History and genealogy of Peter Montague, of Nansemond and ...

DESCENDANTS OF PETER MONTAGUE. 5
was "wild" to any alarming extent. If he ran away, records at least
show that he was among those who came to America openly and in
a legal manner. The record is that he was " duly examined by the
Minister at Gravesend [Eng.] touching his conformitie to the orders
and discipline of the Church of England and took the oath of alle-
giance and supremicie to the King." It is true he was under age,
being only 18, and it is also true that no schools were founded until
the arrival of the company with whom he came. It is quite possible
that he may have been one of the founders of the first school
established in Virginia.
The ancient name of Virginia appears to have been Wingandacoa,
it received the name of Virginia in honor of England's Virgin Queen
—Elizabeth. She died March 24, 1602-3 which was the same year
that Peter Montague was born. This Queen was of Montague
descent through her grandmother Elizabeth, dau. of Edward IV. On
the same day and year of her death James the VI. of Scotland was
proclaimed James the First, King of England. He too was of Mon-
tague descent through both his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, and
his father, Henry lord Dernly^. It was during the reign of this
King James, and under his special care and protection, that the first
Colony was established in Virginia.
Little could even the most sanguine of the early emigrants to
America have contemplated the subsequent effect which their action
would work upon the world's history. Many of them were men of
small means but they possessed large hearts and consciences. They
were the seed grains from which the mighty Republic has sprung.
Virginia was first visited by Sir Walter Raleigh in the year 1584 ; to
whom the first Letters Patent were granted for making a Plantation
there. But no Colony was sent thither till the year 1606. The first
to any purpose was in the year 1607, under the conduct of Capt.
Gosnoll, John Smith, and Mr. Edward Maria Wingfield who carried
a colony thither of 100 persons, but of these many died of sickness, or
* Edmund Mortimer Earl of March, grandson of William Montague, by his dau. Philippa
married Philippa, dau. of Lionel Duke of Clarence, son of King Edward III. From this
marriage was descended Edward IV. King of England and a long line of royal personages.
Mary Queen of Scots and her husband lord Dernly were cousins. She was of Montague
descent through her grandmother Margaret, the aunt of Queen Elizabeth and sister of Henry
VIII. who was married to James IV. of Scotland. He was slain at Flodden Field, and
Margaret re-married Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus and their dau. Margaret was the
mother of Henry lord Dernly by her marriage with Mathew Stewart Earl of Lennox.— [See
Peerage of Scotland p. 335, and Camden's Brit. p. 91S, and Chronicles of the Kings by Sir R.
Baker p. 269, also Burke's Royal Families.]