Thomas Dowse, also known as Thomas Dawse and Thomas Dawles ( will read, June 4, 1683) was an English-American immigrant who represented City of

Henricus The "Citie of Henricus"—also known as Henricopolis, Henrico Town or Henrico—was a settlement in Virginia founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamest ...

in the first meeting of the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...

on July 30, 1619 at Jamestown,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Biography

Dowse was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but migrated to the American colonies, becoming one of the "

ancient planter "Ancient planter" was a term applied to early colonists who migrated to the Colony of Virginia in what is now the United States, when the colony was managed by the Virginia Company of London. They received land grants if they stayed in the colony fo ...

s". In 1619, Brown states in his "First Republic in America," that, "The City of Henricus included Henrico (Farrar's Island), extending thence on both sides of James River to the westward, the pale run by Dale between the said river and the Appomattox River being the line on the South Side." It was represented in the House of Burgesses by Thomas Dowse and

John Pollington John Pollington (sometimes shown as John Polentine or Pollentin)Hening, William Waller''The Statutes at Large; being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the year 1619, Volume I'' New York: Publi ...

sometimes shown as John Polentine. Henrico having been selected as the site for a college and university, the first college in America, ten thousand acres (40 km²) were set by, as agreed, and the limits of the corporation were extended from the Falls of the James on the Popham side to what is now called Farrar's Island. Dowse was the only survivor of the attack launched by Opossunoquonuske and her

Appomattoc The Appomattoc (also spelled Appamatuck, Apamatic, and numerous other variants) were a historic tribe of Virginia Indians speaking an Algonquian language, and residing along the lower Appomattox River, in the area of what is now Petersburg, Col ...

warriors against a party from the Jamestown settlement in 1610; he protected himself by using the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

of the men's boat as a shield. The English destroyed the Indians' village in retaliation for the massacre.

References

External links

genealogy page

House of Burgesses members Year of birth unknown 1683 deaths 17th-century American politicians People from Henrico County, Virginia {{Virginia-politician-stub