Thomas Forrest, Esq. (born May 1572 in Morborne, Huntingdonshire, England, died 1641 in Maryland), was a gentleman financier in the Virginia Company. On October 1, 1608, what is known as the Second Supply, came to the new colony of Virginia aboard the English ship the Mary and Margaret to resupply the colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Thomas Forrest was listed as a gentleman on that ship as shown on the ship's manifest. This ship brought with it the first two women to come to Jamestown, Thomas Forrest's second wife Mistress Forrest (Margaret Foxe) and Anne Burras, the maid of Thomas's wife. Thomas Forrest is said in various genealogies listed on the internet to have brought his son Peter (born 1601 in Morborne of Thomas's first marriage to Elizabeth Duncastle), however as Peter would have been six or seven at the time, this is unlikely and his name is not on the ship's manifest, thus it is more likely that Peter, who died in Maryland in 1665 in St. Mary's County, Maryland came later. Thomas and Margaret had married on August 16, 1605 in St. Giles in the Fields, London, England, four years after Peter was born. Peter is a direct ancestor of Uriah Forrest of Revolutionary War fame.
As was law in England at the time, Thomas's elder brother Miles Forrest inherited the title to their father's estates and the younger Thomas set out for the adventure of securing new land in a new colony. Thomas was a member of the Virginia Company (also known as the Charter of the Virginia Company of London or the London Company) that established the colony. According to Seven Hundred Years of the Beville Family ISBN 0788413295[1] Thomas' grandmother, Katherine Beville (wife of Miles Forrest) was descended from, among others, William De Beville (Le Sire [lord] de Beville], who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and fought in the Battle of Hastings. The family records can be found in St. Michael's Church in Chesterton, Huntingdonshire, England.
In this pivotal time in English history toward the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the power of the landed gentry for whom wealth was land, was giving way to the rising class of merchants, for whom wealth was trade in shippable goods, such as gold, tea and tobacco. Thomas was one of the gentry who made the transition from the old to the new; an interesting footnote in history as we find one of the founders of colonial America is a direct descendent of one of the founders of Norman England over 500 years prior.
The origins of Thomas Forrest and his wife require further documentation. Thomas Forrest was listed as a shareholder in the Second Charter of Virginia, granted by James I to the London Company of Virginia on May 23 1609. See the last line of the charter for his name on page 54
Sir Anthony Forrest of Morborne, Huntingdonshire,[3] was also an investor in the Virginia Company. It is likely that Thomas Forrest, the gentleman colonist, is also of the Morborne family. Thomas's birth records in the parish church in St Michael's Church, Chesterton, Huntingdonshire, England. His marriage record to Margaret (August 16, 1605) is in the church of St Giles in the Fields, London.
Further research is required as forensic evidence suggests that Thomas was widowed shortly after arriving in Jamestown in 1608 with his wife. His disappears from the colonial records for at least a decade before he and his now married son show up in Maryland. This suggests that Thomas went back to England, very possibly on the same ship he came over on, having concluded colonial life was better observed from afar. Never-the-less, his name shows up on the Second Charter in May of the next year, suggesting he maintained his enthusiasm for the new colonial venture.
Remains unearthed at Jamestown in 1997 may be those of Mistress Forrest.
"Dr. Doug Owsley and Karin Bruwelheide of the Smithsonian Institute examined the skeleton in the field. Their preliminary conclusions were that JR156C was a caucasian woman, about 35 years old. She was very small, possibly only about 4'9" or so in height. She had only 5 teeth at the time of her death, the rest having been lost many years before. The cause of her death was not evident. Stable isotope analysis done on the bones indicated that she had a diet primarily of wheat, rather than corn. This usually indicates a recently landed European. Documents indicate that the first women at Jamestown were Mistress Forest and her maid Anne Burras, who landed with the Second Supply in 1608. Anne Burras is known to have married John Laydon, and both were listed in the 1625 muster. Mistress Forrest, probably the wife of gentleman Thomas Forrest, is not mentioned again in the historical record, and may have died soon after her arrival at Jamestown. Scholars speculate that JR156 could be the grave of Mistress Forrest."[4]