John NEVILLE was born in 1612. He immigrated in 1634 to Ark andDove Ship. He signed a will on 7 Jan 1664 in Maryland. July of1664 his will was proven. In which are mentioned his wifeJohanna andtheir son William, and his daughter Ellen Lambert,now wife of John of Charles County, and appoints his son Williamand his son-in-law John Lambert executors. He doubtless hadprovided for his elder children by deed or gift or otherwise;hence no mention of their names in his will, this being apractice quite common in colonial times where there were morethan one set of children (See will recorded in liber 1, No. 3Folio 87) Letters testamentary, Provincial wills office,Annapolis, Md. (But not one of the regular Provincial Willbooks).

By order of this court John Neville, Jr., was appointed as oneof the appraisers of the estate of his father. (Liber 3, Folio242, Testamentary proceedings.) No report of final settlement ofsaid estate by his executors has been found of record. He diedin Jun 1664. It is clear from the land records of Maryland thatJohn Neville was a planter residing at the Clefts on the westside of the Patuxent river, in St. Mary's Co, now Colvert,possessed of some means for at least four years as a single man,and about fourteen years before he made any demand upon LordManor for lands due him under the law for transportin himself in1635 and his wife Bridget in 1639 in the province of Maryland.

In 1639 he transported his first wife, Bridget Thorsley, anEnglish woman as appears from his affidavit dated November 8,1659, in which he states he transported his said wife, Bridget,som twenty years previous. See Liber 4, folio 186, of LandWarrant, Land Office, Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1649, according to the law of the colony, John Nevillerecorded his stock mark (Right ear splint, under Kovled) fromthis we understand that his herd was pasturing on the publiclands as well as his own.

In 1649 John Neville demanded 200 acres of land for transportinghimself and wife Bridget into the colony. Se Liber A.D. and R.folio 27.

See Chancer Docket for St. Mary's County 1640. By order of courtMr. Neville was cirected to pay one hundred and fifty pounds ofmerchantable tobaccco for the care of his wife and child for twomonths.

In 1651 he demanded 400 acres of land which had been assigned tohim by George Ackrick, and one hundred acres for transportingJohanna Porter, his now wife, and on August 1, 1651, "A warrentwas issued to lay out for John Neville five hundred acres uponWiccokomica River (now Wimico) in Charles Copunty, joining thelands of Thomas Mitchell then to the Southward of the Patuxentriver not formerly taken up and etc" Liber A.B. and H. folio241, land office of Maryland.

In 1661 John Neville purchased five hundred acres of land inCharles County called Mooredity from Henry Moore and Elizabethhis wife. Se liber B. folio 59 shich lands he deeded to hiswife, Johanna. Liber F. folio 23, Charles County record, landoffice of Maryland.

In 1663, July 15 John Neville by deed from Robert Taylor for 300acres of land in Charles County. (Liber B. No. 1, folio 84) andon Feb. 24, 1664 400 acres by deed Francis Armstrong in CharlesCounty (Liber B No. 1, Folio 92).

May 5 1662 John Neville instituted a suit by attachment againstDuncan Bohanan for debt. (Chancery record for Charles County1662), and in 1664 this suit was continued by counsel on accountof the death of the Plaintiff.
He was married to Bridgett THORSEBY )THONESELY) est 1639 inEngland.
This family is one of the oldest and greatest in Englishhistory. Various member of it have left an impress upon thestory of the nation to which they belonged that will endureuntil the last legends of English history shall have beeforgotten.

The Nevilles are of Norman_French descent. Lodger's history ofthe existing British peorage states that Henry de Newburgh, 2ndson of Roger de Bellemonte and Earl of Mollant was the founderof the family in England and that the castle of Warwick wasconferred upon him by William the Conqueror.

In Patronymica Britannica, by Lower, it is stated that thefamily descends from Gilbert de Neville, who was admiral toWilliam the Conqueror, and mentions that in Normandy two placeswere called Neville and at eighteen places Neuville.

