Written By Neil W W Gilliat
THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF GILLIAT FAMILY HISTORY

FORWARD

I certainly do not consider myself a genealogist although I have been interested in the GILLIAT family history for the past twenty years. I had an aunt and an uncle who were both quite active in collecting items of family history and they were the first to arouse my interest. In later years I came in contact with Roy Walker, who probably has researched the Gilliat name (his mother's name) more than any other. Roy Walker's booklet 'GILLIAT ENTERPRISES' is the basis of much of the information here, so maybe Roy will write an update. During the past few years the Internet has probably brought more people together than any other instrument in history and has certainly made the search for information from the home easier, possible, and often worthwhile. It has also boosted the desire of many to find their roots and contact lost cousins all around the world. I am afraid that I am more of a piler than a filer and so I have struggled with the, the format and presentation of some of the information I have collected. Personally I find the pure statistical list of names and dates as pretty dry and yet that is what a lot of this genealogy is all about. I much prefer the stories and tales that are tossed around between family members and I have included as many of these as I could find. Unfortunately many of them are of my own line of the family for which I do not apologize, just take it as a challenge to put some of your own stories together and pass them around.

There are unfortunately, so many unknowns in compiling old data from years gone by and we are often obliged to make assumptions and use educated speculation. For such, I am quite ready and willing to be corrected when faced with better information.

As a youth, like most young people, I had little interest in where we all came from. More is the pity, for as I grew older I learned to regret not having listened more closely and questioned the family stories that were there for the telling. What few of these stories we remember have grown hazy with the mists of time and like the old parlour game bruised and changed from retelling, but somehow, they often hold a vestige of truth. I remember that our forefathers were said to be Huguenots from France, Protestants who fled persecution and death at the hands of the Roman Catholic majority. Also they were thought to be tobacco merchants from France, a twisted fact that obviously came from the exploits of John and Thomas Gilliat in Virginia.

HUGUENOT The Huguenot tradition was strong among many of the Gilliat factions although it has, to my knowledge, never been proven. There are a lot of items that do lend support to the claim such as the French Christian names of many of the oldest recorded births of Gilliats outside of the family. Guillaume was a fairly common name. Further the early Gilliats were unmistakably ardent Protestants.

The Gilliat name, and derivatives of it, shows up on the records in England at an early date and long before the Edict of Nantes and the persecution of the Protestants of France. Roy Walker quotes the record of John Gilliott as a witness to a deed at Wold Newton, Lincolnshire, in 1307. The earliest date I have picked up is the birth of Catherine Gilliott registered by her father Piers Gilliott in 1410 at Broughton, in Yorkshire. The same Catherine Gilliott seems to have been married to a Richard Tempest and had four children while living at Bracewell Yorkshire, some ten miles from Broughton. Her father Phillipe registered the birth of Janni Gilliat on the 26th of January 1549. at the St. Olav Church in the City of York.

However, some ten or fifteen years later the Gilliat name begins to show in numbers in the village church records of Northern Lincolnshire just south of the Humber River. From 1561 to 1600 at least a dozen families appear in the church registers. This suggests that there was an influx, or in migration, of the Gilliats at that time, giving more credence to the Huguenot theory. It could also have been the results of a law requiring compulsory registration of births that was introduced about that time. Registration of births had been a practice mostly restricted to the well to do, and even then was somewhat haphazard. Regardless Gilliat families spread throughout Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire over the next two hundred years and appeared to be tied mostly to the land in one-way or another. The spelling of the Gilliat name in the records is of some interest, and varies between, and even within, the families, probably depending on the education of the vicar of the church. Different spellings of the surname can be found in the church registries even when christening children within the same families. The use of Y instead of I was quite common and was an acceptable printing and writing practice of the day so should be discounted. But mostly a name was spelled phonetically, as spoken by the client often distorted by a heavy dialect or accent, as heard by the vicar who unfortunately was often barely literate himself. It appears that the name generally ends up as Gilliat or Gilliatt. I have our own branch of the family bible, a large book, which dates back to the early 1800s. On the flyleaf are recorded births and deaths of our family. The use of Gilliat and Gilliatt is mingled throughout and the use of one or two ts seems of little or no consequence and at the time a matter of personal preference. The Illinois Gilliatt family is descendent from John Gilliat but somewhere down through the years they adopted the second T. It is observed that in William of Scrivelsby's branch of the family, education was always an important priority and most, if not all the family members, were literate which was remarkable in the day.

