Elizabeth (?) Meriwether, First Wife
© The Meriwether Society, Inc. (jmo)

In 1660, “N. Merriwether” and “E. Merriwether” witnessed a document signed by Thomas Woodhouse. 14 It is believed that these individuals are Nicholas and his wife, establishing that he was married by 1660 and lending some support to the claims that her given name was Elizabeth. While not known for certain, Meriwether historian William R. Griffith in 1899 recorded that family tradition claimed her surname was Woodhouse.15

If we assume that her name was Elizabeth Woodhouse, who were her parents? Certainly not Henry Woodhouse of England and Virginia, as is commonly shown. He did in fact have a daughter named Elizabeth, born about 1635, but she is known to have married Giles Collins before 1655 and was living with him and having his children at the same time as Nicholas’ children were being born.

From the will of Henry Woodhouse, dated 16 July 1655:

“I doe bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Collins…”

Giles died about 1671, so Nicholas could not have married Elizabeth Woodhouse before then.

Another possibility is that she was the daughter of Thomas Woodhouse, a tavern owner in Jamestown for whom Nicholas Meriwether acted as an attorney for his estate. This possible relationship is supported by the 1660 document signed by Thomas and witnessed by “N. Merriwether” and “E. Merriwether”. However, there is no evidence that Thomas ever married, much less had children.

A third possibility suggested by the independent researcher is that she is the daughter of Bartholomew Woodhouse of Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The Society has found records that show Elizabeth Woodhouse, daughter of Bartholomew, was christened 25 May 1635 at St. Mary Church, Lancaster Parish, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The researcher further claims that Nicholas was apprenticed to Bartholomew Woodhouse and married his daughter. The Society has been unable to find evidence in support of this claim.

It should be noted that ALL other claims about Nicholas Meriwether made by the researcher have been proven FALSE. So we must, reluctantly, conclude this claim is equally suspect. New evidence indicates Nicholas was never apprenticed to someone in Lancaster.

As explained under the biography of Nicholas, The Meriwether Society believes that Nicholas was married twice. It is believed that this Elizabeth, the mother of the first child, also named Elizabeth, was the first wife and died between 1661 and 1663, probably on Jamestown Island.

Nicholas and Elizabeth, his first wife, probably lived on Jamestown Island. About 1661, Nicholas bought the 80 acre "Island House" site from Nathaniel Bacon and Elizabeth Kingsmill and built a tobacco barn on the property. A large brick home is known to have been on the property, but was believed destroyed in the great hurricane of 1658. Whether Nicholas built a replacement structure for a home, or continued to live in Jamestown City, is not known.

Their daughter Elizabeth is the only known child, though given the mortality rate of the time it is possible they had additional children who died in infancy.