General Notes

George Billups came to the Virginia Colony with his two brothers, William and Thomas, from Britain in 1655. He had obtained a Local Grant of Land from the King which reads:  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH  TO ALL to Whom these presents shall come Greeting  Now Know yee, that I the said Richard Bennett, Esqr. Knight Governor &c. Do give and grant unto George Billups seven Hundred and Fifty acres of land, lying upon the branch of Milford Haven, Beginning at a Dividing point and running up a Creek which divides this land from the land of John Lillies, Southerly three hundred and seventy five pole, west by north eighty pole, North by west a little Northerly one hundred and sixty pole to dividing point first specified. The said land being due unto the said George Billups by and for the Transportation of fifteen persons into the colony&c. To have and to hold the said tract or parcel of land &c. To be help etc. Yielding and Paying &c. which payment is made on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel. Provided &c. dated the 25th of November 1653. (Patent Book 3, p 2)  The plantation he developed is still intact today. It was in or about this same year that he married a lady named Sarah.  It was in Kingston Parish of Gloucester (Now Mathews) County, Virginia, that George settled - on the southwest side of Milford Haven Creek on a branch that would come to be known as Billups Creek. There is still a village in Wales known as Milford Haven. Today, Milford Haven, Virginia is a town and it is assumed Billups and his descendants that named the town in honor of their home. Some of George Billups have inhabited the 750 acre estate since its beginnings.  George Billups was born, ca. 1625, in Wales. However, the efforts of many researchers have been fruitless to uncover details of his early life or his ancestry. In fact, many of the documents to be found in court records and salvaged from Church and plantations are very sketchy at best and often more confusing than helpful. So many intermarriages were occurring - acceptable and common until recent decades - and so many names recurred from generation to generation among cousins, nieces, and nephews, as well as children, that questions faced today will not be easily answered in the future.  (Information courtesy of David Chaffin, Huntington, WV via Damon WIlcox)