Elizabeth Cornelia Massingberd: an American Odyssey

In 1629, Charles I established the Province of Carolina, a sizeable territory encompassing the latter-day US states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee as well as The Bahamas. In 1663, Charles II further divided the province between eight of the Lord Proprietors whose wealth and influence had helped restore him to the throne. Colonial-era Carolina would be known for fertile land, an abundance of trading goods, ease of access to Atlantic shipping routes, religious tolerance and an economy boosted by slave labour. The stage was set for enterprising and sometimes desperate British settlers hoping to build new lives and fortunes across the ocean.

In 1697, Elizabeth Massingberd married Edward Hyrne, a Norfolk merchant ten years her senior. At this point, she was 17-years old and under the terms of Drayner’s will would not receive her inheritance until she reached 25. Edward carried a sizeable burden of debt, some of it ‘misapplied’ crown funds, and took ship for the Province of Carolina in early 1700 in the hope of better financial fortune far away from his creditors.

The Hyrne family letters have been preserved and transcribed online and make interesting reading**. In April 1700, Elizabeth wrote to her brother Burrell of her husband’s plans “to buy a plantation nearly cleared and stocked for to clear one will be a great charge”. She notes that there are “several to be had great penny worths” as there has been a “great sickness and many dead”, possibly a reference to a local smallpox outbreak.

Elizabeth joined Edward in late 1700 and they settled in Goose Creek. Edward appears to have rolled the dice once more, taking a mortgage from Landgrave Thomas Smith to buy the Medway Plantation and deepen his debt. Elizabeth and Edward were joined by the children of his first marriage – Edward, Mary and Margaret – and the couple had two sons of their own, Burrell (1701-1758) and Henry (1704-1764).

The family seem to have had little expertise in land management and struggled to make money and service Edward’s debts. In January 1703, their plantation house was burned down and they lost a child in infancy, compounding their woes. Elizabeth wrote, “all our house taking fire I know not how in the night and burning so fiercly that we had much to do to save the life of poor Burry and two beds just to lye on which was chief of what we saved we also had all our rice and corn and all sorts of provehans burnt”. She added, “and now I am big with child expecting to lye inn the beginning of next June so that you may casely imagine our miserable condission.”

Edward returned to England alone in 1706 with a view to expediting his wife’s South Ormsby inheritance and thereby clearing his own debts. The inheritance was mired in the infamously slow Court of Chancery which required unimpeachable proof that the Medway Plantation was owned by Elizabeth and her children. Edward may have been muddying the waters in his own interest.

Elizabeth’s conflicted letter of February 1707 suggests she knew that Edward’s missteps on both sides of the Atlantic were about to catch up with him: ‘I hope before this that my husband is out of England…I would have him take care how he comes or ventures anything for it is believed by many he will never see Carolina again he having done such injuries to this county that many of the planters threaten him very hard if he ever comes here again’.

Edward Hyrne’s creditors acted at a far brisker pace than Chancery. He was detained and imprisoned in debtors’ gaol, the most common form of state-sanctioned detention in this era. Debtors were typically imprisoned until they had worked off their debts or secured their repayment. Edward languished in the notorious Fleet Prison until 1710, his health and fortunes ruined, and died in his early forties in 1711.

Elizabeth Massingberd took ship for England with her young sons in 1709, leaving her stepchildren behind. One of those stepchildren was Edward Hyrne Jr. (1694–1755), the ancestor of Dot Monts Trakas. He would marry Barbara Smith (1697-1738), the daughter of Landgrave Thomas Smith (1670-1738), the long-suffering mortgage creditor of Edward Hyrne Sr. Despite Elizabeth’s ongoing efforts to pursue her settlement at Chancery,  the Medway Plantation was abandoned, its debts went unpaid and it reverted to Landgrave in 1711.

Elizabeth returned to Carolina with her adult children in 1725, importing English merchandise for a few years and eventually purchasing the Tugudoo Plantation which was run by Burrell and Henry. When her health began to fail in the 1740s, Elizabeth moved to Henry’s Ashepoo Plantation where she died in June 1744.

“I’ve searched the internet to glean any information I could find,” said Dot. “From letters published in South Carolina’s history, Elizabeth and her husband, Edward, faced some struggles financially. They acquired Medway Plantation at one point, but due to their financial situation it reverted back to the original owner. That owner happens to be another great grandfather of mine, South Carolina’s 10^th colonial governor, Thomas Smith. It’s quite interesting to say the least that my ancestry is entwined with both of these families.”

** Thanks to Pauline M Loven (www.thelovens.co.uk/hyrne/) for sharing Elizabeth’s letters online.

* Providence Plantations image by Jean Blackburn, US NPS via Wiki PD

* Lincolnshire map by Nilfanion via Wiki CC

* Carolina map by Kmusser via Wiki CC

* Fleet Prison image by Robert Chambers via Wiki PD

* Banner image by Scott Ritchie via Flickr CC