First Generation


1. Richard NORWOOD was born in October 1590 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England.1,2,3,4,5 He was baptized on 15 November 1590 in St. Nicholas Church, Stevenage, Hertforshire, England.4,6 He was educated in 1600 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, Eng.7 Richard was apprenticed to a fishmonger in 1605 in London, England.8,9 He was apprenticed to a master's mate in 1610 in Limehouse, London, England.10 In 1613–16 he was a surveyor in Bermuda or Somers Islands.5,11,12 On 30 April 1621 Richard was a surveyor in Virginia.13,14,15 On 29 March 1623 he was an engineer for the Virginia Company in West Indies.16 He owned acreage on 14 May 1623 in Virginia.17,18,19,20 On 1 November 1631 Richard was a published author in Tower Hill, London, England.21,22 In 1637 he was a published author of "The Seaman's Practice" in London, England.23,24,25 Between 1640 and 1661 he was a schoolmaster in Bermuda.26,27 Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century, Mercer, page 166:
Col. Rec. Vol. 2 248. Nov 4, 1650. John Russell Senr & John Russell Junr & John Gilbert pledge themselves to pay £10 Sterling each yearly to Richard Norwood to teach John R, Junr & J Gilbert & to have diett, lodging & washing at the Free School house. Witnessed by James Witter. Richard in November 1640 in Bermuda.28 He migrated from in from England to Virginia29 On 14 May 1645 he was a schoolmaster in Somers Islands, BWI.30 In 1662/3 Richard was a surveyor in Bermuda or Somers Islands.31,32 He Letter on Whaling in Bermuda in 1667 in Bermuda.33 He signed a will on 1 April 1674 in Summer Islands, Bermuda.34 Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century, Mercer, pp 139-142

