Edward Dorsey, I

- Yes, date unknown

• Name	Edward Dorsey  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Suffix	I
  Gender	Male
  Land Grant	1650	Anne Arundel County, Maryland   [2, 4]
  	a warrant for 200 acres of
  Land Grant	1651-1652  [2, 4]
  	a warrant for "200 acres more"
  	Being one-half of a warrant for 400 acres cranted to John Norwood and said Dorsey, dates 2.23.1651 (Annapolis Land Grants).
  Immigration	Abt 1657	Maryland   [3]
  Land Relinquish	22 Oct 1667  [2, 4]
  	his right and title to both tracts
  	He assigned his right and title to both tracts to George Yate, "in the presence of Cornelius Howard and John Howard. "Warrant MDCL, granted to Edward Dorsey of Anne Arundel County, for 200 acres of land, which he assigns as follows; as also 200 acres more, part of a warrant for 400 acres, granted John Norwood and the said Edward Dorsey, XXIII of February, MDCLI. Know of all men by these presents that I, Edward Dorsey, of the county of Anne Arundel, boatwright, have granted, bargained and sold, for a valuable consideration, already received, all my right, title, interest of and in a warrant for 200 acres, bearing date 1650, and also 200 acres more, beaing half a warrant of 200 acres – the one half belonging to Captain Norwood, bearing the date 1651, both of which assigned to George Yate. – Edward Dorsey, Sealed"
  Occupation	boatwright  [4]
  Died	Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I36029	If the Legends Are True...
  Last Modified	16 Nov 2007

  
  

  History	1569  [2]
  	Edwards children were given "free outlet to the woods and spring" by Thomas Gates in his will.
  History	27 Jan 1662/63	Anne Arundel County, Maryland   [2]
  	the sons – Edward, Joshua, and John – are mentioned in the Rent Roll page 52
  	This survey, of course, was made for these children by their father.
  Children	+ 1. Sarah Dorsey,   b. Bef 1650,   d. Bef 1691  (Age ~ 41 years) + 2. Colonel Edward Dorsey,   b. Abt 1652,   d. 1705  (Age ~ 53 years) + 3. Joshua Dorsey,   b. Abt 1654,   d. 1688  (Age ~ 34 years) + 4. Honorable John Dorsey,   b. Bef 1659,   d. 1714-1715  (Age ~ 56 years)
  Last Modified	29 Jun 2007
  Family ID	F12774	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Up to the present time [1898] genealogists have failed to trace the English ancetry of the Dorsey Family of Maryland. Edward Dorsey, Gentleman, was presumably the first emigrant to arrive in the colony: of him but little is known. Some genealogists are of the opinion that D'Arcy was the orignal spelling of the name, it being derived from D'Orsai or D'Orsay, the cognomien of a noble family, settled near Cleves, Flanders. The D'Orsays, or D'Arcys, came over to England with William the Conqueror. In Essex, England, there are numerous D'Arcys. On the coast of Essex is a small town called D'Arcy. In middle Essex (Middlesex), is the town and parish of Hockley-Hole. The grant from Cecilus Calvert, Lord Baltimore, to Colonel Edward Dorsey (2nd) and his two brothers (16640 gives the name of the four hundred acres of land granted as "Hockley-in-the-Hole." If this peculiar name, evidently borrowed fro the old town and parish of Hockley-Hole, England, was given to the Maryland estate, in Anne Arundel County, by Colonel Edward Dorsey and his brothers JOshua and John, it constitutes very valuable circumstantial evidence to prove that the Dorseys originally came from Essex, England. It was the custom for the English colonists to call their estates in the new world after towns, parishes and ancestral acres held by them in the MOther Country. Again, it is possible that the grant of Hockley-in-the-Hole possessed that name prior to the advent of Edward Dorsey and his sons in Maryland. At this late date there is no way of finding out the truth. I think it more than probably, however, that the first Edward Dorsey setted on the land in question, named it HOckley-in-the-Hole, and that his three sons Colonel Edward, Joshua and John "proved up" on it and obtained a perfect title from the Lord Proprietary. This was frequently done by the early settlers of Maryland. One genealogist of my acquaintance asserts that the Dorseys (or Darcys) were Irish political refugees, but there is absolutely no evidence in support of this claim. Another pedigree hunter with more acumen declares that the Dorseys came from Surrey and Kent, England, counties contiguous to Middlesex wherein is located the old parish town of Hockley-Hole. Those inclined to the Essex (or Kent and Surrey) theory have the remarkable coincidences of the two Hockleys-in-the-Hole, and the fact that many D'Arcys reside in that part of England. To my knowledge there is no coat-of-arms possessed by any member of the Dorsey family of Maryland that would throw light on the English ancestry, but such there must be, inscribed upon an old watch-case, piece of silverware, or book-plate, hidden away and forgotten in the attic or cellar of some of the manor houses of Maryland, owned, or at one time owned, by scions of the Dorsey family. Henry Ridgely Evans – 1898

  
  

• Sources

  [S228] Ancestral Colonial Families, by Luther W. Welsh, (Independence, Missouri: Lambert Moon Print Company, 1928, 213 pages), page 155 (Reliability: 4). [S228] Ancestral Colonial Families, by Luther W. Welsh, (Independence, Missouri: Lambert Moon Print Company, 1928, 213 pages), page 178 (Reliability: 4). [S273] Ridgely Chart, Henry Ridgely Evans, (Washington, District of Columbia: unknown, 1898, 7 pages), page 2 (Reliability: 4). [S73] Colonial Families of the U.S., George Norbury Mackenzie, (New York, New York: Genealogical Publishers, 1907, 5094 pages), Vol. VII, page 47 (Reliability: 3).