There is some two or three thousand individual Gilliats and derivatives of the name scattered around in old parish records of Britain mostly in Lincolnshire. Many of the families lived close to one another, within walking distance and yet it is often difficult to connect the families together and establish relationships without speculation. Such is the suggestion by Roy Walker that William Gilliat of Eddlington was the father of William of Scrivelsby. Eddlington is a small village north of Horncastle and within ten miles of Scrivelsby and the dates make a possible connection. But it is speculation and I seriously doubt they were directly in line. However, I find it hard to believe that there is not some relationship between most of the Gilliats in these regions. They seem to have lived fairly close together and some of them have similar family stories.

LINCOLNSHIRE AND YORKSHIRE
The Lincolnshire/Yorkshire Gilliats were probably the most numerous concentration in Great Britain. One of the earliest centers for settlement was around the small Lincolnshire town of Brigg and over the years they seemed to have spread across Lincolnshire and up into the neighbouring County of Yorkshire. Although the name cropped up on occasion in other parts of the British Isles there was no other concentration other than in Cumberland.

CUMBERLAND
Cumberland is on the West coast of England north of the Port City of Liverpool. Ellin Gilyeate was registered by her father William at her christening at Saint Bees church in March of 1661. Saint Bees is a suburb of the port town of Whitehaven, which at the time was a very busy port and became a major trading port with Virginia. The Whitehaven area had become prosperous, shipping coal across the Irish Sea to Ireland. Special sturdy boats had been designed and built in the area for the coal trade. It was found that these small sturdy ships of 150 to 200 tons were also capable of safely navigating the Atlantic. As the tobacco, slave, and consumer goods trade began to flourish the Cumberland ship owners were quick to pick up on the opportunity. Further family 'legend' suggests the Gilliats were seafaring people and had been in the French navy and later the navy of William of Orange.

Over the next two hundred years there were quite a few Gilliat births and weddings along the coastal area of Cumberland. It is also known that most of them were sailors, and generally officers and masters of the ships plying between Virginia and England. The ships names, the Captains and other items that support this assumption are in the maritime records of Virginia, Liverpool and London. Some of the records are attached but I believe there is much still to be learned about the activities of the Gilliats in those same maritime records of the Virginia, Jamaica, and Liverpool trade.

CANADA
There were numerous immigrants from Britain to the Americas. A William Gilliat left Yorkshire for Nova Scotia, Canada, and many of his descendents are still to be found in Canada and the USA. But there are no known connections between our families.

There were other Gilliats in Virginia around the same time as Thomas Gilliat of our branch of the family settled in Richmond. In 1784 a John Gilliat was born in Augusta County. Although his parentage is not known for sure, he is the forefather of the 'Illinois - Indiana Gilliatts'. There has been a lot of effort in trying to trace the John Gilliat family beginnings and a recent paper by Robin Henderson makes some very plausible suggestions as to their beginnings. It is noted that John Gilliat spelt his name with one t however; through the years most of the Indiana Gilliatts have adopted the double t. It is difficult to believe that in the sparse populations of the day that these persons did not meet up with one another.

Gilliats can also be found in Argentina and Brazil again with connection to various Lincolnshire groups.