In the name of God Amen. The ffirst day of Aprill in the yeare of our Lord Christ Six Hundred Seventy and ffoure I Richard Norwood of Summer Islands, surveyor of Land. Sometime master of the free school there, being aged about 84 years, but of good and perfect memory, God be praised, doe make and ordaine this my las Will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say, ffirst I commend my soule vnto Allmighty God, my maker and my merciful (Ffather) in Jesus Christ who hath redeemed me by his precious Blood from the bondage of Sinn and Sathan from Hell and Everlasting damnation, hath obtained for me the forgiueness of my sinnes, peace with God and I trust everlasting Blessednesse in his heauenly kingdome. And I will that my body be buried at the discretion of myme executors or superuisors of this my last will: and touching that temporall estate wch the Lord hath vouchsafed to me for my more comfortable subsistence in this present life. I will that it be disposed of in manner and forme following. Imprimis I make constitue and ordaine my well beloved sonne Andrew Norwood liueing at Barbadoes, together with my loueing daughter Elizabeth Witter liueing in Summer Islands, myne Executors of this my Last Will and Testament, and I doe giue and bequeath vnto my said Sonne & daughter my dwelling house, Schoole house, store house, and all other Edifices or outhouses to the same belonging, and my two shares of Land in Pembrook Tribe wch I bought of Mr fforester, whereupon I haue built the said house, moreouer I bequeath vnto my sonne and daughter a afforesaide ffoure of my Bond Servants viz Negro Tom and his wife called Besse & their two negro Sonnes, the one called Dick and the other Tom. Item I giue vnto my sonne & daughter aforesaid all Gallens' work in ffiue volumes. Item I giue & bequeath vnto my daughter Elizabeth Witter Crookes Booke of Annatomy also a great Bible in a large folio & well printed and bound wch was giuen me by my ffather Allso Cardens annals or history of Queen Elizabeths Reigne & I desire her to preserue that Bible as well as she can, and bequeath it to her second sonne James Witter at her death or before if shee please : Item I bequeath to my daughter Ann Bowen ffive pounds sterling to be paid as aforesaid And all that part of my wifes wearing apparel wch ffell to her by lott, wch she may receiue of my daughter Witter. Item I giue vnto two of my manuscripts wch amongst others are the perfectes I haue written in that kinde namely the one of Perspectiue, the other of musicke : though neither of them bee perfected according to my intent : Yet if my sonne Andrew or Mathew desires a coppy of either of them, he may take such coppye, Item I giue vnto him Mersonne his Booke of musick printed in Latine 1636 Item I giue vnto his Brother James Witter what other Booke or Bookes of mine not exceeding the value of three pounds that he shall desire within a yeare next after my decease, and the hiue of Beese fformerly deliuered him & the increase & profit thereof wthout any further account. The rest of all my Bookes Manuscripts instruments and tooles, I will that they be equally parted betweene my two sonnes aforesaid Andrew and Mathew. Item I bequeath vnto my Brother in Law Mr John Gilpin that married my sister Elizabeth deceased and to his two eldest daughters by my said sister; not knowing whether hee haue any more children, tenn pounds sterl. There being about so much in money & goods giuen to him and my said sister his late wife and his said two daughters by my ffathers will; namely to him, and to my said sister ffiue pounds sterline and some bedding, and to his two daughters twenty shillings apiece as I remember wch I offered to haue paid him in England before I came from thence wch is aout 37 yeares since, but that he refused to giue me a generall acquittance to saue me hamlesse, such as I was aduised by some learned in the Law to take of him and others to whom I paid Legacies, and since I came out of England I neuer heard from him but once wch was shortly after my coming hither. I know not whether he be liuing or where he is, wherevpon the said legacie is yet vnpaid, but my will is it should be paid being lawfully demanded and fiue pounds more, that is ffifty shillings apiece to the two daughters for ye forbearance. Item. Whereas or Honble Company for Somers Islands are indebted to me for the Renewing of ye survey of the whole Country by there order and appointment, about ten yeares past Anno 1663 & as I vnderstand by my Agent and Attorney Capt John Jenkins, the haue by warrant to there Treasurer ordered him to pay me, or to my said attorney ffifty pounds sterl : if the same be accordingly performed and paid I doe further giue & bequeath vnto my sonne Andrew aforesaid, and to his children ffifteene pounds, leaueing it to his discression to giue to his children there part & how much, when he shall thinke it meete. Item I doe giue & Bequeath vnto my sonne Mathew aforesaid besides what I former bequeathed to him ten pounds sterling not knowing whether he haue any more children. Item I giue & bequeath vnto my daughter Elizabeth Witter before mentioned, I further bequeath to her & her children here vnder nominated ffifteene pounds sterl. Namely to herselfe three pounds and to each of her children ffourty shillings - that is to say, to James Witter 40s to Thomas Witter 40s To Samuel 40s to Rachel 40s to Jonathon 40s to Elizabeth 40s. Item I doe constitute and ordaine my welbeloved sonne Andrew Norwood & my said daughter Elizabeth Witter my sole Executors of this my last will and Testament and my will is that they may nominate and appoint any other in their absence or otherwise for the due performance hereof. Item I constitute and ordaine and make my children and well beloved friend Capt Samuell of Pagets Tribe the superuisor of this my last will and Testament to see the same liuered and truly executed and performed according to my true meaning and my Trust herein expressed : moreover whereas dureing my wifes lifetime there was some Tradeing betweene my wife and my said sonne Andrew and when shee died he sayes shee was endebted to him for two or three negroes, or to that v…e though for my part I know no such thing, but ought to have knowne it if any such thing were, I did presently vpon her death let him haue a young negro man called Aurora, & so he might haue had the rest be it one or two, if he had demanded them, or had really thought thtat so much was due vnto him : he hath futher had an Indian manservant of mine called George which he transported to Carolina & there left him, of whom he had foure or ffive yeares seruice before his Transportation. Besides the vtter losse of my seruant wch I am neuer like to haue again, & the losse of Indian Besse wch died in his seruice when shee has serued him about six years all wch may satisfy him for the two or three negroes wch he claimed to bee due from my wife. Item I bequeath my Boat Sayles & appertinances to my Grandsonne Samuell Witter and also my tooles or instruments for surveying & navigation. Item I bequeath vnto Samuell Witter ffive pounds sterling Item to Thomas Witter 20s to Jonathan Witter 20s to Rachell Witter 40s. Item I giue vnto the said Rachell Witter a negro boy called Will of about a year and a halfe old, borne & now dwelling in my house which formerly I had promised her. And considering the vncertainty of the things of this life, and of what I shall leave to satisfy my debts and charges : my will is that what estate I leave my dbts being paid &c. may differenctly be distributed to hem among whom it is bequeathed so that what is wanting in money may be paid in other goods : if other goods also be wanting then to abate so much our of the Legacies as the goods wanting comes to in proportion : according to each man's part, to him or her bequeathed : there are moreouer some things that I haue not yet disposed of in my will : as of a negro man called Agge & dwelling in my house, of a negro woman called new Besse dwelling also in my house, of an Indian woman called Mary dwelling also in my house, of an Indian girl called Nan & dwelling in my house also, of a negro woman called Merea & dwelling wth Dauid Watkins, of my cowes, steeres, heifers, sheep, hoggs, household stuffe & Bedding. Plate, Pewter, Brasse, Chests great and small, my Beefe at home and abroad these I doe purpose generally to dispose of, if the Lord continue me life and health. If I should depart this life before this bee done, my will is that all those goods not diposed of in my will be indifferently valued by the superuisor of this my last will & Testament, nd that value equally and indifferently distributed & parted amongst my ffower children aforesaid. Namely Andrew Norwood, Mathew Norwood, Elizabeth Witter, Anne Bowen. And if any of these depart this life before they haue received their aforesaid Legacies, my will is that those Legacies should be equally diuided amongst those that then suruiue of my foure children aforesaid Item I constitute, ordaine and make my Christian and well beoued friend Capt John Bristow Junior another supervisor wth Capt Samuell Whally of this my Will & Testament, to see the same deiuered & truly Executed & performed, according to my true meaning & my trust in them reposed. Item I bequeath vnto the aforesaid John Bristow the sum of 40s or to that value & whereas my loueing friend Mr William Pitte is well acquainted with my affaires, I doe giue and bequeath vnto him the summe of 20s to the Intent he may be helpful to my Executors and Supervisors aforesaid by his aduise in the performance & execution of my said will. And whereas I vnderstand by Capt Whally that he is shortly to depart from hence into England, and soe not be here present when this will is to be executed I doe constitute ordaine & make my trusty & well beloued friend Mr John Bristow Senior another Superuisor with his sonne of this my said Will & Testament, to see the same dliuered and truly executed and performed & I bequeath vnto him the summe of 40s. In witness of the premises I haue subscribed my name and sett my seale the day and yeare ffirst aboue written.
Richard Norwood X
Tested p vs.
William Pitt
The mark of John Squier
John Bristow Martial

