Cecily Jordan Farrar
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Cecily Jordan Farrar was one of the earlier women settlers of colonial
Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent British colonization of the Americas, English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Willia ...
. She arrived in the colony as a child in 1610 and was established as one of the few female
ancient planter "Ancient planter" (sometimes called ancient colony men) was a term applied to early colonists who migrated to the Colony of Virginia when the settlement was managed privately by the Virginia Company of London. A colonist received a land grant ...
s by 1620. After her husband
Samuel Jordan Samuel Jordan (died 1623) was an early settler and Ancient Planter of colonial Jamestown, Virginia, Jamestown. He arrived in Virginia around 1610, and served as a House of Burgesses, Burgess in the Virginia General Assembly, first representativ ...
died in 1623, Cecily obtained oversight of his 450-acre plantation, Jordan's Journey. In the Jamestown Muster of 1624-1625, she is one of fewer than ten women mentioned as a head of household and the only woman listed as sharing the head of household with a man she was not married to. In the year of Samuel Jordan's death, she set off the first breach of promise lawsuit in English North America when she chose the marriage proposal of William Farrar, who was bonded to help settle her estate, over that of Greville Pooley, who claimed his proposal had already been accepted. In 1625, Cecily prevailed when Pooley withdrew his claim. Afterward, she married William Farrar.


The early years in the Virginia Colony

Cecily's life and background were unknown before she came to the New World. She was among the earlier women to arrive in
Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent British colonization of the Americas, English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Willia ...
. When Cecily arrived onboard ''
Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...
'' in August 1611, she was around ten years old and one of 20 women among the 260 passengers. Her arrival was part of a series of transports that were intended to replenish Jamestown's population. During the previous year's
Starving Time The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610. There were about 500 Jamestown residents at the beginning of the winter; by spring only 61 people remained alive. The colonis ...
, Jamestown had been reduced to only 60 people, and was saved from abandonment by the last-minute arrival of an earlier transport in June 1610 led by
Lord De La Warr Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr (15 ...
. Cecily's first years in the colony were during the first Anglo-Powhatan war, which resulted in the deaths of over 400 settlers and Powhatan people and only ended with John Rolfe's marriage to Pocahantas in 1614. In 1618, the
Great Charter (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal S ...
enacted by the
Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the objective of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day ...
as instructions to Virginia's Governor
George Yeardley Sir George Yeardley () was a Planter class, planter and colonial governor of the colony of Virginia. He was also among the first slaveowners in Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ...
established a grant for colonists who had lived in Virginia for at least three years and had paid their way to the colony through their own money or working off their debt for being transported. The instructions called these colonists ancient planters, and each received a grant of 100 acres of land as their dividend for investing in the Virginia Company. She is identified as an ancient planter in a 1620 patent and was one of the very few women that received this grant.


Marriage to Samuel Jordan

By 1620, Cecily had married Samuel Jordan and was living at Jordan's Journey, a 450-acre plantation on the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
. A year later, she gave birth to their daughter Mary. Cecily and her family survived the Powhatan surprise attack in 1622 that initiated the
Second Anglo-Powhatan War The AngloPowhatan Wars were three wars fought between settlers of the Colony of Virginia and the Powhatan People of Tsenacommacah in the early 17th century. The first war started in 1609 and ended in a peace settlement in 1614. The second war l ...
. Although nearly a third of all the colonists in Virginia were killed in this surprise attack, nobody was listed as among the slain at Jordan's Journey. After the attack, Jordan's Journey provided a haven for survivors whose plantations were on the upper James River.


The breach of promise suit and marriage to William Farrar

Samuel Jordan died in early 1623, when Cecily was pregnant with their daughter, Margaret. Cecily was then authorized to settle her husband's estate, and William Farrar, a colonist who had left his land after the Powhatan attack and moved to Jordan's Journey, was bonded to help her. During this time, Jordan's Journey prospered. About three or four days after Samuel Jordan's death, Reverend Greville Pooley claimed to have proposed marriage to Cecily and claimed she accepted. However, she instead chose to contract herself to William Farrar before Governor Yeardley and the
Council of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, disavowing Pooley's claim. As a result of Cecily's action, Pooley initiated the first breach of promise suit in English-speaking North America. After two years of litigation, the case was resolved in Cecily's favor in 1625. Pooley discharged her from all contracts and bound himself to a £500 bond stating that he would never have any claims, rights, or titles over her. While the case was ongoing, Cecily and William Farrar lived at Jordan's Journey and continued to work together, and both "Mr. William Ferrar and Mrs. Jordan" were named as the heads of the household in the Jamestown Muster of 1624/25. By May 1625, Cecily and Farrar were finally married, and they had three children together: Cecily, William, and John. It is not known when Cecily died. The last year she is mentioned is 1631 in the record of William Farrar's sale of his assets in England.


Relationship to Temperance Baley

In the Jamestown Muster of 1624-1625, the list of Cecily and William Farrar's household members includes Temperance Baley (now spelled Bailey), who was listed as seven years old and born in Virginia. Temperance is listed as receiving a patent for 100 acres in 1620 when she was about two or three years of age; she is also listed as having 200 acres planted in 1625. Samuel Jordan's 1620 patent lists her properties as adjoining his. Based on this evidence, several researchers have concluded that Temperance may be Cecily's daughter from a previous husband named Baley. However, there is no direct documentation that she is Temperance's mother or that she had a husband before marrying Samuel Jordan. In addition, Temperance's father has not been conclusively identified.


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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Cecily Jordan 17th-century American women 17th-century American people People from colonial Virginia People from Jamestown, Virginia