WEST INDIES
There were Gilliats in Antigua and Jamaica and I have had correspondence with a Chris Coddington who has researched his own prominent family from these parts that had some family connections with the Gilliat's of Jamaica. The following is from our correspondence:- There are a number of Gilliats who went to Jamaica around 1743. There are several possibilities although Samual Gilliott, born 1717 at Crowle, Lincolnshire is believed to be the person. Also Anthony Gillyat born 9 Mar. 1644 at South Ferriby, Lincolnshire is also thought to have moved to Jamaica. South Ferriby is a small village near Wrawby, which is in the same vicinity as Crowle, on the Humber River. His father's birth was registered as Anthony Gillyat. A daughter, Lucy Gilliat was born in 1647 also to Anthony Gilliat of South Ferriby. (The two different spellings are as they are registered) There is no further record of the family so it is quite possible that they left the country. If this is the same Anthony as reported in 1668 land patent, in Antigua he would have been 24 yrs of age or it could have been his father. The following is from the Public Records in Kew. London.

WHITE EMIGRANTS TO JAMAICA

Joshua Gylliat Sr. and Daughter 6 Oct 1743
Joshua Gylliat Jr. same
Samuel Gylliat Sr. same
Samuel Gylliat Jr. and wife same
Howard Gylliat 6 Jan 1743
John Gylliat no date (1736-1750)
Thos Gylliat same

As I mentioned previously: -
Joshua Gylliat born 1675 Crowle Lincolnshire
Joshua Gylliat son of Joshua and Elizabeth, b. 1717 Crowle Lincolnshire.

FRENCH BEGININGS
The French beginnings and the Huguenot tradition still persists in Gilliat folklore but the name is far from common in France. My Father was a British soldier in the First World War and he used to tell of seeing the name on a shop front in Flanders. Col. Paul T Gilliatt a Descendent of John Gilliat of Virginia and the Indiana family did some research on the family and I have used some of his data, which he has on file in the University of Virginia. He quotes a military officer who had been stationed in France and in 1969 told him of a French family he had known with the name Gilliatt. The gentleman was the mayor of a town in France. Apparently his ancestors were not protestant and did not leave during the Huguenot movement. I have tried the telephone white pages for France with poor results. However, since starting on this report I have stumbled on to the following on the Internet. It is item 214. of excerpts from the register of a church in Strasbourg, France. 'The 11 June 1697. Joseph Gilliat son of Anthoine Gilliat was baptized'. {Le 11 Juin 1697 Joseph Gilliat fils D'Anthoine Gilliat et matias roses ses pere et mere fut baptsez et a eu pour parain Joseph Gilliat et pour maraine martine voinier tous deux de la paroisse de Uipucelle qui ont signez au bas.}

VICTOR HUGO
There was one other saving grace, as I found out when I was studying French at Doncaster Grammar School, my old school in England. For a French reader we were given a copy of the novel 'The Toilers Of The Sea' written by the famous French novelist Victor Hugo. The hero of the novel is a man called Gilliat who is a bit of a nut case. He fights with sea monsters and ends up sitting on a rock watching the love of his life sail away with another guy meanwhile the tide comes in and drowns him. So much for fame and Frenchmen named Gilliat.

NAVAL OFFICERS
Other old family tales suggest the Gilliats were naval officers in the French Navy and joined William of Orange when he came to take over the throne of England. There are no known records of this however; once again the reference to naval officers may have some oblique reference to the Cumberland seafaring Gilliats. I found the proof of one naval officer and the record is in the appendix.

OTHER BRANCHES
I have heard reference to the late Sir. William Gilliat the obstetrician to Queen Elizabeth as being part of the family but, as much as he and his family would be welcome, such does not appear to be the case. His son, the prominent neurosurgeon Roger W. Gilliat Their family came from Carrington / Frithville just five miles from Boston Lincolnshire Col. Paul Gillliatt mentions this family branch in his paper, which he deposited with the Virginia Library. I have found a few more members and extensions to this family and though more time researching may reveal other connections there are similarities to the William of Scrivelsby branch. They seem to have come from nowhere about the same time as William and they settled on the same southern edge of 'Gilliat country' in Lincolnshire, about twelve miles from Scrivelsby. The head of this family is also a William and therefore it can be assumed that he would be at the closest a first cousin to William of Scrivelsby.