Memorandum that vpon the third day of November 1675 personally appeared before Sir John Heydon Kt Governor & ordinary of these Islands the aboue William Pitt John Squier & John Bristow Martial, Witnesses, and averred vpon their Oathes that they saw the aboue written Norwood, signe & seal ye aforewritten premises as his last Will & Testament.
William Pitt &c.
Testis Cornelius White Secretty

1672, June 11, Book V. A. p. 419
Memo that James Browne appeared & engaged to satisfy all debts & exceptions that shall be made out against Mr Andrew Norwood to be due & just by any person in Somers Islands according to law from the time of Norwood's departure from these islands for New York, to be returned against the next Assizes.
Signed by James Browne before Cornelius White, Secretary

1689, Nov. 30 Allegation of Mr William Pitt aged about 53 years, who being sworn saith that some space of time after decease of Mr Richard Norwood, he the said Pitt & Mr Richard Hanger was with Mr Andrew Norwood & his sister Mrs Elizabeth Witter at the mansion House of the above Richard Norwood, decd & there I did hear Mr Andrew Norwood & his sister agree how the land which their decd father had bequeathed to them should be divided which was that the two shares should be divided in the middle ---- & that Mrs Witter gave her brother liberty to choose which part he would have. And I heard him say he would have the north side part whereon the Mansion House was. And that his sister Witter should have the South side part & likewise they agreed that what corn & potatoes was upon the north-side share Mr Andrew Norwood was to have & what corn & potatoes was on the south-side share his sister was to have & also the school house & the rooms that joined to it which was on the north side share.
Tested p vs.
William Pitt
The mark x of John Squier
John Bristow Martial

Richard Hanger swore to the truth of above Nov. 30, 1689, and the attestation is signed by William Pitt. Richard died in October 1675 at the age of 85 in Bermuda.1,35 He was buried in October 1675 in Bermuda.36,37 He had his estate probated on 3 November 1675 in Bermuda.38 Memorandum that upon the third day of November 1675 personally appeared before Sir John Heydon Kt Governor & ordinary of these Islands the above William Pitt John Squier & John Bristow Martial, Witnesses, and averred upon their Oathes that they saw the above written Norwood, signe & seale ye aforewritten premisses as his last Will & Testament.
William Pitt &c.
Testis Cornelius White Secretty The estate of Richard was inventoried on on 4 February 1675/6.39,40 Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 41, p 230
Norwood, Richard by John Knox Laughton
NORWOOD, RICHARD (1590?–1675), teacher of mathematics and surveyor, born about 1590, was in 1616 sent out by the Bermuda Company to survey the islands of Bermuda, then newly settled. He was afterwards accused of having, in collusion with the governor, so managed that, after assigning the shares to all the settlers, eight shares of the best land remained over, for the personal advantage of himself and the governor (Historye of the Bermudaes, p. 104). His map was published in London in 1622, and the same year he married, in London, Rachel, daughter of Francis Boughton of Sandwich. In 1623 he patented lands in Virginia, but it does not appear that he ever went there. He is said to have resided at that date in the Bermudas (BROWN, ii. 958). He may have made several visits to the islands, but according to his own statements he was, for some years before 1630 and after, up to 1640, resident in London, near Tower Hill, in pursuit of his calling as a teacher of mathematics. Between June 1633 and June 1635 he personally measured, partly by chain and partly by pacing, the distance between London and York, making corrections for all the windings of the way, as well as for the ascents and descents. He also, from observations of the sun's altitude, computed the difference of latitude of the two places, and so calculated the length of a degree of the meridian. Considering the roughness of his methods and the imperfections of his instruments, it is not surprising that his result was some 600 yards too great; but, even so, it was the nearest approximation that had then been made in England. During the civil war he seems to have resided in Bermuda, where he had a government grant as schoolmaster, and where, in 1662, he conducted a second survey. He was in England in 1667, probably only on a visit. He died at Bermuda in October 1675, aged about eighty-five, and was buried there.
His published works are: 1. ‘Trigonometrie, or the Doctrine of Triangles,’ 4to, 1631. 2. ‘The Seaman's Practice,’ 4to, 1637. 3. ‘Fortification, or Architecture Military,’ 4to, 1639. 4. ‘Truth gloriously appearing,’ 4to, 1645. 5. ‘Considerations tending to remove the Present Differences,’ 4to, 1646. 6. ‘Norwood's Epitomy, being the Application of the Doctrine of Triangles,’ 8vo, 1667. He had a son Matthew, who in 1672–4 commanded a ship carrying stores to Bermuda.
[The prefaces and dedications to his books give some indications of Norwood's career. Other authorities are Brown's Genesis of the United States; Lefroy's Memorials of the Discovery of the Bermudas, and Historye of the Bermudaes, ed. for the Hakluyt Soc.]

