| Biography* | | Thomas was probably born at Wigsell (his younger brother, Sir Alexander, testifies in his will that he was there born), but the evidence is lacking; the record of the surviving Salehurst register begins only with the burials of this generation. As a consequence, the proof of the date of his birth rests on his matriculation at Hart Hall. Oxford, in 1579, as 'of Sussex, aged 19' (Foster). He was admitted 'generally' to the Middle Temple, April 21, 1583, as 'son and heir of John Culpeper of Wigsoll, Sussex, esq.,' and in May, 1596, was still in residence; but, being then recorded after thirteen years as no more than an 'inner barrister,'32 it is apparent that he had not pursued the law with the intention of a professional career (Hopwood, i, :260, 366). It was this Thomas who inaugurated his family's interest in Virginia. The explanation is patent. During the period of his residence at the Middle Temple that ancient college was a centre of the discussion, translated into action, of the voyages which lead to the English colonization in America. It suffices to cite the Middle Templars of this period whose names are on the American bead roll. Richard Hakluyt the elder, Sir John Popham, Walter Raleigh and his captains, Philip Amadas, Ralph Lane and Bartholomew Gosnold, were all members of the Society, as of a younger generation were George Percy, Richard Martin and the Ferrars (Bidwell). Our Thomas was undoubtedly in commons when Sir Francis Drake dined there in 1586 to be congratulated on his safe return from his voyage around the world, as he and his brother John must also have been in 1593 and 1594, when similar visits were paid by Frobisher and Hawkins. More than that, these Culpepers were members of the family connection of the sons of Archbishop Sandys who took the lead in the Virginia Company; while Thomas whetted his own appetite for colonial speculation by his marriage in 1597 with the daughter of a great London overseas merchant. It was against such a background that Thomas Culpeper of Wigsell and John Culpeper, later of Feckenham, became subscribers to and members of The Treasurer and Company for Virginia under the second charter of May 23, 1609 (Brown, Genesis, i, 218; ii, 869); and it was with those subscriptions, made forty years before the date of the first Northerh Neck charter in which the subscriber's respective sons were to be named, that the history of the Northern Neck proprietary may be said to begin. There is no further public testimony for Thomas12, but his personal record is amply documented. He died September 18th and was buried in Salehurst, September 19, 1613, as 'Tho. Colepeper, armiger,' leaving a will, followed by an inq. p. m. (which may be found in the Archives Section of Culpepper Connections) - Fairfax Harrison. |