THE BLACK GILLIATS
There is another group, the most famous of whom is Sy (Simion) Gilliat the black Fiddler. There is no doubt that the Gilliats, Thomas in particular, owned slaves. In Thomas's will he instructs 'My said executors will also sell all my slaves and other chattels', elsewhere it is said he left to his wife Martha, his second wife, the Manor House in Richmond, a surrey, a team of horses, five slaves and 10,000 pounds sterling. However, Sy Gilliat had adopted the name prior to John and Thomas landing in Richmond. There is a possibility that he had started out his American life as a Gillet for there were quite a few black families who had adopted that name.

It was common practice for slaves to adopt the name of the family that freed them. All the Gilliats in Richmond owned slaves. Simon Gilliat frequently listed in records as Sy Gilliat. He is on the property tax list in 1787, owned his own house and a team of horses and mules. He is listed in several Richmond records and histories. Supposedly he came from the Williamsburg area. He was a well-known fiddler and played for many of the Richmond social events. He was also the sexton for the Monumental church but reportedly lost his job for 'nipping' the sacramental wine. He owned a slave. He is on the 1820 census. Marriage must have been Simon Gilliat's downfall or he took on more than he knew at the age of eighty - The Library of Virginia in a collection of 'Bernard J. Henley papers' has the following records:- from The Richmond Commercial Compiler 'Married- On Saturday, by Rev. John Buchanan, the celebrated Simon Gilliat, aged 80, to Miss Frances White of Williamsburg, 'Tues. Aug 15th 1820'. From the same newspaper on October 16th 1820. (only two short months later) 'Died yesterday after an illness of two months, Simeon Gilliat, a man of color, celebrated as a fiddler' (It would have be an interesting diagnosis).

Regardless he was praised on every hand. The Richmond Compiler commented that he was 'very celebrated as a fiddler and much caressed by 'Polished Society', who will long deplore the loss of one so ingeniously skilled in his profession.' Even Parson Blair was moved to compose one of his numerous bits of light verse, as follows:-

Ye sons of mirth, attend his bier;
Sy's fiddle ye no more will hear,
A most obliging sole was he;
For modesty and harmless glee
He rated high.
No more he'll guide the mazey dance,
While round and round the room ye prance.
Alas poor Sy!

Some of the other free Negro names are :- Betsey Gilliat 1810 Census, Leigh Gilliat 1815 Property tax, Josiah Gilliat 1811 Land Tax, Peter Gilliat 1838 Land records and 1850 Census. Shoemaker - from notes of the Indiana Gilliats.

COAT OF ARMS
It would seem that every British family required a Coat of Arms if it was to be seen as at last belonging to high society. There are no doubts the Gilliat bankers, descendents of John Gilliat were in such a position and so it is understandable that they should apply for and register such a distinguishing mark of family progress. The attached are taken from some chinaware that was also made for the family. The sheaf of wheat was in recognition of their farming background. The laurel leaves were for I know not what, probably for paying the bills. And the motto was said to be 'In search of better times' which is truly well said.
WILLIAM 1715-1775 & ELIZABETH GILLIAT 1729-1800
Children Of William and Elizabeth
WILLIAM GILLIAT 1755-1825
ELIZABETH GILLIAT 1757-1830
RICHARD GILLIAT 1759-1823
JOHN GILLIAT 1761-1819
ANNE GILLIAT 1763-1850
THOMAS GILLIAT 1765-1810
JAMES GILLIAT 1767-1846
JOSEPH GILLIAT 1769-1843
BENJAMIN GILLIAT 1770-1837
SAMUEL GILLIAT 1772-1814
ROBERT GILLIAT 1774-1774