Calendar of State Papers Colonial: Volume 1, page 323, Feb 1642:
Richard Norwood to the Governor and Company of Adventurers to the Somers Islands. Detailed account of disagreements between himself and other ministers of the church, because he conceives that "the manner of catechising all sorts of men and women, especially believers, that have by their lives given good testimony of their faith," is neither fit nor lawful. Argues upon this doctrine at considerable length. Acknowledges with thankfulness the favours he has received from the Company. When he went over four years ago, the times were dangerous in England, by reason of the many innovations of the bishops in religion; "the Lord be blessed for that happy reformation, which we hear and hope of,: and he was then in danger of being called in question, which caused him to solicit his present employment. Has generally about 24 scholars; begs that his stipend may be continued. The ministers, especially Nathaniel White, have had main sway in the government the past year, Capt. Wil. Sayle, the Governor, being wholly guided by them, "whereby we have seen an experiment here of that which very few, I suppose, in England have seen, namely, of the superiority or government of ministers, or an assembly of ministers, esteeming the government to be theirs who have the most sway in it." Supposes they will hear many complaints of arbitrary proceedings, though many are gone with Captain Chaddock to Trinidad. The ministers have gone to such lengths as to "make a man quite out of love with the government of the clergy, as they are called." From Sept 1641, till Dec 1641, no news had reached them of English affairs. Has set down true copies of letters, and all other passages of moment laid to his charge. (Twenty-three pages)

Bulletin of the US National Museum, No 25, p 147:
Now, first as to the identification of this species with that so often mentioned by early writers. In the Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society of London) for 1668 appears a communication from Richard Norwood, who was the first person to survey the islands and divide them into shares. It is dated:
Bermuda, June 18, 1667
"The killing of whales, it hath been formerly attempted in vain, but within these two or three years, in the spring time and fair weather, they take sometimes one, two, or three in a day. They are less, I hear, than those in Greenland, but more quick and lively; so that if they be struck in deep water they presently make into the deep with such violence that the boat is in danger of being haled down after them if they cut not the rope in time. Therefore they usually strike them in shoal water. They have very good boats for that purpose, manned with six oars, such as they can row forwards or backwards as occasion requireth. They row up gently to the whale, and so he will scarcely shun them, and when the harpineer, standing ready fitted, sees his opportunity, he strikes his harping-iron into the whale about or before the fins rather than towards the tayle. Now, the harping-irons are like those which are usual in England in striking porpoises, but singular good metal, that will not break, but wind, as they say, about a man's hand. To the harping-iron is made fast a strong lythe rope, and into the socket of that iron is put a staff, which, when the whale is struck, comes out of the socket, and so when the whale is something quiet they hale up to him by the rope, and it may be, strike into him another harping-iron, or lance him with lancers in staves till they have killed him. This I write by relation, for I have not seen any killed myself."
The fact of their capturing the whale in shoal water proclaims it to belong to this species (Right whales), for the sperm whale, which is the only other cetacean known to visit the Bermudas, is never known to come near shore

Bermuda Beacon, Part 1 - Richard Norwood

The Bermuda Beacon; Vol 3, No 3; Alva M. Hamilton; © July 1986; p. 24-27
Richard Norwood, Part 1
by Alva M. Hamilton

