Unity Croshaw was the daughter of Major Joseph Croshaw

Joseph Croshaw

Major Joseph Croshaw was a substantial planter living near Williamsburg in the US Colony and Dominion of Virginia.-Early Life:Crowshaw was born in probably 1610-1612, the son of Captain Raleigh Croshaw. He became a substantial planter and lived just a few miles from present-day Williamsburg,...

, one of the main figures of early Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...

. She was the grandchild of Raleigh Croshaw

Raleigh Croshaw

Captain Raleigh Croshaw was an Ancient planter and a representative in the House of Burgesses for Elizabeth City County in the US Colony and Dominion of Virginia. He was the only son of Joseph Croshaw .-Virginia settler:...

, one of the founders of Jamestown. She was the daughter-in-law of Colonial Virginia Governor John West

John West (governor)

John West was the colonial Governor of Virginia from 1635 to 1637, the third West brother to serve in that position.-Biography:...

 of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia

Colony and Dominion of Virginia

The Colony of Virginia was the English colony in North America that existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the American Revolution...

 (now part of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

). She married Colonel John West

John West (colonel)

Lieutenant-Colonel John West, Jr. of West Point, Virginia was commander of the New Kent Militia in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, and a representative of the same county in the House of Burgesses.-Biography:...

, who subsequently left her to live with Cockacoeske

Cockacoeske

Cockacoeskie was a 17th century leader of the Pamunkey Tribe of Native Americans in what is now Virginia in the United States....

, queen of the Pamunkey

Pamunkey

The Pamunkey nation are one of eleven Virginia Indian tribes recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The historical tribe was part of the Powhatan paramountcy, made up of Algonquian-speaking tribes. The Powhatan paramount chiefdom was made up over 30 tribes, estimated to total about...

 Indians and a cousin of Pocahontas

Pocahontas

Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...

.

Biography

Unity Croshaw was born at Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, James City, Virginia. She was christened in 1636 at West Point, King William County, Virginia, and she married Colonel John West there in 1654. The couple had the following children:

• Captain Nathaniel West
  Nathaniel West (captain)
  Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel West of Poplar Neck was a resident and the member for King William County in the House of Burgesses of the US Colony and Dominion of Virginia...
  
   (b. 1655-1724), he was mentioned in records as a Captain in 1662, a Major in 1667, Lt. Colonel in 1673. He commanded the militia of the county. Nathaniel married his second cousin Martha Woodard. Their son-in-law, William Danridge, was Martha Washington's
  Martha Washington
  Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
  
   uncle.
• Unity (Susannah) West (b. 1657), married George Martin.
• Anne West (b.1660-1708), married Henry Fox.
• John West III
  John West III
  John West III was a justice and sheriff of King and Queen County and a House of Burgesses representative for King William County, all in the US Colony and Dominion of Virginia. He was the second son of Colonel John West of West Point, Virginia and Unity Croshaw...
  
  (b. 1666), married Judith Armistead.
• Captain Thomas West (b. 1670-1714), married Agnes (?).

Unity died on April 20, 1669 in New Kent County Virginia.

Sources

• "Records of York County, Croshaw, vol. 1664-1672, p. 257"
• "Long Melford Through The Ages, by Barry L. Wall, East Anglian Magazine Ltd., Ipswich, Suffolk"
• "Claiborne of Virginia, Descendants of Colonel William Claiborne, The First Eight Generations, by John Frederick Dorman and Claiborne T. Smith, Jr., MD,Gate Way Press Inc., Baltimore, Maryland"
• "The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Apr., 1894)"
• "Middle Peninsula Historic Marker "Cockacoeske"
• "Cockacoeske, Queen of Pamunkey: Diplomat and Suzeraine." W. Martha W. McCartney."
• "Tax Rolls, March 1660. 3 March 1659."

External links