Thruston family commonplace book , MSS 16427

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
URL: https://small.library.virginia.edu/

Tanner Greene

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

Item was in preservation awaiting an enclosure. Work was completed by 2020.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16427, Thruston family commonplace book, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Provenance

2019-0169, purchased 19 April 2019, Elizabeth Cocke Coles Fund, 2018/2019.

Biographical Note

The Thruston family moved to Virginia from Bristol, England in the mid-17th century and later moved to Kentucky.

Source: Materials within collection.

The Thruston family commonplace book (1604-1925; 0.03 cubic feet) documents the family history of the Thruston family of Bristol and Virginia, with early records concerning Martin's Hundred, Virginia, a plantation on the north shore of the James River, first settled in 1638. The manuscript opens with an "Epistle dedicatory" dated 25 October 1628 by Abell Louering, addressed to Robert Rogers, Esq., whose wife was present at the baptism of John Thruston's son John. The manuscript then passes to John Thruston, Chamberlain of Bristol (1606-1675), son of Malachais Thurston of Wellington. Thurston had 16 children with his first wife, Thomasine Rich. Their various births, deaths, and marriages are recorded here, including the birth of son Edward in 1638. Dr. Edward Thurston began writing in the book in 1666, and his entries contain the first reference to Virginia in the manuscript.