Just before Christmas in 1613, a brilliant young man of twenty-three first set foot on the Somers Islands. His advice had been very helpful to the captain when the ship they were on went aground on one of the outer reefs and this man, Richard Norwood, knew how to extricate it. Richard had arrived only a year and a half behind the first boatload of settlers which included Bermuda’s first governor, Richard Moore. Norwood had been sent to the islands as a “technical specialist”, meaning that he had been hired as a pearl diver in search of what proved to be Bermuda’s non-existent pearls. When that job fizzled out, it was sheer chance that launched him on a career that would give him a very special place in Bermuda’s history as its first map maker and surveyor. He was a man of exceptional ability in those occupations, as well as in the many other pursuits in which he engaged during his long lifetime.

It is believed by historians that Richard Norwood probably had few, if any, intellectual equals among his Bermuda contemporaries. He had already distinguished himself as a mariner, navigator, and diver and would later prove his genius as a mathematician, textbook writer, schoolmaster and historian, as well as surveyor and map-maker. He had many other interests, too, such as nature and religion and in 1638 wrote a journal of his early life. Its detail and clarity have proved invaluable for historians. The original document, passed down through generations of his descendants, is now the prized possession of the Bermuda Archives. In 1945 the Bermuda Historical Monument Trust had the journal published. Copies can now be found in libraries throughout the United States, as well as in other parts of the world.

Richard’s intellect and love of learning might have been inherited from his grandfather, Roger Norwood, who was a fellow of Merton College. Oxford in1548. In 1554 Roger was chosen usher to the headmaster of Berkhamsted School in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. This was the school Richard, himself, would attend years later. While at Berkhamsted Roger married Elizabeth Monox, daughter of Richard Monox, a London salt trader, and his wife Sicely. The wedding took place in the parish church in Berkhamsted, St. Peter’s, 15 July 1554. Their first two sons were born there, the second child only surviving a few months. Roger moved his family in 1561 to Astwood, an estate he inherited from his father, located in Buckingshire a few miles from Bedford.

Edward, Richard’s father, is believed to have been born soon after the move to Astwood. Upon the death of his wife, Roger married Dorothy Whethide and had several more children. Roger died in 1593.

Edward, although born a gentleman, apparently lived in genteel poverty most of his adult life. The family moved about a great deal, sometimes as a result of financial problems. Probably any property of fortune belonging to Roger had gone to Edward’s older brother, John.

Richard was the second child and only son of the four children of Edward and his wife, Sybil Mathew of Towcester. Soon after their marriage they moved to Stevenage, Hertfordshire, where Richard was born in October 1590.

Richard’s first schooling began at the age of 5 or 6 when he joined his older sister, Elizabeth, in a “dames” school near Cannix kept by a Mrs. Langton and her daughter. There he was instilled with a deep religious interest that stayed with him all of his life. After two of three years at that school, he was taught by several schoolmasters who made no impression on him at all and he lost interest during those years. He became discouraged and felt he had gained almost nothing due to poor teaching and the fact that he had a speech impediment that seemed to hamper his progress. The speech impediment remained with him all his life but it was a slight one and he overcame the psychological effects.

Edward Norwood decided to move his family from Stevenage to Berkhamsted. He was having financial problems with his farm and decided to be where Richard could attend Berkhamsted School. Richard looked back upon this move in later years as pretty much an act of God for which he was eternally thankful. He was about ten when he entered that school. As might be expected, Richard took to it like a duck to water and became one of the best students there in Latin and Greek, earning the commendation of his master, Thomas Hunt. Unfortunately, before Richard turned 14, his father came upon hard times and moved the family to Shuthanger near Towcester and then to Stony Stratford. He could no longer pay for Richard’s education. Hunt decided to keep Richard there an extra month while he tried to secure a patron who would support Richard’s further education. The patron, however, chose another boy. That boy was a good friend of Richard’s, named Adolphus Speed, and it is interesting to note that Adolphus’ father, many years later, included Norwood’s map of Bermuda in one of his books on world geography.

The day that Richard had to depart from Berkhamsted School was one of the unhappiest of his life. This ended his formal education which, of course, was still quite a good one for his day, but a boy of Richard’s potential should have been able to go on to the university. Richard’s learning didn’t stop there. He spent the next ten years getting practical experience, but also learning some of the subjects he would have had at the university as is evidenced by the wide range of subjects of which he had knowledge. Had Richard entered the university, it is probable that Bermuda would never have had the benefit of his contributions to its early development.

