Thomas Woodward Part 2
From RoyalWeb
(→Conclusion) |
(→Conclusion) |
||
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
A “Thomas Woodward, gent.” was apparently a law student at the Middle Temple, of the famous Inns of Court in London, from at least the year 1618 (27). But even more than that, he was a personal friend whilst there of the English metaphysical poet John Donne (see below). If, for the sake of argument, we assume for the moment that this Thomas Woodward is the same person as the immigrant to Virginia (though this appears unlikely), and if we further assume that Thomas Woodward the immigrant was indeed born around the year 1600 (as stated in one of his depositions in Virginia), then he would have been around eighteen years of age in 1618, just at the right age to be admitted as a student of the Middle Temple. I must stress, however, that I have not yet been able to fully examine this reference, and thus have not yet been able to determine whether or not 1618 was the year in which this Thomas Woodward matriculated at the Middle Temple. | A “Thomas Woodward, gent.” was apparently a law student at the Middle Temple, of the famous Inns of Court in London, from at least the year 1618 (27). But even more than that, he was a personal friend whilst there of the English metaphysical poet John Donne (see below). If, for the sake of argument, we assume for the moment that this Thomas Woodward is the same person as the immigrant to Virginia (though this appears unlikely), and if we further assume that Thomas Woodward the immigrant was indeed born around the year 1600 (as stated in one of his depositions in Virginia), then he would have been around eighteen years of age in 1618, just at the right age to be admitted as a student of the Middle Temple. I must stress, however, that I have not yet been able to fully examine this reference, and thus have not yet been able to determine whether or not 1618 was the year in which this Thomas Woodward matriculated at the Middle Temple. | ||
| − | + | Thomas Woodward did not go there alone, however: with him there was also a brother named “Rowland Woodward”, as may be seen from the following reference, mentioning the two Woodward brothers in passing (for quite different reasons): | |
<blockquote>Donne may have traced his lineage back to an ancient Welsh line, the Dwyns of Kidwelly, yet his father was an ironmonger and citizen of London; his friends at Lincoln’s Inn, Rowland and Thomas Woodward, were the sons of a London vintner of the parish of St. Mary le Bow. Students of the Inns of Court without armour were entitled to style themselves gentlemen by virtue of the institution. (28)</blockquote> | <blockquote>Donne may have traced his lineage back to an ancient Welsh line, the Dwyns of Kidwelly, yet his father was an ironmonger and citizen of London; his friends at Lincoln’s Inn, Rowland and Thomas Woodward, were the sons of a London vintner of the parish of St. Mary le Bow. Students of the Inns of Court without armour were entitled to style themselves gentlemen by virtue of the institution. (28)</blockquote> | ||
| − | This reference would seem to imply, however, that this Rowland and Thomas Woodward | + | This reference would seem to imply, however, that this Rowland and Thomas Woodward might have been considerably older than our Thomas Woodward, the immigrant, since the poet John Donne is known to have been born in 1572, and to have entered Lincoln’s Inn in 1592 (29). This turns out, in fact, to have been the case, as the following reference makes clear: |
| + | |||
| + | <blockquote>A Note on Rowland Woodward, The Friend of Donne | ||
| + | |||
| + | The late Sir Edmund Gosse concludes the first volume of his ''Italic text''Life and Letters of John Donne''Italic text'' (1899, i, 318) by saying, "There is none of Donne's friends of whom we would gladly know more than of Rowland Woodward." He states that nothing is known of him but his name, the epistles that Donne wrote to him, and the gift to him by Donne of a copy of the ''Italic text''Pseudo-Martyr''Italic text''; | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
A “Rowland Woodward” (as mentioned by J. Gary Woodward) was married by 1594, and was the father of a son named “Christopher Woodward”, who was baptized on 1 May 1594, in Orwell Parish, Cambridge (30). I have no way of knowing, at present, just how many “Rowland Woodwards” there were, running around England at that time, so of course I cannot say whether or not these two Rowlands were the same person. I will confess that the evidence looks intriguing, if not compelling. This Christopher Woodward (the son of Rowland) could have easily been the same Christopher Woodward who ended up at the 1624 muster in Jamestown, Virginia. It is fascinating to speculate that he could in fact have been a nephew of the Thomas Woodward who also emigrated to Virginia. | A “Rowland Woodward” (as mentioned by J. Gary Woodward) was married by 1594, and was the father of a son named “Christopher Woodward”, who was baptized on 1 May 1594, in Orwell Parish, Cambridge (30). I have no way of knowing, at present, just how many “Rowland Woodwards” there were, running around England at that time, so of course I cannot say whether or not these two Rowlands were the same person. I will confess that the evidence looks intriguing, if not compelling. This Christopher Woodward (the son of Rowland) could have easily been the same Christopher Woodward who ended up at the 1624 muster in Jamestown, Virginia. It is fascinating to speculate that he could in fact have been a nephew of the Thomas Woodward who also emigrated to Virginia. | ||
