Ambrose COBBS "the Emigrant" was born about 1603 in Petham, Kent. He died before January 15, 1656 in Bristol Parish, Henrico County, Virginia. He was the third son named in his father's Will to share gavel kind from his estate. He was married to Ann WHITE (daughter of Robert WHITE and Susanna BOULDEN) on April 18, 1625 in Norton Parish, Kent. At the time of her
marriage, her parents were both deceased and she was living in Willesborough, under the government of Thomas Cobbs, the brother of her groom Ambrose. Thomas had married her sister Susan White in 1619.
Ann WHITE was born in 1608 in Norton Parish, Kent. She died before 1656 in Henrico County, Virginia. This date is speculative. Ann was not mentioned in her husband's estate, and immediately after Ambrose's death the property was sold out of Cobb family possession. Therefore, it seems logical to assume that by then Ann was deceased. In 1633, Ambrose and Ann sold their lands in England, possibly as the preliminary preparation for their immigration to the Virginia Colony. It is believed they made the voyage in 1635, most likely landing at Jamestown. Their party consisted of Ambrose and Ann; children Robert, and Margaret; and Richard Barker, Hugh Barker, and Thomas Harding. It is not known positively, but probably safe to assume, that the latter three men had indentured themselves to Ambrose, in order to gain free passage to the New World. It is known that under the Land Grant laws of the day, Ambrose as a "Head right" was entitled to 50 acres of land for each person for whom he had paid the transportation charges to Virginia. The ultimate fate of the Barkers and Thomas Harding, and the length of their association with Ambrose Cobbs, is unknown. The Virginia Colony had only been established in 1607, when our Cobbs first came to America. Jamestown, though the center of commerce, government, and protection from Indians, was nonetheless a very unhealthful place, being situated on a low, swampy, mosquito infested island. Sweltering heat, disease, starvation, the lack of potable water, and occasional Indian attack took a heavy toll on all new arrivals. In fact, ample records exist that indicate it was the annoyance of having to constantly 'swat' Mosquitoes that motivated the establishment of Williamsburg several miles inland. But it was most likely here that Ambrose situated his family in temporary quarters, while he no doubt began an immediate exploration of the area for the land he would claim as a Head right. On July 25, 1639, Ambrose patented 350 acres on the Appomattox River, near its confluence with Swift's Creek, about nine miles from present Petersburg,
about fifty miles upriver from Jamestown, and adjacent to properties owned by Abraham Wood and John Baugh. One can only speculate as to the first project Ambrose took on...the construction of a house for his family, or to start preparing the land for the first planting? It was already mid-summer; rather late in the season to be breaking previously untilled soil to start a crop. Conditions were primitive to say the least. The location was isolated and the situation with the Indians was always tenuous. Ann could have been but little help, her hands full with four children under the age of twelve (see the following).Two more children had been born to Ambrose and Ann after their arrival in Virginia. Ambrose was born within a year, about 1636. He lived his entire life within 15 miles of Jamestown, and died in probably late 1683, in what is now York County. He fathered two known children by his wife Mary Ann; sons William in 1655, and Robert in 1660. Ambrose died without leaving a written Will, but his estate was inventoried and appraised and recorded in February 1684. Following his death, his widow married one George Glasscock. Thomas, the sixth and last child born to Ambrose and Ann, was born in 1637 in Charles River County, Virginia (In 1643, the county name was changed to York.) He lived his entire life in York County, Virginia, and died there in 1702. He never married and died without issue. His Will was probated 24 February 1702... "To cousin William Cobbs, my house and lot where I now live", and if he died then the same to go to Thomas Cobbs; "to Isaac Sart a black mare running now at Powhatan; two sows to Alice Newman; to Robert Cobbs, son of Ambrose Cobbs; all the remaining part of my estate to cousins Ambrose Cobbs, Robert Cobbs, Otho Cobbs, and Robert Kerle (related through the Thorpe-Cobb family connection), to be equally divided between them." (It is common to also find him and the Kerle family credited as descendants of Joseph Cobb of Isle of Wight County.)
Ambrose COBBS "the Emigrant" and Ann WHITE had the following children:
1 Ambrose COBBS was christened on March 12, 1625 in Willesborough, Kent. He died before August 18, 1626 in Kent.
2 Robert COBBS (born before January 7, 1627).
3 Jane COBBS was born before 1630 in Willesborough, Kent. She died before January 12, 1634. She was buried in Willesborough, Kent.
4 Margaret COBBS (born in 1631).
5 Ambrose COBBS (born in 1635/36).
6 Thomas COBBS was born in 1637 in Charles River County, Virginia. He
died in 1702 in York County, Virginia. He never married and died without issue.
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