Revells of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and ... - Rotherham Web

In addition to the information presented above there are unconfirmed submitted IGI records at Rode, near Frome, Somerset, as
follows: Christopher Revell married Johan Grenland on September 14 th 1600, and Margaret Revell and an unnamed spouse on
October 12 th 1619, and at Dundry (five miles south of Bristol) where Johane Revelle married Thomas Dowling on June 12 th
1615, and at Wells where an Alice Revell married Richard Marshall on November 28 th 1636.
However, as previously stated, submitted records on the IGI are frequently unreliable. The marriage that supposedly took place
at Rode is elsewhere recorded as taking place at St Bartholomew the Great in London. On October 12 th 1619 Benjamin Downe,
of St. Giles-in-the-Fields (Soho), yeoman, married Margaret Revell, of same, spinster , daughter of — Revell, of Rhode,
Somerset, yeoman. 92 Rhode is probably Rode some five miles south of Frome, Somerset.
A Clement Revell, bachelor, who died in State service in Scotland in 1655 is possibly connected. 93
It has been suggested in some unreferenced trees on the web that Randall Revell who was in Virginia from 1633 / 4 and
94, 95
Maryland from 1640 emigrated from Bristol. This has not been confirmed, and at this era Revell records are sparse in
Somerset, although Bristol might just have been his port of embarkation.
Robert Revell, the Adventurer
In 1562 / 3 a Robert Revell is mentioned in connection with Robert Baker’s expeditions to Guinea (Guinie) in west Africa. His
identity is uncertain, but it seems likely that he was associated with the Revells of the City of London.
Robert Baker’s first voyage to Guinie in 1562 was financed by ‘Sir William Garrard, Sir William Chester, M. Thomas Lodge,
Anthony Hickman, and Edward Castelin’ and involved two ships, Minion and Primrose. The Minion is well documented as
active early in the reign of Elizabeth I, and both Minion and Primrose were provisioned at Gillingham (Kent). The cost of
ordnance for the Minion was £43 ls.7d and for the Primrose, £41. 96
Scott records, 97 ‘The ships started in February 1563, but the Portuguese had notice of their arrival on the African coast and the
voyage resolved itself into a running fight between the English vessels and some galleys sent to prevent them from trading. In
spite of the Minion being damaged by a cannon-shot the ships reached home safely on August 6th, bringing with them 166 tusks
weighing 1,758 Ibs. and 22 butts of "grains. No mention is made of gold, and it would appear that while the native merchants
were bringing it to the coast, the Portuguese galleys drove off' the English boats’.
.
The second voyage to Guinie and the river of Selto departed in November 1563 and was financed by ‘ Sir William Gerrard, Sir
William Chester, Sir Thomas Lodge, Maister Beniamin Goston, Maister William Winter, Maister Lionell Dueke, Anthonie
Hickman, and Edward Castelin’, again with two ships, ‘the John Baptist, wherein went for Maister, Laurence Rondellt: and the
other the Marlin, wherein went also for Maister, Robert Revell, having for Factors, Robert Baker, Iustinian Goodwine, Iames
Gleidell, and George Gage’: 98 The Marlin is sometimes referred to as the Merlin, as in the following account by Scott. 99
‘The expedition was to consist of three ships the Minion belonging to the Queen, the John Baptist of London and the Merlin of
Bristol. It is unlikely that this voyage yielded any considerable profit since the Merlin had been sunk through an accidental
powder explosion; and, when Hawkins last heard of the remaining ships, they had been prevented from trading by the
Portuguese, and there were grave doubts whether they could make the voyage home through want of supplies. Fortunately there
seems reason to believe that the outcome was less unsatisfactory, since there is reference to ships named the John Baptist and
Minion at subsequent dates’. For example, the Minion took part in an expedition dated October 2 nd 1567 in which John Hawkins
and Francis Drake participated. 100
The significance of the term ‘Maister’ is uncertain. It could imply that Robert Revell was the Merlin’s Sailing Master and thus
an experienced sailor responsible for the handling and navigation, and this interpretation has been made elsewhere, 101 based
92 Westminster Marriage Licences www.tim.ukpub.net/Manuscripts/Westminster_Licences.pdf
93 Administrations in The Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1655-1660
94 http://pmc.psych.northwestern.edu/revelle/revellehistory/randallrevell.html
95 New England Historical Magazine http://www.archive.org/stream/marylandhistori04dielgoog#page/n182/mode/1up/search/revel
96 ‘Bureaucracy in Elizabethan England: The Office of Naval Ordnance as a Case Study’ Robert J. Smith Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned
with British Studies, 1974, 6, 47–62 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4048211
97 ‘The Constitution And Finance Of English, Scottish And Irish Joint-Stock Companies To 1720’ Volume 2 William Robert Scott CUP 1910
http://www.archive.org/stream/constitutionfina02scotuoft#page/4/mode/2up/search/minion
98 The first voyage of Robert Baker
http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=chadwyck_ep%2FuvaGenText%2Ftei%2Fchep_1.0019.xml&chunk.id=0&query=revell
99 ‘The Constitution And Finance Of English, Scottish And Irish Joint-Stock Companies To 1720’ Volume 2 William Robert Scott CUP 1910
http://www.archive.org/stream/constitutionfina02scotuoft#page/4/mode/2up/search/minion
100 Sir Francis Drake http://www.archive.org/stream/sirfrancisdrake00corbiala/sirfrancisdrake00corbiala_djvu.txt
101 ‘A general history and collection of voyages and travels, arranged in systematic order: forming a complete history of the origin and progress of
navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time (1824)’’ by Robert Kerr and William
Stevenson http://www.archive.org/stream/generalhistoryco07kerrrich#page/298/mode/2up/search/revel
06/01/2014
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