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John
Burnett of Aberdeen
The
Burnetts and Their Connections
(Volume
One) tells about the first Burnett who came to the American
Colonies in 1638.
......... 
. . . . . .
John Burnett
was christened 25th of December 1610 at St. Nicholas Church in
Aberdeen, Scotland and died February 1686 in Old Rappahannock
County, Virginia, age 76. He was the son of Thomas Burnet
and Margaret Johnston and Thomas was son of John Burnet and Isabel
Burnet, all of Aberdeen..
The most
asked question is, “Did our Burnetts descend from the “Burnet
of Leys” or the “Burnet of Barns?” The answer is most likely
the “Burnet of Leys.” The Barns family inhabited the southern
region of Scotland in Burnetland and the Leys family in the north.
Our John was a man of wealth and importance to be commissioned
by Charles I, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland.
On the 13th of March, in the year 1638, King Charles I granted
a Charter
to John Burnett,
a Commission To Trade In Virginia, to wit: “Warrant from the King
to the Governor of Virginia or other officers whom it may concern
for JOHN BURNETT of ABERDEEN the SOLE MERCHANT OF OUR KINGDOM
OF SCOTLAND that hath supplied the plantations of Virginia and
become our tenant there and his factors to have free commerce
and traffic between Scotland and Virginia upon paying the usual
customs and entering into bond to unlade [unload ship] anywhere
other than in the ports of Scotland.”
So, John Burnett was a Merchant of Aberdeen and had previously
supplied the plantations of Virginia with goods from Scotland
and England and on the return trips, carried cargoes of tobacco
to Great Britain. The wording of the above warrant suggests
that King Charles I, trusted John Burnett to stand with him as
“His Tenant and Sole [only] Merchant to the American Colonies.
What an honor! John Burnett loved the king and named a son
after him. John also named a son THOMAS after his father
and another son was named JOHN (II) after his grandfather..
The Johnstons of Aberdeen were a family of wealth and influence
and was greatly connected to the Burnetts. Not only was
John Burnett’s mother a Johnston, but he was married to Lucretia
Johnston. Lucretia was christened in St. Nicholas Church
on 22 March 1629 and died Oct 1709 in Essex County, Virginia and
named her second son, Thomas as her heir. Among items listed
in her estate inventory was yardage of “Fine Scotch Linen” and
various types of gowns, including a “riding gown, a tamine gown
and a head-dress with yellow lace and a yellow top knot on it.”
She bequeathed the latter to her daughter-in-law, Amy Gatewood
Burnett. Her son John II owned a violin.
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