WILLIAM GILLIAT OF SCRIVELSBY LINCOLNSHIRE
1714-1775

It is not known where William Gilliat was born and his name does not appear in any known church registers in Britain. Roy Walker, in his research suggests the possibility he is the son of a William and Mary Gilliat who were farmers at Edlington a small village near Horncastle and a few miles from Scrivelsby. Although this is quite possible it still remains, in my humble opinion, remote speculation. The London branch of the family (John Gilliat) told several stories of William Gilliat coming from France and landing at the small port of Yarmouth in Norfolk, the county south of Lincolnshire. That he was an architect, or an engineer, some said he was a silk merchant or a velvet worker. That he had been smuggled out of France in an apple barrel. That he spoke with a French accent,(I believe this would be quite common for people who were born in France). These stories are persistent, I recently made contact with Bruce Gilliat in California who is a descendent of William through the Richard line and whose family has been in the USA for four generations and virtually out of touch, he also quotes their family story of 'a Guillome Gilliat fleeing France and settling in Lincolnshire several hundred years ago, and changing his name to William Gilliat at some point.'

Some things are known
He was very literate which was rare and something of an accomplishment in those days also it appears that his family was all given an education. There was a Grammar School in Horncastle, the nearby market town, established in 1329, two miles from Scrivelsby and it is known that some of the children went to this school others to Lincoln.

He married his first wife Mary Elving on the 6th of January 1742 as registered at the Scrivelsby Parish Church. He was 27 years old and his wife was 41.

Mary Gilliat was their one and only child and she was born in 1743.

Mary Gilliat (nee Elving) died 1752 and was the first of the Gilliats to be buried in the Gilliat plot in the Scrivelsby churchyard.

William remarried two years after the death of his first wife when he was 39 years old. He married Elizabeth Taylor who was 25 years old. Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard Taylor of Minting, Lincolnshire. The wedding took place at Scrivelsby in 1754. Between them they were to have eleven children - two girls and nine boys. Of the
sons, one died as a child, another died as a young man, two did not marry and the remaining five sons raised large families of their own.

We know that William was, what in earlier times was known as a grazier. A grazier (rancher may be the closest modern terminology) owned and raised sheep mostly for wool as well as supplying breeding stock to the smaller farmers. The British woolen mills and the worldwide industry were at a peak and market for wool was excellent. Lincolnshire was known to have some of the finest grazing land and the best breed of sheep for wool production. William leased farmland from the local Lord of the Manor an aristocratic family with the surname Dymoke. The Dymokes of Scrivelsby Court had lived there since the fourteenth century and they had the inherent privilege of filling the office of
'Champion of the King's Crown'. A requirement that he was to appear at the coronation of each monarch 'well armed for war, on a good horse'. It was his duty to challenge and bonk anyone on the head who challenged the king. On an old survey map, held in the Dymoke family papers, is the name W. Gilliat as occupants of the Old Vicarage Homestead.
In addition to the leased land William's will also records that he owned a farm and lands at Coningsby, near Tatershall, a few miles west of Scrivelsby.

William was married by license rather than the local wedding bans, this would have required a marriage bond, a procedure in keeping with middle class standards. These documents are in the archives of the present day Lincoln Castle.

William died in 1775 and was buried in the
Scrivelby Churchyard on the right side of his first wife Mary. Elizabeth, on her death in 1800, was buried on the left side of William.

William left legacies of over £2,500.00 to his children, a very healthy amount of money for the day. William Jr. his eldest son was just twenty years old and his youngest son was three years. The will left generous provisions for Elizabeth (nee: Taylor) his wife and appointed two of the Taylor family as his executors, apparently they did well investing the money wisely for apparently all the children were given a good education and on reaching the age of twenty-one each inherited a generous bequest.

