Humphrey Belt

Humphrey Belt was said to have been born in 1615, but no contemporary birth record was identified. Family research considered Durham County, Yorkshire, and London as possible English associations of the Belt name, but Dione Coumbe reported that her searches found no record of Humphrey’s birth in England, Scotland, or Wales. In a 9 October 2000 email, she stated that she believed it could safely be concluded that he was not born in Scotland.

Research cited in the family notes also rejected the suggestion that he was the son of Sir Robert Belt and Grace Belt of Yorkshire. Coumbe believed Humphrey may have belonged to the wider Belt family but not to a wealthy branch; this was an inference rather than a documented parentage. The notes further discuss possible commercial connections among Belt families, London, County Durham, Virginia tobacco trade, Captain Barker, and Sir Robert Belt’s son Daniel Belt. These connections and any relationship between Humphrey and the Bossall Belts remain unproven.

On 23 June 1635, Humphrey Belt, recorded as “Humfrey” and age 20, received a Gravesend certificate for transportation to Virginia aboard the America, Master Barker. The certificate stated conformity to the orders and discipline of the Church of England. He was among five men whose transportation was paid by William Clarke and was described in the notes as an indentured servant. The America reportedly carried 88 passengers, including 74 men and 14 women. A land grant dated 29 September 1636 awarded William Clarke 450 acres in Henrico County, Virginia, on the Appomattox River for transporting nine persons, including Humphrey Belt.

Humphrey later lived in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia. On 10 August 1646, he purchased 150 acres from Harry Nichols, whose patent had covered the land. The notes state that Humphrey later sold this tract to Thomas Cartwright; it subsequently passed to Abram Thomas and then Thomas Watkins.

By 1 October 1649, Humphrey was identified in a Lower Norfolk County land record as the husband of Margery Cragges, also called Mary. This was not a marriage record. A possible identification of Margery with Mary Scragges, christened 26 May 1611 at St. Giles Cripplegate, daughter of Edward Scragges, was suggested in the notes but is not established.

Humphrey’s plantation was apparently near the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River. A 1 December 1652 patent to Thomas Cartwright for 300 acres in Lower Norfolk County described land near “Miles End” of John Porter and the main swamp, running west by south by Humphrey Belt’s land. On 8 June 1654, Humphrey received a patent for 220 acres in Linhaven Parish, Lower Norfolk County. The tract lay near Thomas Matin’s Creek and the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River and adjoined land of Goldsmith and Mr. Sydney. The patent credited him with transporting five people into Virginia in 1649: Mary Cragges, identified as his wife, Randall Hewett, John Cooper, Simon Robins, and George Gay.

On 30 June 1663, Humphrey appeared at His Lordship’s Land Office in St. Mary’s City, Maryland, and entered rights for 200 acres for himself, John Belt, Anne Belt, and Sarah Belt. A warrant was issued to survey and lay out the land. The record does not state the relationships of John, Anne, and Sarah to Humphrey, although the family notes describe them as members of his family. This is the last supplied record of Humphrey. No record of the administration or distribution of his estate was provided, and the supplied material does not establish a death date. Although the header gives 30 June 1663 as his death date, that date is instead the date of his Maryland land-rights entry.

The family notes preserve the Belt motto as “Tempus edax rerum,” translated there as “Time devours all things.” They also give “It is the soul of resignation” as another interpretation, though that wording is not a direct translation of the Latin phrase.