At 15 Richard was apprenticed to a London fishmonger. The man was stern and Richard disliked the work, but became intrigued with what the seafaring friends of the fishmonger told him about maritime affairs, navigation and foreign lands. Before Richard was 17, the fishmonger’s family came down with the plague and Richard was stricken also. As soon as he recovered, he found a chance to get an apprenticeship with a sea captain sailing back and forth between London and Newcastle. He had taken along a math textbook of his father’s and was so intrigued with it that he completed all the work in three weeks.

After an injury, he tried to leave the service of his master and was thrown into jail. Another skipper needed his services and bailed him out.

Most of the next year was spent traveling by land and sea to the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. He even reached the point where he was penniless and in poor health. He was befriended and helped by some Roman Catholic priests and thought seriously of conversion to the Roman Church. Upon his return to England a Church of England clergyman helped him to return to Protestantism and he remained a staunch church member.

In August 1610 he sailed several times to the eastern Mediterranean and during these voyages he was able to borrow books on mathematics and gave up his shore leave in order to study. As a result, he mastered algebra, geometry, and trigonometry with help from no-one!

He next joined an expedition as master-mate, as well as tutor in navigation. The ship was scheduled to go to Persia via the Cape of Good Hope. Another ship that was part of the expedition joined them at Lymington. Something happened there that provided Richard the opportunity to show what a good diver he was, leading to a later appointment by the Virginia Company for similar work in Bermuda.

One of the guns being loaded on this other ship slipped and fell deep into the water and was covered with silt, making it almost invisible. Richard volunteered to retrieve it and devised a diving bell out of a hogshead. He was lowered down, found the gun, and had it hauled to the surface.

The expedition, which had hoped to establish direct trade with Persia, was canceled when one of the principal shareholders died. He was Prince Henry, son of King James I, dying 6 November 1612.

Richard spent the year before his arrival in the Somers Islands in a partnership with a well-known London math teacher, John Goodwin. The partnership lasted four or five months until Goodwin married. It had been a happy relationship for Richard. He and Goodwin remained lifelong friends. Richard continued teaching alone for another tree or four months.

It wasn’t long after that that Norwood got his offer from the Virginia Company to become their Bermuda pearl diver. He was to have in payment a share of any pearls found.

The summer before Richard arrived on the islands the Virginia Company sold full title to the islands to a groups of investors who became known as the “Adventurers”. They were anxious to have a precise survey made so that the land could be equally divided among shareholders. They hired a man named Bartlett to do the job. He was there about the time Richard arrived, but had one disagreement after another with Governor Moore and before he had done any of the work, he went back to England and never returned.

This was a lucky break for Richard. Since his pearl-diving job was now non-existent, he was delighted when the governor appointed him to do the survey.

Norwood began by making a survey of the coastline. Then in May 1616, Governor Daniel Tucker replaced Governor Moore. The new governor assigned him the task of dividing the land into eight “tribes”, later known as parishes, and each named for one of the wealthy adventurers. Each tribe was then to be further subdivided into fifty 25 acre plots. St. George’s and St. David’s islands and a small eastern portion would remain unallocated “general” land.

He and his assistant, Charles Caldicott, accomplished the work with amazing accuracy and skill despite the crudeness of their instruments.

The map Norwood devised has remained in use through the centuries with only minor corrections. It still serves as a basis for land tenure in Bermuda today. It was published in London in 1622, five years after Norwood’s return to England. His work in 1614-17 was only the beginning, however, of his influence on Bermuda history. He returned to Bermuda in 1637 or 38. ((That part of his life will be discussed in the next installment.))


The Bermuda Beacon; Vol 3, No 4; Alva M. Hamilton; © October 1986; p. 35-39
Richard Norwood, Part 2
by Alva M. Hamilton

Upon his return to England in 1617, Richard Norwood gathered his data together, checked his calculations, drew his map and supervised the printing of it. It was published in 1622, the same year that, at age 32, he married Rachel, daughter of Francis Boughton of Sandwich, Kent.

They moved to London and remained there for twenty years during which time Richard was mainly based at home. He spent that time teaching, writing books, and occasionally doing surveys for various estates.

His time away from England was spent briefly in 1623 when he was sent by the Virginia Company, in which he also had a share, to the Netherlands to inspect fortifications and then in April of the year when he accepted an invitation from the Company to visit Virginia, probably as a surveyor. The trip over was very unpleasant and he did not like the offer he got in Virginia and returned home immediately.

Richard and Rachel had four children, all born in England: Andrew born about 1623, Mathew about 1625, Elizabeth about 1627 and Anne about 1628.

During the years in London, Richard wrote several books which became very popular. The first of these was Trigonometrie or the Doctrine of Triangles, published in 1631 by W. Jones. This book had many new editions and reprints over a period of fifty-five years.