It still remains somewhat of a mystery as to where William came from. It would seem that his connections were fairly good for the days when rural people rarely saw or strayed beyond the confines of their village. William would have had to have money to set himself up as a prosperous
grazier, as well as to purchase land. Two of his sons were to leave for America and were immediately in business, which again suggests that there were outside family connections. It was during Williams life span that the records show ships captained by Gilliats sailing and trading in Virginia waters. One can speculate that the Cumberland seafarers and William's family were acquainted and probably related. Further interest is aroused in the Gilliat planters of Antigua and Jamaica who, came from Lincolnshire. Antigua and Jamaica were in the trading circle of consumer goods from Liverpool
/London, then to Africa to trade for slaves, and to trade slaves in Jamaica and Virginia for sugar exotic timber, tobacco and cotton to sell in Liverpool/London. There is record of trade between Richmond and Jamaica by John and Thomas Gilliat Co. I hope to work on this in the future.

One other note that may or may not be of value is that William's will appoints 'my Friends William Taylor of Horncastle in the County of Lincoln, Butcher, and Richard Taylor of Minting in the said county, Grazier, their Executors and Administrators.

It is presumed that these are relatives of his wife Elizabeth who was also a Taylor from Minting and most likely her brothers. In the 1790s in Richmond there was a company, 'Gilliat and Taylor Co.' Quote from the Richmond paper 1797,'Married Richard Taylor of the house of Gilliat and Taylor, merchants, to Miss Elizabeth Calvert daughter of John Calvert Esq, (Micro film Lib of Virginia #194).

Further records of the Taylors appear in the will of Thomas Dent, who was a partner in business ventures with John and Thomas Gilliat of Richmond as well as an executor for his will. Thos. Dent leaves the sum of five hundred pounds to Richard Taylor of the house of Richard and John Taylor of Norfolk in Virginia. This last item was in 1817.

Coat of Arms

Written by Neil WW Gilliat

Children Of William and Elizabeth:


WILLIAM GILLIAT 1755-1825
ELIZABETH GILLIAT 1757-1830
RICHARD GILLIAT 1759-1823
JOHN GILLIAT 1761-1819
ANNE GILLIAT 1763-1850
THOMAS GILLIAT 1765-1810
JAMES GILLIAT 1767-1846
JOSEPH GILLIAT 1769-1843
BENJAMIN GILLIAT 1770-1837
SAMUEL GILLIAT 1772-1814
ROBERT GILLIAT 1774-1774

WILLIAM GILLIAT 1714-1775 AND ELIZABETH GILLIAT 1729-1800

WILLIAM GILLIAT OF SCRIVELSBY LINCOLNSHIRE
1714-1775
It is not known where William Gilliat was born and his name does not appear in any known church registers in Britain. Roy Walker, in his research suggests the possibility he is the son of William and Mary Gilliat, farmers at Edlington a small village near Horncastle, a few miles from Scrivelsby. Although this is quite possible it still remains, in my humble opinion, speculation.


The London branch of the family (John Gilliat) told several stories of William Gilliat coming from France and landing at the small port of Yarmouth in Norfolk, south of Lincolnshire. That he was an architect, or an engineer, some said he was a silk merchant or a velvet worker. That he had been smuggled out of France in an apple barrel. That he spoke with a French accent (I believe this would be quite common for people who were born in France). These stories are persistent, I recently made contact with Bruce Gilliat in California who is a descendent of William through the Richard line and whose family has been in the USA for four generations and virtually out of touch, he also quotes their family story of a Guillome Gilliat fleeing France and settling in Lincolnshire several hundred years ago, and changing his name to William Gilliat at some point.

Some things are known

He was very literate which was rare and something of an accomplishment, it appears that his family was all given an education. There was a Grammar School in Horncastle, the nearby market town, established in 1329, just two miles from Scrivelsby and it is known that some of the children went to this school others to Lincoln.

He married Mary Elving 6th January 1742, as registered at the Scrivelsby Parish Church. He was 27 years old and his wife was 41.

Mary Gilliat was their only child and she was born in 1743.

Mary Gilliat (nee Elving) died 1752 and the first of the Gilliats to be buried in the Gilliat plot in Scrivelsby Churchyard.

