Instead, they may have looked upon this as an opportunity to start their lives anew in Virginia — where men outnumbered women six to one. Rather than serve the Virginia Company as indentured servants, they probably worked as seamstresses and laundresses. In the fall of , it was reported that the City of London was shipping boys and girls to Virginia.
These children were destitute, supported by London parishes, and the relocation seemed an ideal arrangement for all parties concerned. Even though many of the children did not want to go, it was deemed best for them because they were being rescued from the streets and given an opportunity to learn some good crafts or trades. Around destitute children were transported between and to the Virginia colony.
Because there is only an occasional reference to children at Jamestown, very little is known about their daily lives. Since the English transported their customs and traditions with them across the Atlantic, one can assume that children at Jamestown played games similar to those played in England such as jumping rope, running games or playing with yo-yos.
Like their adult counterparts, much of their day must have been consumed with work or learning a trade. Female neighbors and relatives helped women through their labor. Having children was very important because of the labor-intensive tobacco culture. Family members worked their own tobacco fields, and children added to the labor force. Colonial children were therefore considered an economic asset.
Disease spread easily, however, and so few sicknesses could be cured that an infant had only a fifty percent chance of growing to adulthood. One quarter of babies died before their first birthday. Families in seventeenth century Jamestown were patriarchal, meaning that the man was the head of the household.
Every member of the family, including slaves and servants, and everything connected with family property was under the command of the man of the house.
Until the first son was old enough, the woman of the household was in charge if the man was absent. But women were always in charge of the daily management of the family home.
They planted gardens, where they grew vegetables such as carrots, beets, radishes and chives, and herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes. The main meal of the day was served at noontime, and the settlers called it dinner. It was cooked over an open hearth and would commonly consist of pork, poultry or seafood, bread and cider, wine or ale.
African Women at Jamestown From on, African women were also part of the historical tapestry being woven at Jamestown. They were able to work like the men in the fields and could reproduce more native-born slaves. Often the slaves had to have their own gardens and kill animals for food.
Female slaves were primarily brought to the colonies as investments by the plantation owners. Those who did not farm the land were in the homes with the gentry class women. They cared for the children of the household, cleaned and cooked. Working indoors was not necessarily better than working outside. In the fields, groups worked together out of the watchful eye of the master, but being in the house meant constant supervision.
Hard physical labor like doing laundry, carrying water and routine chores such as emptying chamber pots and making beds had to be done every day. In the mids, the colony stabilized, and people turned their attention to building satisfactory housing. Timber was abundant, and these new structures were mainly wooden frame houses, but the homes of the wealthiest planters featured a brick foundation and a brick chimney with the rest of the house constructed in wood.
But Native American women were not, in the eyes of contemporaries, fitting partners. English women were needed if an English — Christian — society was to be kept intact. All of the women who ventured to the Jamestown colony in the years to become brides to colonists had to prove that, like Anne Rickard, they were suitable. The first task that women had was to secure their passage, by requesting testimonials and recommendations from people who were willing to accompany them, in person, to the Virginia Company.
They activated the networks of associates, friends and kin that they had in London and elsewhere, asking them to support their claims. Mary Ghibbs, 20, who was born in Cambridge, asked her uncle Lott Peere who she lived with and his associate Gabriel Barbour to recommend her; both who were deeply involved in the affairs of the Virginia Company.
Having family and friends present in London was a kind of security—the company could be sure that these were not desperate young women who were running from a scandal. Ghibbs noted that she was skilled in making bone lace, an assertion, it seems, that was meant to bolster her gentle status, femininity and moral upstanding. No doubt some attributes would be more practical than others on arrival at Jamestown.
The women also showed their willingness to go, perhaps even hinting at their suitability for the tough environment of Jamestown. Although many of the women travelled alone, as Abigail Downing did, some were accompanied by relatives, or planned to meet family in the colony.
Jamestown was often the final destination in journeys they had made across England, from Cheshire, Yorkshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Herefordshire and Wiltshire — even Denbigh in Wales — before setting sail from the Isle of Wight.
Many had left home already to take up employment in London and family separation, especially at the point when you people went into service and afterwards married, was expected. On their voyages to Virginia, the same care that was shown towards ascertaining the upstanding character of the women was also taken towards their welfare aboard ships.
Various bills recorded by the Virginia Company show that they provided essential items for the voyage, such as clothing, including white lambskin gloves, beds and bedding.
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