It was also during that year that John Speed’s A PROSPECT OF AND THE MOST FAMOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD was published containing Richard’s 1622 map of the Bermuda Islands. On the back of it was Norwood’s “Description of the Islands”. He gave there a description of Sir George Somer’s shipwreck and a history of the islands for the next ten years and in keeping with his great interest in and knowledge of botany and zoology, he gave detailed descriptions of the configuration of the islands, the vegetation, soil, climate, native birds and fish, and discussed whales, turtles, prickly pears and insects.

In 1637 his THE SEAMAN’S PRACTICE was published by G. Hurlock. It became one of his best known works because it was a standard book on practical navigation. In 1700 the 17th edition was printed, twenty-five years after Norwood’s death.

The remarkable thing about that book was the fact that until it came out, navigators had a very imperfect concept of the length of a degree or a nautical mile. Norwood’s work to determine these things began by his observing the meridian altitude of the sun at a point near the Tower of London in June 1633. He repeated this procedure two years later in the middle of the city of York. He used a sextant with a five foot radius and by carefully measuring distances between his observation points and making corrections to allow for deviations, he came up with a figure only two-thirds of one percent off what is recognized today as the correct distances discovered through modern scientific measurement. This was a brilliant piece of work on Norwood’s part considering the crudity of his instruments and the fact that no-one else had attempted to do the measurements so vital in navigation.

Richard’s third book, FORTIFICATION OR ARCHITECTURE MILITARY came out in 1639 and in it he referred to his work in the Netherlands.

Even in the seventeenth century plagiarism was a problem for writers. Norwood was continually annoyed in finding that many of the proofs of his writing were stolen by literary pirates while still in the hands of the printer and there was nothing he could do about it.

About 1635 his father died at the Charterhouse Hospital in London where he was a pensioner. I’m not sure whether this means that he was nearly penniless, but he must have had a little because Richard was executor of his father’s estate.

In a couple of years Norwood became at odds with the views of some of the bishops whose innovations he opposed and he would have had to answer to them regarding his opposition. When the Bermuda Company advertised for a schoolmaster, Richard applied for and got the job.

Toward the end of 1637, or in January 1638, the Norwood family set sail for Bermuda. The children ranged in age from nine to fourteen and if all shared their parent’s cabin, it would have been pretty crowded. Rachel was very opposed to spending weeks at sea under those conditions and urged Richard to make other arrangements. Richard managed to get the two boys put into the Reverend Nathaniel White’s cabin. Sharing his space with those boys did not please the clergyman at all and it led to bad feelings between the men that lasted all the rest of their lives. For years White waged a bitter vendetta against Richard, mainly on religious issues.

Richard’s first school is believed to have been in Devonshire, but exact location is unknown. Unfortunately his arrival in Bermuda was at a time when extremists in politics and religion were in power. Even though he was a moderate in both areas, Richard was constantly under attack by the conservatists and the radicals.

White constantly criticized Richard’s religious beliefs and publicly denounced him as a failure as a schoolmaster, saying that none of Richard’s pupils could conjugate a verb or decline a noun. White also said that Norwood should stick to teaching and not air his views on religion about which White inferred that Richard knew nothing.

Even without White’s constant harassment, Richard found that teaching was no easy task. Enrollment fluctuated constantly and attendance was not regular, particularly at shipping or planting time. He felt that he had to work as hard as if he had twice the number of steady students.

Some good fortune came Richard’s way in 1645 when he was given £150, a share of privateering booty for the Spanish Main. In those days this was considered a real windfall.

In 1644 another person entered Richard’s life who was as much an irritant to him as White. An Irish surgeon, John Witter, whom Richard had no use for, secretly married Richard’s daughter, Elizabeth, then only 17 years old. She had been forbidden to even see Witter and the marriage was a real blow to Norwood. Richard’s troubles began there as Witter and Norwood were constantly engaged in verbal confrontations. Witter also kept bringing Richard up on frequent charges based on various pretexts. Each time Richard had to travel all the way from Devonshire to the court in St. Georges to answer these charges. It was not easy to get back and forth and cost Richard much time away from his teaching duties.

Although Norwood claimed that Witter treated his daughter abominably, the marriage lasted and Elizabeth bore John seven children. All seven were mentioned in their grandfather’s will.

Anne, Richard’s younger daughter, also made a marriage disappointing to her parents. She married Richard Bowen, a man that her parents considered socially beneath them. Whether this was the reason for Anne’s apparent estrangement from Richard is not clear, but Anne was bequeathed £5 and part of her mother’s wardrobe when Richard died, whereas, Elizabeth and Andrew received the major share of the estate.

Since Bermuda was so far away from England, the islanders did not learn of King Charles I’s execution until March 1649, two months after the king’s death. Immediately the Bermuda Company which had turned from being Royalist in sentiment until 1647 to supporting Cromwell from then on, ordered that Governor Turner by removed from office and that he be replaced by a commission of three men. These men were to have been William Wilkinson, Richard Norwood and Capt. Thomas Leacraft but the latter had died before the appointment was known.

