Richard BENBOW

                   Will written 12 Jan 1751:  eldest son Powell, sons Richard & Evan; daughter Jane deceased; daughter Susanna
                  

                   Marriage of Mary says "of Bladen County"

From Internet Charles Benbow website:
Will:North Carolina, in the Name of God, amen,
I, Charles Benbow, of the county of Bladen, province aforesaid, "planter," being very weak in body but in perfect mind and memory, having made this and ordained it my last will and testament. . .
son Benjamin
son Thomas
daughters:  Ann, Mary, Sarah, Sophia
daughter Elizabeth Clayton
THE FAMILY NAME
The surname Benbow is an English "occupational" name for an archer.
It is from the Middle English or Mercian words: bend(en) + bowe/bow.
This surname has been spelled Benbow, Bembow, Benbowe, Benbo,
Bembo, Bembowe, Bendbowe, Bendbough, Binbo, etc.
The earliest record of a Benbow in England was in London in 1296; his name was Nicholas Benbow, and he was a lawyer. Various family members surface in the records of the following centuries in different locations, including London and the counties of Middlesex, Yorkshire, and Huntingdonshire.
The name also appears in Shropshire, next to the Welsh border. The first record there was of Mrs. Roger Benbow giving birth to a daughter in Newport in the year 1458. William Bendbowe was born in 1510, in the area around Moore Parrish and Bishops Castle, about twenty miles southwest of Shrewsbury. Lawrence Benbow was born in 1530, in an area northeast of Shrewsbury; he is the first known member of what is known as the "Coton Hill" branch of the general Benbow family. That branch's name comes from the hill where their home stood. Some, but not all, believe this is the family of Admiral Benbow.
The question of whether we are related to Admiral Benbow is a frequent one. There is a legend in the family that Admiral Benbow was an uncle to Charles & Gershom, recorded by the great-granddaughter of Charles Benbow; but this legend is without a shred of proof. Until when and if some proof of a link is found, we can only continue to research the theory that perhaps there is some kind of kinship, whether close or distant, as the home of Charles and Gershom was in Montgomeryshire, a neighboring county to Shropshire (then called Salop), where Admiral John Benbow was born.
The first record of a Benbow in Montgomeryshire dates from 1575 AD, and the first appearance of the name in Herefordshire, in the English midlands south of Shropshire, is in 1640. It is thought that the family moved into Wales out of the English midlands, as the name is an English one, and there were many Englishmen who moved west across the English-Welsh border after Wales was conquered in 1553 and incorporated into the British nation. Some believe that the Welsh family's ancestor was William Bendbowe (mentioned above), who was born about 1510 in Prees, Shropshire.
We are the family of Charles Benbow, who was born in the parish of Trefeglwys, in the area of mid-Wales which was then called Montgomeryshire, but which was previously and is now known again as Powys. Charles immigrated to the American colonies with two older brothers, Gershom and Richard (who is sometimes called Benjamin by the American family). The two oldest brothers and an older sister remained in Wales. Their father Richard Benbow had died several years before, and their mother Susanna had married Edward Jennings. These three teenagers left the land of their birth, their home, their family and friends, to make the arduous and dangerous sea voyage to a new and unknown world. Family tradition states that the year of this daring adventure was 1718.
We are the family of Charles Benbow, who was born in the parish of Trefeglwys, in the area of mid-Wales which was then called Montgomeryshire, but which was previously and is now known again as Powys. Charles immigrated to the American colonies with two older brothers, Gershom and Richard (who is sometimes called Benjamin by the American family). The two oldest brothers and an older sister remained in Wales. Their father Richard Benbow had died several years before, and their mother Susanna had married Edward Jennings. These three teenagers left the land of their birth, their home, their family and friends, to make the arduous and dangerous sea voyage to a new and unknown world. Family tradition states that the year of this daring adventure was 1718.
We are the family of Charles Benbow, who was born in the parish of Trefeglwys, in the area of mid-Wales which was then called Montgomeryshire, but which was previously and is now known again as Powys. Charles immigrated to the American colonies with two older brothers, Gershom and Richard (who is sometimes called Benjamin by the American family). The two oldest brothers and an older sister remained in Wales. Their father Richard Benbow had died several years before, and their mother Susanna had married Edward Jennings. These three teenagers left the land of their birth, their home, their family and friends, to make the arduous and dangerous sea voyage to a new and unknown world. Family tradition states that the year of this daring adventure was 1718.