William Farrar (councillor)
In the following year, Farrar became involved in North America's first breach of promise case when he proposed to Samuel Jordan's widow, Cecily, who was allegedly engaged to another man.
[3] He was the 3rd son of John Farrar of Croxton[1] and London, Esquire, a wealthy merchant and landowner with various holdings in West Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Hertfordshire,[4] and Cecily Kelke, an heiress [5] and direct descendant of Edward III of England.
[6] The nineteenth century historian of Virginia, Alexander Brown, states that while in England, William Farrar received an education in law.
[14]: 60 Farrar left London on Neptune[15]: 209 on March 16, 1617/18 [note 3][16] along with Virginia's governor, Thomas West, Baron De La Warr.
De La Warr had been commissioned by the Virginia Company to return to the colony with fresh people and supplies to help it achieve political and economic stability,[17]: 375–384 but he died en route.
[24] Instead of proceeding to Virginia, the Garland's captain, William Wye left the remaining passengers in Bermuda and sailed the repaired ship directly back to England.
[28]: 46 Sometime afterward, Farrar proposed marriage to Jordan's pregnant widow, Cecily, which involved him in the first breach of promise suit filed in North America.
[9]: 891 [29] Reverend Greville Pooley claimed he had first proposed marriage three or four days after Samuel Jordan had died and Cecily had accepted.
[38] To this end, he commissioned a new structure, consisting of a governor, Sir George Yeardley, and 13 councillors, including William Farrar, to govern the royal colony on behalf of the Crown's interest.
[31]: 106 When his commission was renewed by Governor Sir John Harvey in 1632, it also mandated that the court could only be in session when Farrar was present.
[49] For example, he is listed in patents as selling headrights to the settler William Andrewes around 1628[50]: 13 and surrendering land to Nathan Martin for the transport of servants in 1636.
[22] He then sold the assets from his inheritance to his brothers, including his annuity for £240 and his landholdings for £200, for a total of £440 (equivalent to about $158,000 today)[51] and returned to Virginia.
[45]: 224 By the time of his death, he had established his headright to a 2000 acre land patent at a site that included Dutch Gap and the former settlement of Henrico.
[24] Instead of proceeding to Virginia, the Garland's captain, William Wye left the remaining passengers in Bermuda and sailed the repaired ship directly back to England.
[note 6] After Farrar's death, the headright was repatented to his oldest son,[53] his namesake who was about twelve years old at the time, by John Harvey, who had returned from England and resumed his role as colony's governor.
[54] The patent covered a peninsula formed by meander loop, or curl,[55] of the James River subsequently known as Farrar's Island, describing it as abutting the glebe lands of Varina in the east, and extending to the James River in the south, the end of the island (i.e., peninsula) in the west, and "to the woods" in the north.
[56][57] In modern times, Farrar's Island is part of the Dutch Gap Conservation Area and Henricus Historical Park, both administered by Chesterfield County, Virginia.
