Francis Dade

Francis Dade (1621 – May 1, 1662), was a Virginia soldier, politician and landowner. An English Royalist who emigrated to Virginia some time after the death of Charles I. In Virginia he officially used the name "John Smith" when he served as one of the two delegates representing tiny Warwick County and as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1658. He died at sea in 1662 or 1663. Early and family life The seventh son of William Dade, Esq. (1579 - February 22, 1660), Francis immigrated from Tannington, county Suffolk, England and settled in Virginia about 1650. He used the name "John Smith", so historians believe he was involved in some royalist plot against Oliver Cromwell. Smith/Dade married Behethland Bernard, daughter of Captain Thomas Bernard, who thrice served as Burgess for Warwick County in the 1640s. Her grandfather was Capt. Robert Behethland. Francis and Behethland had one son, Francis Dade II (d. 1698), who married Frances Townshend, one of the co-heiresses of Col. Robert Townshend. They had sons (Robert) Townshend, Cadwallader and Francis Dade III. Either Francis II or his father bought 1300 acres next to Robert Townshend's patent in then-vast Northumberland County. They also had two daughters: Anne who married William Lane, and Mary who married Capt. Robert Massey then Col. Rice Hooe. Frances Townshend Dade's parents were from Northumberland County, England, her grandfather being Needham Langhorne and her brother was Sir William Langhorne (hence another unusual first name used in later generations). Francis II' grandson Horatio Dade served on the King George County Committee of Safety during the American Revolutionary War and Horatio's son Townshend Dade served as that county's sheriff and much later represented King George county in the Virginia House of Delegates, as well as like his father and uncle Cadwallader helped supply Patriot troops. Confusion may result from males of various generations sharing the name "Townshend Dade", including one Rev. Townshend Dade who was subjected to a trial in Albemarle County for misconduct. Two grandsons of Francis Dade II and his wife Frances served in the 3rd Continental Light Dragoons during the conflict: Baldwin Dade and Captain Francis Dade (IV). During the War of 1812, grandsons Townshend and Cadwallader Dade served in the Virginia General Assembly representing King George County.