to Virginia & Barbados transporting passengers and convicts…
The Ewe and Lamb, from Leith, Scotland, is known to have made trips to Virginia and Barbados in Jan 1667 (VA), 1668 (VA), 1669 (VA),
Feb 1670 (VA), May 1672 (VA), Feb 1679 (Barbados), and Aug 1683 (VA).” Note
that Lawrence Trent's ship is doing business with Virginia. But
there's no indication that Lawrence himself was a sea captain or
made these voyages himself.
Lawrence's children were:
- John of Barbados (1674-bef 6/2/1735) who married and had one son and
four daughters.
Genealogies of Barbados Families page 528 has the text of John's
1735 will listing his children and at least some of his grandchildren.
Service of Heirs in Scotland shows that William Trent of
Newbottle died in 1689 and his heir was John Trent son of Laurence Trent
Merchant in Barbados who succeeded to the property of his uncle William
Trent in Newbottle. The record is dated 1703. This suggests that
Lawrence of Barbados was the brother of William of Newbattle.
- William of Biddenden (1675-1/15/1740) who married twice but had no
children. William was born in Barbados then moved to England in 1693 for
schooling and stayed there. He was a vicar in Biddenden, Kent at the
time of his death. His heir and executor was his nephew Lawrence 3 of
Barbados (son of William's brother John of Barbados). There's no
indication of a family connection to Biddenden, apparently that’s just where William got a job.
- Andrew (1678-bef 10/22/1736) who never married but had an
illegitimate son named Andrew T who was born before 1736.
Genealogies of Barbados Families page 529 has the text of Andrew's
will. He leaves bequests to his son and his sister Agnes Burgess, and
leaves the rest to his nephew Lawrence 3 who is also the executor.
- Lawrence Junior (abt 1680-aft 1693), only information is a mention
in his father's will. He is not mentioned in the will of his brothers
John or Andrew, who died in 1735 and 1736 respectively.
- Elizabeth (died aft 1693), only information is a mention in her
father's will. She is not mentioned in the will of her brothers.
- Agnes, who married a man named Burgess and was widowed before 1737.
The last record of Agnes is in 1737. No information is available on her
husband's first name or whether they had any children. This does not
appear to be relevant to the Y-DNA match between the Group 2 Virginia
Trents and the Burgess lines in the southern US.
Lawrence's son John was the only child with known descendants. The name
of his wife is unknown, but John's children were:
- Lawrence, who I will call Lawrence 3 of Barbados (1714-9/26/1743).
Lawrence 3 married Jane Somers in London on 12/3/1734
(Ancestry;
it looks like this is really him). The children of Lawrence 3 were
-
John Trent 2 born about 1738 in Barbados, immigrated to England
and stayed there, ending the family's residence in Barbados.
Genealogies of Barbados Families page 527 confirms that “There are no longer any descendants in the male line… in Barbados”.
John 2 died April 1786 in
England.
Genealogies of Barbados Families page 531 has the wills of John 2, his son John 3,
and grandson John Constantine. John 2 married Mary Phipps in England in 1769; they had one
son John 3 born 1/26/1771 in London, died on 8/6/1796 in
Somerset, England. John 3 had three sons:
- John Constantine Trent
1793-1846; Constantine Estwick Trent 1794-1845; and Francis
Onslow Trent 1797-1846. John Constantine and Constantine
Estwick died without issue, while Francis Onslow had seven
children including four sons. There was also a daughter Eliza 1796-1855 who married Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny
- Elizabeth Trent (aft 1734-1797), married Abraham Carleton
Cumberbatch around 1753 in Barbados and is the ancestor of actor
Benedict Cumberbatch (Daily
Mail)
- Lavinia Trent (1743-after 1771), married Isaac Lavine.
- Daughters Susannah Trent (abt 1710-bef 1735), married Col John
Pickering; Sarah Trent (abt 1710), married Robert Yeamans and
William Dowding; Elizabeth Trent (abt 1710) married Edward Denny;
Agnes Trent (abt 1710), married John Denny
The best source of information that I've found for the children of
Francis Onslow Trent is the well-documented
Olive Branches tree on Ancestry. His children were:
- Three daughters who never married (Jeannette Eliza 1825-1901; Julia
Fanny 1829-1906; Florence Adeliza 1838-1916).
