Temperance Flowerdew was wife of two Governors of Virginia, sister of another early colonist,[5] aunt to a representative at the first General Assembly[6] and "cousin-german" (first cousin) to the Secretary to the Colony.
[11] Mrs. Temperance Barrow sailed for Jamestown aboard the Faulcon [sic] commanded by Captain and council member John Martin,[12] in May 1609[4][13] in a convoy of nine ships as part of the Virginia Company of London's Third Supply Mission.
The flagship of the convoy, the Sea Venture, had the new leaders for Jamestown aboard, including future husband George Yeardley.
[4] The Sea Venture became separated from the rest of the convoy, ultimately coming aground on the island of Bermuda,[4] where it was stranded for months.
[4] As provisions grew scarce, some thirty colonists tried to steal corn from Powhatan, but most of the men were slain during the attempt, only two escaping.
[15] Frances was the daughter of Roger Appleyard of Stanfield (d.1528) and Elizabeth Scott (d.1549), who married secondly Sir John Robsart of Syderstone (d.1557).
Exactly a month later he was appointed to serve three years as governor of Virginia, and was knighted by James VI and I during an audience at Newmarket on 24 November.
The year 1618 seems to be conjecture by James P. C. Southall in his 1947 article Concerning George Yardley and Temperance Flowerdew: A Synopsis and Review.
[30] In her will, dated 3 February 1625/6 and proven 4 December 1626, she leaves ‘my daughter Temperance Yeardley alias Flowerdew my seal ring of gold’.
[34] He owned another private plantation upriver on the south side of the James River opposite Tanks Weyanoke, named Flowerdew Hundred.
With a population of about thirty, Flowerdew Hundred Plantation was economically successful with thousands of pounds of tobacco produced along with corn, fish and livestock.
The windmill was an English post design and was transferred by deed in the property's 1624 sale to Abraham Piersey, a Cape Merchant of the London Company.
[36] In 1624, Yeardley sold Flowerdew Hundred to Abraham Piersey, and the deed from that sale is said to be the oldest in America.