William was serving on board the HMS Colchester at the time of his death. The date of his death was recorded as 13 May 1740, in the log of the Colchester, but 12 May in his grandfather’s Bible. The Colchester may have been a particularly bad ship on which to serve, as the log records many deaths and desertions.

Death
“Mr. William Meriwether my grandson Departed this Life ye 12th day of May in the year of our Lord 1748 [sic] on board the Colechester man of war. Capt. Simons Commander.”

Will of William Merryweather, Jr., mariner, of H.M.S. Colchester.

Signed: 11 May 1740
Proven: 23 January 1741

Named: William Merryweather, father.

Will of William Merryweather, Jr., mariner, of H.M.S. Colchester.

To his father William Merryweather Sr., gent., of West Point, Hanover Co., Virginia, all his wages and other estate; names his father as executor.

Signed 11 May 1740 n (his mark).
Witness Char. Frost, Jr., Clk., Mark Pattison, Thos. Townsend, Purser.

Admon. 23 January 1741 to Thomas Townsend, attorney for William Meriwether otherwise Merryweather, now residing in Hanover Co., Virginia, father and executor of William Meriwether otherwise Merryweather, bachelor.

^BIRTH Register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent Co.: “William, son of William Meriwether born Sept. 13th 1720.” WRG p. 79

^DEATH “Mr. William Meriwether my grandson Departed this Life ye 12th day of May in the year of our Lord 1748 (sic) on board the Colechester man of war. Capt. Simons Commander.” Old Bible Leaf, Chapter 2. WRG p 79.

^DEATH Although WRG states that the “old Bible Leaf” of Nicholas II stated that William “my grandson” died in 1748, Prentis Price felt it was more reasonable that the date should be 1740, since NMII died in 1744 and could not have made the entry for 1748. Also, William was not named in NMII’s will; the only other child of William Sr. not named was Nicholas, known to have died prior to the will being written. See “Which Nicholas Married Mildred Thornton”, Meriwether Connections, vol 14 no. 3 Jul-Sep 1995.

The Library of Virginia in Richmond has a wealth of information about early Virginia in their Virginia Colonial Records Project, much of it from repositories in England. In June I found an abstract of the will of the William Meriwether mentioned above among these records. The abstract is based on the will located in the “Principal Probate Registry”, which, presumably, is located in the Public Record office in London or another repository in England. The abstract reads:

“Will of William Merryweather, Jr., mariner, of H.M.S. Colchester.

To his father William Merryweather Sr., gent., of West Point, Hanover Co., Virginia, all his wages and other estate; names his father as executor.

Signed 11 May 1740 n (his mark). Witness Char. Frost, Jr., Clk., Mark Pattison, Thos. Townsend, Purser.

Admon. 23 January 1741 to Thomas Townsend, attorney for William Meriwether otherwise Merryweather, now residing in Hanover Co., Virginia, father and executor of William Meriwether otherwise Merryweather, bachelor.”

There are a number of interesting points in this abstract. First, and most important to the anomaly mentioned in the beginning, William Meriwether’s will was dated 11 May, 1740 and he had died by 23 January, 1741. So, Nicholas’ grandson, William, probably died in 1740, not 1748, which makes it entirely possible that Nicholas made the entry in the old Bible leaf. Who ever copied the Bible leaf probably read the "0" as an "8." In the old days, often a "0" was written with a final loop that crossed back over the oval, so it looked like an "8" in modern handwriting. In addition, we see that William could not sign his name, was a bachelor and his father possibly lived (ca..1740) in West Point, Virginia instead of Newcastle.

BIRTH
William's birth is recorded in the St. Peter's Parish Register:
"William son of Wm. Merriwether born Sepr 13, 1720." 30