Christopher BIRCKHEAD

1620 - 1676  (55 years)

• Birth	20 Sep 1620	Redcliffe, Bristol, Bristol, ENGLAND
  Immigratn	1663	Anne Arundel Co., MD   [1]
  Note	Christopher Birckhead II acquired several large parcels of land in Maryland but was a mariner by trade and apparently retained his residence in England. He wrote his will at Bristol on 11 November 1675 and it was proved there on 25 October the next year. He bequeathed his 500-acre plantation in Anne Arundel Co., MD known as "Birkheads" to his wife Joane and son Nehemiah, the latter to have it all after his wife's decease. He gave to his son Solomon 400 acres in Talbot County, MD known as "Bristoll" and "Brickheads Lot" in Anne Arundel County. The rest of his land was given to his son Eleazer. He also gave his wife and son Nehemiah each a 1/16 share in a shop (should this read ship?) "Society of Bristol"; his ship "Friendship" was bequeathed jointly to Solomon and Eleazer. He also mentioned his brother Abraham and his sister Margaret Smith, a widow. Christopher Birckhead b. 1630, Parish of St. Mary's Redclift, Bristol, Eng. He was a shipwright & mariner as his family was. He 1st appears among the records of the society of Friends 1654. He was sent to jail for unsolicited preaching in the Anglican Church of St. Stephens, Bristol, Eng. From there he went to New Rochelle, France where he suffered imprisonment for the same unsolicited outcries against the established church. He fled to Holland (Zealand) where he suffered the same punishment. Copies in Dutch & the original of this tract is on file at the Friends Library in London, Eng. The tract was sent from Holland to George Fox, the acknowledged founder of Quakerism in 1657.
  Will	11 Nov 1675  [1]
  	In his last moments, Christopher told his friend Colonel Samuel Chew that he had left a will in England. It bequeaths to Joan and his son Nehemiah five hundred acres called "Birckhead's" in Anne Arundel County. That plantation called "Little Bristol" in Talbot County on the north side of the great Choptank River, is to be divided as follows: Four hundred acres to his son Solomon and the rest to his son Eleazor. His son, Solomon is to receive his plantation called "Birckhead's Lot" on the Ridge in Anne Arundel. Solomon and Eleazer get his ship called the Friendship, now at sea, to be used by them till they are nineteen years old.
  Death	26 May 1676  [1, 2, 3]
  	Christopher was buried beside his first wife in the little burying plot of his plantation, which seems to have borne the name of "Birckhead's Meadows." In 1888 the tombstones were moved to St. James Parish Churchyard. They are said to be the oldest marked gravemarkers in the state of Maryland.
  Burial	St. James Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery, Lothian, Anne Arundel, MD   [3]
  	Find A Grave e-Memorial

  
  

  Father	Capt. Capt. Christopher BIRCKHEAD,   b. 1585   d. 16 Sep 1669, Bristol, Bristol, ENGLAND (Age 84 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth CORNISH,   c. 3 Apr 1594, Ste. Stephen Parish Church, Bristol, ENGLAND
  Family ID	F326	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Ann CHILDS   d. 1665, Anne Arundel Co., MD
  Marriage	Abt 1649	Bristol, Bristol, ENGLAND
  Children	1. Nehemiah BIRCKHEAD, I,   b. 1650   d. 11 Mar 1719/20 (Age 70 years)
  Family ID	F363	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Joane DAY   d. 20 Feb 1720, MD
  Marriage	Bristol, ENGLAND   [1]
  Children	1. Soloman BURCKETT   2. Eleazor BURCKETT
  Family ID	F364	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 20 Sep 1620 - Redcliffe, Bristol, Bristol, ENGLAND Marriage - Abt 1649 - Bristol, Bristol, ENGLAND Immigratn - 1663 - Anne Arundel Co., MD Burial - - St. James Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery, Lothian, Anne Arundel, MD Marriage - - Bristol, ENGLAND  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S31] Bond, Allen Kerr, The Birckheads of Maryland, 31. [S22] Avis G., Avis Correspondence, (12/27/1982), 22. [S500] Find A Grave, 500.