Early Years
Peirce was born in England, perhaps about 1580, but little else is known of his early years. He is often confused with a William Pierce, also from England, who settled with the Pilgrims at Plymouth in what later became Massachusetts. Both had wives named Joane. The surname Peirce was spelled with dozens of variations, including Pierce, Pearse, Perse, Perce, and Peerce.
On June 2, 1609, Peirce, his wife, Joane, and their young daughter, also Joane, left England for the struggling colony in Virginia, part of a fleet that included nine ships and 600 passengers. Aboard the Blessing, Joane Peirce and her daughter arrived safely in Virginia sometime late in August. William Peirce, however, traveled on the flagship Sea Venture, which encountered a hurricane at sea and washed ashore in Bermuda. After spending the winter on the islands building two new ships, Peirce and the others sailed to Jamestown the next spring. There, they found only about sixty survivors of the Starving Time, including Peirce's wife and daughter.
Planter, Merchant, and Slaveholder
Peirce thrived in the colony. He appeared to have been close to Governor Sir Francis Wyatt and George Sandys, the colonial treasurer, both of whom arrived in 1621. In May 1623, Wyatt named Peirce captain of the Governor's guards and commander of James City. Peirce also served as the colony's cape merchant, running a store in the city, and as lieutenant governor. In addition, he was responsible for the island's two blockhouses, the small fortified structures that dotted the perimeter of the settlement. In 1623 and 1627, as part of the Second Anglo-Powhatan War, he led mid-summer attacks against Indians along the Chickahominy River, either destroying or stealing their corn crops.
Political Career
In 1624, Peirce was elected a burgess from Jamestown at a time when the Virginia Company was riven by factional intrigue and financial problems. That year the General Assembly, in a document signed by Peirce, formally rebutted claims by Alderman Robert Johnson, of the Virginia Company, that the colony had thrived under the martial law first administered by Sir Thomas Gates and Sir Thomas Dale beginning in 1610. Peirce served as a member of the governor's Council from 1632 to 1643 and in January 1640 was appointed tobacco inspector for Stanley Hundred and Denbigh Parish.
In 1635 Peirce was a leader among those on the Council who sought to remove the royal governor, Sir John Harvey, from office. Protesting the governor's plan for a royal monopoly on the tobacco trade, the councillors arranged for armed musketeers to surround the governor's house, and Harvey was forced to leave Virginia. The governor returned to the colony two years later, and on August 27, 1640, the king summoned Peirce and three other councillors to London to answer for their actions in the affair. Peirce's property was seized, but the Privy Council later reinstated it and allowed him to return to Virginia, his position intact. Peirce died sometime between 1645 and June 22, 1647.
Time Line
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ca. 1580 - William Peirce is born in England.
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June 2, 1609 - William Peirce, his wife, Joane Peirce, and their young daughter leave England for Virginia, part of a fleet that includes nine ships and 600 passenger.
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July 24, 1609 - A hurricane strikes the nine-ship English fleet bound for Virginia on a rescue mission. The flagship Sea Venture is separated from the other vessels and irreparably damaged by the storm.
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Late August 1609 - After being damaged by a hurricane, eight of nine English ships bound for Virginia arrive safely at Jamestown under the assumption that the flagship Sea Venture, carrying Captain Christopher Newport and Sir Thomas Gates, had been lost at sea. The news sends the colony into a political tailspin.
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Winter 1609–1610 - While the English colonists starve in Virginia, the shipwrecked crew and passengers of the Sea Venture make camp in Bermuda. They build two new boats, the Patience and Deliverance, from Bermuda cedar and the scavenged remains of the Sea Venture.
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May 24, 1610 - The party of Virginia colonists headed by Sir Thomas Gates, now aboard the Patience and Deliverance, arrives at Jamestown. They find only sixty survivors of a winter famine. Gates decides to abandon the colony for Newfoundland.
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1619 - By this year William Peirce is a lieutenant of the Jamestown guard and accompanies Sir George Yeardley when he makes a treaty with the Chickahominy Indians.
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1619-1620 - Sometime during this period, John Rolfe marries his third wife, Joane Peirce.
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Late August 1619 - The White Lion, captained by John Colyn Jope, arrives at Point Comfort, where Jope sells "20. and odd Negroes" in exchange for food. These are the first Africans to enter the Virginia colony. Four days later, the Treasurer arrives and its captain, Daniel Elfrith, sells two or three of the enslaved Africans aboard.
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December 1619 - William Peirce receives a patent for 650 acres on Mulberry Island, on the north side of the James River about ten miles below Jamestown.
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March 10, 1621 - In his will, John Rolfe appoints William Peirce guardian of his children. Rolfe dies soon after.
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April 8, 1623 - In a letter to a Virginia Company official, George Sandys declares William Peirce's house to be "the fairest in Virginia."
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May 1623 - Governor Sir Francis Wyatt names William Peirce captain of the Governor's guards and commander of James City.
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Midsummer 1623 - William Peirce leads an attack against Indians along the Chickahominy River.
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1624 - William Peirce is elected a burgess from Jamestown.
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January 24, 1625 - The Jamestown muster lists "Angelo a Negro Woman" as living in the household of William Peirce.
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Midsummer 1627 - William Peirce leads an attack against Indians along the Chickahominy River.
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1629 - While visiting London William Peirce publishes A relation in generall of the present state of his Majties Colony in Virginia.
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1632–1643 - William Peirce serves on the governor's Council.
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1635 - William Peirce patents 2,000 acres on Lawnes Creek in what will become Isle of Wight County.
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May 1635 - While William Claiborne is at Kent Island, a faction of Council members to which he belongs decides to evict Governor Sir John Harvey from office.
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January 1640 - William Peirce is appointed tobacco inspector for Stanley Hundred and Denbigh Parish.
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July 18, 1640 - Six white servants and a black male slave attempt to escape from William Peirce.
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August 27, 1640 - The king summons William Peirce and three other councillors to London to answer for their actions in attempting to remove Governor Sir John Harvey from office.
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1645–June 22, 1647 - William Peirce dies sometime during this period.
References
Further Reading
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Wolfe, B. William Peirce (d. btw. 1645 and 1647). (2019, May 24). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Peirce_William_d_btw_1645_and_1647.
- MLA Citation:
Wolfe, Brendan. "William Peirce (d. btw. 1645 and 1647)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 24 May. 2019. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: September 20, 2018 | Last modified: May 24, 2019
Contributed by Brendan Wolfe, editor of Encyclopedia Virginia from 2008 to 2019.