- Three sons who had no children (Col. Harrison Walke John
Trent-Stoughton 1830-1899; Major John Trent 1833-1877; Capt. George
Edmund Phipps Trent 1836-1896
- Major General Francis Constantine Trent 1832-1892. Married Emily Ann
Martelli in Gibraltar in 1860. Their children were:
- Daughters
Constance Hyde Trent 1867-1951 and Gertrude Julia Trent 1876-1935. A son
who never married, Major Francis Harrison Trent 1865-1950
-
Another son, Col. George Alexander Trent 1870-1930, born in Malta
and died in Kenya. He married Ivy Murielle MacKenzie Kennedy in
India in 1906. Their children were:
- A daughter, Ivy Joan
Emily Trent 1908-1962; a son George Michael Harrison Trent
1914-1962 who married in 1938 but there's no info on whether he
had children; a son John Herbert Trent 1917-1955 with no
information on whether he married or had children.
- Another son, Francis Harold Noel Trent who married Margery
Elizabeth Tweedie in 1934. They had five children but there is
no information on whether any of these kids had children of
their own: George Hugh Francis Trent 1935-1986; Nigel
Welby Trent 1939-aft 1964; Jeremy William Trent 1941-1981;
Margaret Julia Anne Trent b. 1944; Priscilla Trent b. abt. 1945.
Links for William of Biddenden:
-
FindAGrave listing with considerable biographical information.
- 1740
Will of William Trent on Ancestry. This is the original
document.
- 1741?
Estate documents discussing the decrepitude of the Biddenden
property
- 1742 William had business dealings with Henry Gibbs, formerly of
Barbados and now of Charleston SC. Lawrence 3 inherited William's
interest, and this
South Carolina land record deals with it. As William's executor,
Lawrence 3 seeks to collect debts owed by Henry Gibbs. John Trent of Barbados is mentioned. Page 418 says that Lawrence Trent gave money to Gibbs in 1727.
Links for Lawrence 3:
The other Barbados Trents As discussed earlier, it is commonly
claimed that there were two brothers Richard and Thomas Trant/Trent who lived in Barbados and had at least one other
brother, Sir Patrick Trant/Trent who never lived in Barbados. A book on
Barbados Wills and Administration Vol III on Ancestry bears this out, showing the following
and also mentioning Lawrence Trent whose relationship to this family is
unknown: - Will of
Richard Trant late of Barbados, dated 7/7/1684, recorded 5/18/1705.
Names near kinsman Patrick Trant of London as executor and guardian of
son John Trant. Lawrence Trent Esq is listed as an overseer of the
estate. The next page in the book has an essentially identical entry.
There is no further information on Richard's underage son John.
- Deposition by Ann Trant the widow and administrator of Thomas Trant,
also the administrator of Richard Trant and Sir Patrick Trant.
The will book tells us nothing about the children of
Thomas Trant, but according to
Wikitree
he had three daughters; a son Richard (1684-1727) with no known children;
and a son Dominic (1687-1762) who had a daughter and a son James Trant Esq
(1723-1762). James Trant had one son, Dominick Henry Trant (1746-bef 1796).
Dominick Henry had two sons, both of whom died with no known issue: Henry
Dillon-Trant (abt 1780-1857) and James Trant (abt 1780-1804).
Their famous brother, Sir Patrick Trant, had four daughters and five sons
(Sir John, Charles, James, Richard and Lawrence). It is certainly suggestive
that he had a son named Lawrence, who later became a baronet. Page 244 of
The
Trant Family on JSTOR says "It is very doubtful whether any descendants
of Sir Patrick Trant now survive, or if any of his sons left lawful male
issue". The available documents suggest that the line had daughtered out.
Page 241 of
The
Trant Family on JSTOR mentions a Maurice Trant of Dublin in connection
with Sir Patrick in 1691. It is not clear who this is. Ancestry has
several records of a Maurice Trant in Ireland:
#1,
#2,
#3,
#4. Some of these records could relate to international businessman
Maurice of Leith, but the will/estate records probably aren't him.
The
Barbados St Michael Parish records show that a Mr. Maurice Trent was
buried there on 10/30/1680 (toward the bottom right corner of the page).
It's not clear who this is. He appears to be an adult, and he doesn't appear
to fit into the Inverness/Leith family.
Barbados and Scotland links, 1627-1877
pg 142 mentions a militiaman named Maurice Trent in Barbados in 1679; he seems likely to be the same person.
The book is also available
here.
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Article by
Group 2 Trent descendant Carolyn H. 2026 All rights reserved
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