Henry Wheeler - the Virginia Immigrant

A Henry Wheeler arrived in Virginia in 1619 at the age of 16 on the Virginia Company ship Tryall. There is nothing to indicate where he was from, who his parents were or what a 16 year old boy would be doing in Virginia at that time.

Some researchers have theorized that he was the Henry Wheeler who was baptized on 16 Nov 1604 at Lidlington, Bedfordshire, England. However, further research appears to disprove this theory. Raymond David Wheeler maintains in his book, The Wheeler Genealogy, that this Henry Wheeler [Jr.] (who was baptized 16 Nov 1604) was the son of Henry Wheeler [Sr.] and Joyce Middleton. Henry Wheeler [Sr.] had 3 brothers: Roger, John and Richard. When John Wheeler wrote his will in 1638, 2 of the witnesses were Henry Wheeler, Sr. and Henry Wheeler, Jr. This seems to provide fairly strong circumstantial evidence that this Henry Wheeler (baptized 1604) was still in England in 1638.

The name Henry was very common in this Wheeler family of Bedfordshire. In The Wheeler Genealogy, Raymond David Wheeler named at least 3 Henry Wheelers born 1604-1606. All 3 remained in England and are accounted for in his book.

So where then does that leave us in our quest for the ancestry of Henry Wheeler, the Virginia immigrant? Our questions still are: Who was he and where did he come from?