While the authorities do not entirely agree as to the origin ofthe family in England yet it is beyond argument that Neville isa French name. Neville, Neuville and de Newburgh mean the samething, and the beginning of this family was undoubtedly inNormandy, the north of France.

The greatest of them all was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick,the Kingmaker of England, who was beyond compare, the ablest andgreatest subject of the English crown at any period of itshistory.

His life is so familiar to all students of English history thatno further mention of him here is deemed necessary. Whether JohnNeville, the founder of the family in America, descends from theancient house of France and England need not be discussed inthese pages.

Possibly he belonged to oneof the Junior and came to America inorder to better the broken fortunes of his family. Much might besaid in proof of this opinion; But it is not possible at thislate date to support this contention by positive evidence fromthe American records.

It is better to regard John Neville as a man of good family inhis native land, but being of an active and enterprisingdisposition, determined to seek larger fortune in the New World.The valor of his descendants in the male lines in every warwaged in this country and the domestic virtues of the women inthe female lines, are the best tributes that can be paid to thecourage and good qualities of john Neville who migrated to thecolony of Maryland not later that 1635.

** Source Copy of manuscript supplied by Mr. R.F. Neville, Jr.Mobile Alabama, June 22 1937. From book by E.N McAllister


Neville is a name which has had a variety of forms at differenttimes, according to old records. Among the number may bementioned Nevil, Nevill, Neevill, Nevile, Nevel, Nevell,Nevelle, Naefville, Nevyle, Neuvilles. In Normandy, France---and the Nevilles are of Norman as well as SaxonLineage--there are two towns called Neville and eighteen namedNeuvilles, Nova Villa of Neuve Ville is another form of thename, which, translated into English or Anlioined, becomes a NewTown.

"A family of note in the north of England" is the usual term bywhich the Nevilles are referred to in history. Records beginwith Gilbert de Nevill, the Norman, companion in-an of Williamthe Conqueror, 1066--his Admiral he is supposed to have been.Gilbert de Nevil, son was Geoffrey, and it was his son, whosename has not been handed down, who married Emma daughter andheiress of Bertram de Bulmer, a great baron of the north, anddied 1194, leaving issue, namely, Henry, who died without issue,1227, and Isebel who succeeded to the estates of Bulmer andNevill.

This great heiress, Isebel, married Robert Fitz Baldred, adescendant of King Ethelred, and the Saxon Lord of Raby, of theillustrious stock of the Earls of Northumberland, in thebishopric of Durham and had a son, Geoffrey, who adopting hismaternal surname and inherited the combined estates, becameGeoffrey de Neville of Raby.

The Coat of Arms of their decendants contains quarterings,decorated with emblems of both Nevill of Bulmer and Neville ofRaby, showing their descent from them. Among these are the Earlor Marquis of Abergavenny and the present Earls of Westmoreland.Robert de Neville suceeded his father, Geoffrey Neville of Raby.He died in 1282 and was suceeded by his grandson, Ralph deNeville, who was summoned to Parlimanet as "Barron Raby", 8 Jun1294. He died in 1331 and was succeeded by his son, Ralph deNeville, the second Baron Raby. Sir John de Nevill was summonedto Parliment 1368 to 1388. He was admiral of the King's combinedfleet, Lieutenant of Aquatas and Seneschal of Bordeaux. In theProvince of Azuataine and in wars with France he won, and hadrendered to him eighty-three walled towns, castles and forts. Hedied in 1388, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ralph deNevill, who, on Sept. 29, 1397, by royal charter, was advanced,in full Parliment, to the dignity of Earl of Westmoreland.

