{"id":107780,"date":"2026-04-10T10:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=107780"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:58:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:58:34","slug":"jamestown-day-a-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/jamestown-day-a-celebration.html","title":{"rendered":"Jamestown Day: A Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry describes two visits Queen Elizabeth II made to Jamestown to mark its 350th and 400th anniversaries. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The month of May will mark 419 years since 104 men and boys arrived at Jamestown (Jamestowne), America\u2019s first permanent English settlement, on 14 May 1607. The celebration of this event is known as Jamestown Day.<\/p>\n

Three ships, Susan Constant<\/em>, Godspeed<\/em>, and Discovery<\/em> sailed from London on 20 December 1606, under the direction of the Virginia Company of London that was formed with a charter from King James I.<\/p>\n

Here is a photo of the three replica ships on the James River off Jamestown Island: (from left to right) Godspeed<\/em>, Susan Constant,<\/em> and Discovery<\/em>, 12 May 2007, for the 400th anniversary of the settlement.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: three replica ships on the James River off Jamestown Island, 12 May 2007. Credit: Lori Crane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When they landed at Jamestown the new colonists began building James Fort, which has been reconstructed by McPherson Design Group, who worked closely with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation on the design of these replica buildings that were originally built within the fort in 1607.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: reconstructed buildings inside James Fort. Credit: Pi3.124; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England participated in two important celebrations marking Jamestown\u2019s history. In 1957 she came to commemorate the 350th anniversary, and in 2007 for the 400th anniversary.<\/p>\n

In 1957 Queen Elizabeth II proudly retraced the steps her own ancestors made, including: her ninth great-grandfather Colonel Augustine Warner I, who was the fourth great-grandfather of General Robert E. Lee; and her eighth great-grandfather Colonel Augustine Warner II, who was the great-grandfather of General George Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s other ninth great-grandfather was Colonel George Reade, who came to Jamestown in 1637 and married Virginian Elizabeth Martiau<\/a>. Their daughter Mildred Reade married Colonel Augustine Warner II. Reade was the ninth great-grandson of King Edward III of England.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pass by the reconstructed church inside the fort at Jamestown, Virginia, 1957. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fifty years later, in May of 2007, the queen returned to Jamestown and received a royal treatment by thousands of public well-wishers and several American dignitaries, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine, and Chief Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Vice President Dick Cheney accompanies Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on a tour of Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, Virginia, 4 May 2007. Credit: David Bohrer; White House Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The queen took a keen interest in the reconstructed settlement and historical museum displays.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Vice President Dick Cheney and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II speak with Ms. Bly Straube, Senior Curator, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, during a tour of the Historic Jamestowne Archaearium, 4 May 2007. Credit: David Bohrer; White House Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below is a photo from the San Antonio Express-News<\/em> of the queen surrounded by excited crowds at Jamestown Settlement.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio, Texas), 5 May 2007, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The queen\u2019s visit in 2007 offered her much to explore as she strolled through the reconstructed James Fort site and viewed 17th century objects excavated from it.<\/p>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

During her 1957 visit to the same grounds, she was told that the site of the original three-sided palisade had been consumed by the adjacent James River.<\/p>\n

Excavation of the site began in 1994, and the fort was discovered in 1996.<\/p>\n

She was shown excavation trays containing chess pieces, iron knives, copper baubles and the discarded claws of crabs that had been a meal for the settlers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These big digs are known as the \u201cJamestown Rediscovery<\/a>,\u201d and resulted in locating the original fort site and uncovering nearly a million objects associated with the earliest years of the settlement. \u201cThis discovery greatly increased interest in Jamestown,\u201d says Colonial National Historical Park historian Karen Rehm.<\/p>\n

Here are some details of the newly discovered relics the queen observed from the work of Dr. William Keslo, head archeologist at Historic Jamestowne in 2007, as featured in this Richmond-Times Dispatch<\/em> article. The objects were found at the bottom of a well.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), 17 May 2007, page 45<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a list of some of the artifacts pictured in the article (which shows the objects in their original condition). However, many were in surprisingly good condition. The article notes:<\/p>\n

The diagram shows where many of the metal objects were found. Objects in the oxygen-deprived area below the water table [of the well] were recovered practically free of rust and corrosion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n