Wilkinson, who was a strong leader of the Independents in the Church was strongly opposed by the more moderate or conservative churchmen. Norwood refused to serve without him and when it reached a stalemate, Turner was asked to serve a little longer. He did not want to, but agreed to serve, only to be ejected two months later for being too moderate.

Richard was constantly finding himself in the middle of violent confrontations between White’s extreme Independents and the conservatives of the church party. In 1649 those who opposed Richard managed to have a grand inquest held regarding Richard’s school. The group reported it to be unsatisfactory and Richard was asked to resign.

Two men, following Richard as schoolmaster, didn’t last long. The first, Percival Goulding, was completely unsatisfactory. Richard was even asked to return, but he refused. The next man appointed, Jonathan Burr, was also considered a failure. In 1661, at the age of 71, Richard was prevailed upon to return to his school. He stayed a few years, but retired to manage his fifty acre estate in Pembroke purchased in1657. There he built his own school and started over again.

Just about the time that Richard resigned from his first school, another problem plagued him. In 1651 witch-hunting had reached Bermuda just as it had in England and America. In May of that year a woman named Jeane Gardiner was brought to trial and sentenced to death. During that trial, Anne Bowen, Richard’s daughter was mentioned as a suspect, but for lack of evidence, escaped an severe penalties.

Richard was so upset at the prospect and possibility that even he might become a suspect that he hid his mathematical manuscripts on Boaz Island. He was afraid that some ignorant zealot would think they were works of the devil.

Richard’s mathematical abbreviations were those he adopted before they became commonplace. He was the first to do so and so earned a place in history for this accomplishment.

All during the time that Norwood was teaching school, he was often called upon to check boundaries and settle land disputes. When he left for England in 1617, he was apparently replaced by John Perinchief. Perinchief continued as surveyor until his death which occurred about 1640 or a little later. It was after 1640 that Richard resumed his surveying. He complained that in the 20 years he was in England, some “gross errors” had been committed.

After many land disputes began cropping up, the council engaged Norwood to resurvey the islands for a fee of £50. That was in 1662. He finished the work a year later when he was 73. His book of this survey is called the Domesday Book of Bermuda. It settled many questions and furnished the basis for all future legislation on property assessments. Some of Norwood’s marks are still there.

He drew a new map and left copies of it and the book to his daughter, Elizabeth, as a source of income for her. She was to charge an inspection fee of 6d each time they were consulted.

In addition to all the activities described here for Richard, he served as a councillor in 1651/2.

Although Anne was almost ignored in her father’s will, it was one of her descendants who discovered Richard’s journal in New York in the 20th century. Luckily this descendant realized its historical value and it is preserved in the Bermuda Archives. Unfortunately, another of Richard’s descendants, two hundred years after his death, found some of his mathematical manuscripts and fearing that her children might be “infected” by the contaminating stuff, burned them! Apparently the music and perspective MSS left to a grandson were not destroyed.

Richard Norwood died 1675 as he approached 85. Rachel died a few years earlier.

Only the daughters remained in Bermuda and thus the Norwood name died out there. Son Matthew was a senior captain serving the Bermuda Company and had emigrated. He published two books, THE SEAMAN’S COMPANION (1671) and NORWOOD’S SYSTEM OF NAVIGATION (1685). Matthew apparently inherited his father’s intelligence and talent because the books were popular and in use a long time.

It was Andrew who followed his father into surveying. He laid out two towns on Staten Island, New York. He raised his family in New England and later lived at least part of the time, in Barbados.

The house, which now stands on the Norwood estate, was built in 1771 by Samuel Saltus who had married Richard’s great-granddaughter, Esther Vincent, daughter of Elizabeth Witter’s daughter, Elizabeth. Richard’s own home and schoolhouse have long since disappeared. “Norwood”, as the present house is known, is said to be one of the loveliest on the islands.

Richard NORWOOD and Rachel BOUGHTON obtained a marriage license on 7 May 1622 in London, England.41 They41 were married on 9 May 1622 in Hertfordshire, England.1,42,43 Rachel BOUGHTON, daughter of Francis BOUGHTON, was born about 1600 in Sandwich, Kent, England.43 She died before 1674 at the age of 74 in Bermuda.44

Richard NORWOOD-1012 and Rachel BOUGHTON-1192 had the following children:

+2

i.

Andrew NORWOOD-1010.

+3

ii.

Matthew NORWOOD-1193.

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iii.

Elizabeth NORWOOD-1194.

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iv.

Anne NORWOOD-1195.
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