Ralph de Nevill married Joan, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke ofLancaster. One of the famous ones of the family, Richard Nevill,Earl of Warwick, the "King Maker", was the granson of Ralph andJoan. Richard III, King of England, was the son of Richard andCicely Nevill, aunt of the "king maker", who was first cousin toEdward IV and second cousin to Henry VI. The Earl of Warwick'slanded property was enormous, comprising according to the deedby which his widow made it over to Henry VII, over one hundredmanors, besides the city of Worcester, the islands of Guernsey,Jersey, Alderney and Sark. At his house in London six oxen wereusually served at a breakfast, and every guest could have asnuch meat as he could carry away on a long dagger. His careerillustrates the grandeur of feudalism--the "last of the barons",he is called. It was the "king maker" who mad Warwick Countymemorable by the part he took in the War of the Roses, althoughwe do not forget that Shakespeare was born in the county.

Besides it's statesmen, the Nevill family has it's scholars,notably Alexander Neville,living at the middle of the sixteenthcentury, and it's dignitaries of the church--two arch-bishops inthe persons of Alexander Neville of York, who died 1392, andGeorge Neville, also of York, of the following centruy. Thelatter was the brother of the Earl of Warwick, "king maker" andlord chancellor 1460-7. It was at Neville's Cross, near Durham,that David, King of Scotland was defeated, when he invadedEngland. Raby Castle, one seat of the Nevilles, is in Durham.

In regard to the first of the name in this country, he wasprobably Richard, who was living in Virginia , early in theeighteenth century. He married Anne Burroughs, a relative ofLord Fairfax.

The son of Richard and Anne was John, born 1731. He was a friendof Washington, and served with him in Braddock's expedition. Hewas a delegate to the provincial convention of Virginia and anofficer in the revolution. His monument is inscribed: "he filledmany important offices, civil and military. In the former, hewas virtuous and disinterested; in the latter, patriotic andbrave". Hi son Presley was aide to Lafayette and commissiondBrigadier Genen before the close of the war. He married adaughter of Ge. Daniel Morgan. Their home was famous for it'shospitality. When the Duke of Orleans, afterward Louis Phillipe,King of France, was in this country, with his two brothers, hewas entertained by the Nevilles. A few years later a member ofthe family was received by Louis in France, with the greateskindness.

Another pilgrim Neville was Samuel, who established himself inNew Jersey, 1736. He had been editory of the London MorningPost, and possessed talents of a high order. He is put down inthe records of the time as "Samuel Nevill, Gent". He filled manyimportant offices; was judge of the Supreme Court of theprovince and mayor of Perth Amboy. His brother John, also of NewJersey, held important offices. Samuel edited the firstperiodical of any kind printed in new Jersey- the new AmericanMagazine.

The arms reproduced is gules, on a saltier argent, a rose of thefield barbed, seeded proper Crest, a bulls head pied.Supporters, two greyhounds collared proper. Motto, "Ne VilleVelis" ("incline to nothing base"}, or, as some branches of thefamily have it, "Ne Vile" {"do no evil"}.

This motto is what is called a punnin motto, being a play on thename, or, to use the correct heraldic term, a canting motto,which is the olderst form of motto. There are some baron verses,called the "The Barons War" , by Drayton, in which the Nevillename is immortalized as follows:"Upon his surcoat valiant Nevillbore
A silver saltier upon martial red."
Regarding the symbolism of the arms, a saltier of St. Andrew'scross signifies courage and resolution; the bull, valor andmagnanimity; the greyhound, swiftness in assault upon an enemyforces. Queen Elizabeth's shield displayed a lion and a dragon.Sometimes a greyhound arg__ was substituted for the dragon. Thesupporters of Henry VII's arms were a dragon gules and greyhoundargent, and sometimes two greyhounds argent. The greyhound, as aTudor symbol, was supplanted by the Unicorn in the time of JamesI. The arms reproduced is that of the Nevil of Raby, descendantsof teh Norman Gilbert and the Earls of Westmoreland.

*** Source Corner in Ancestors The Neville Family by EleanorLexington.
Children were: James NEVILLE, Ellen NEVILLE.

He was married to Ann NEVILLE in 1646 in Maryland. Childrenwere: John NEVILLE .

He was married to Johanna PORTER in 1649 in Maryland. Childrenwere: William NEVILLE.