William remarried two years after his first wife died, when he was 39. He married Elizabeth Taylor who was 25. Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard Taylor of Minting, Lincolnshire. The wedding took place at Scrivelsby in 1754. Between them they had eleven children, two girls and nine boys. Of the sons, one died as a child, another died as a young man, two did not marry and the remaining five sons raised large families of their own.

We know that William was, what in earlier times was known as a grazier. A grazier (rancher may be the closest modern terminology) owned and raised sheep mostly for wool as well as supplying breeding stock to the smaller farmers. The British woolen mills
and the worldwide industry were at a peak and market for wool was excellent.

Lincolnshire was known to have some of the finest grazing land and the best breed of sheep for wool production. William leased farmland from the local Lord of the Manor an aristocratic family with the surname Dymoke. The Dymokes of Scrivelsby Court had lived there since the fourteenth century and they had the inherent privilege of filling the office of 'Champion of the King's Crown'. It was a requirement that he was to appear at the coronation of each monarch 'well armed for war, on a good horse'. It was his duty to challenge and bonk anyone on the head who challenged the king. On an old survey map, held in the Dymoke family papers, is the name W. Gilliat as occupants of the Old Vicarage Homestead.

In addition to the leased land William's will also records that he owned a farm and lands at Coningsby, near Tatershall, a few miles west of Scrivelsby.

William was married by license rather than the local wedding bans, this would have required a marriage bond - a procedure in keeping with middle class standards.

These documents are in the archives of the present day Lincoln Castle.

William died in 1775 and was buried in the Scrivelby Churchyard on the right side of his first wife Mary. Elizabeth, on her death in 1800, was buried on the left side of William.

William left legacies of over two thousand five hundred pounds to his children, which was a very healthy amount of money for the day. William Jr. his eldest son was just twenty years old and his youngest son was three years. The will left
generous provisions for Elizabeth (nee: Taylor) his wife and appointed two of the Taylor family as his executors - apparently they did well investing the money wisely for apparently all the children were given a good education and on reaching the age of twenty-one each inherited a generous bequest.

It still remains somewhat of a mystery as to where William came from. It would seem that his connections were fairly good for the days when rural people rarely saw or strayed beyond the confines of their village.

William would have had to have money to set himself up as a prosperous grazier, as well as to purchase land. Two of his sons were to leave for America and were immediately in business, which again suggests that there were outside family connections. It was during Williams life span that the records show ships captained by Gilliats sailing and trading in the Virginia waters. One can speculate that the Cumberland seafarers and William's family were acquainted and probably related. Further interest is aroused in the Gilliat planters of Antigua and Jamaica who, came from Lincolnshire. Antigua and Jamaica were in the trading circle of consumer goods from Liverpool/London, then to Africa to trade for slaves, then to trade slaves in Jamaica and Virginia for sugar exotic timber, tobacco and cotton to sell in Liverpool/London. There is record of trade between Richmond and Jamaica by the John and Thomas Gilliat Co. I hope to work on this in the future.

One other note that may or may not be of value is that William's will appoints my Friends William Taylor of Horncastle in the County of Lincoln, Butcher, and Richard Taylor of Minting in the said county Grazier their Executors and Administrators.
It is presumed these are relatives of his wife Elizabeth who was also a Taylor from Minting and most likely her brothers. In the 1790s in Richmond
there was a company 'Gilliat and Taylor Co.' Quote from the Richmond paper 1797, Married Richard Taylor of the house of Gilliat and Taylor, merchants, to Miss Elizabeth Calvert daughter of John Calvert Esq.' (Micro film Lib of Virginia
#194). Further records of the Taylors appear in the will of Thomas Dent, who was a partner in business ventures with John and Thomas Gilliat of Richmond as well as an executor for his will. Thos. Dent leaves five hundred pounds to Richard Taylor of the house of Richard and John Taylor of Norfolk in Virginia. This last item was in 1817.