William Sheriff born abt. 1591 in (Isle of Wight?)England to Oara Oara daughter of a wealthy nobleman, born 1594 in Amsterdam, Noorhalland, were married abt 1612 in Amsterdam. A possibility of four known sons were born to William and Oara Oara

Still an uncertainty as to the sons of William and Oara Oara Sheriff and there may have been daughters as well...We can speculate until further research developments reveal more about the family...we known Thomas was in Massachusetts but did he come alone or did family members make the trip across the ocean from England?

December 7, 1641, Thomas Sheriff and William Brown complained against James Laxford in an action of trespass. They attached four goats and a lamb in the hands of Samuel Eddy and Joshua Pratt, amounting to 33s, and several other sums in other persons' hands

December 10, 1666, Portsmouth. He deeded Thomas Hazard a quarter of a share in Misquamicut and also paid him 20 pounds, receiving in exchange therefore 30 acres in Portsmouth, and house, orchard, etc., all to belong to Thomas Hazard for life, and at the decease of Thomas Hazard to be for Thomas Sheriff and wife, Martha, for their lives, and at death of both of them to go to second son, John Sheriff, and heirs, and for want of issue of John to go to third son Caleb Sheriff, etc

June 11, 1675, Inventorys, 218 pounds, 12 shillings, viz. : house and land 15 pounds, a horse and mare 7 pounds, 2 cows, 3 calves, 5 ewes, 5 lambs, 3 shoats, a feather bed, 6 pillows, 2 bolsters, 6 blankets, ring, flock bed. 56 pounds pewter, warming pan, silver dram cup, looking glass, &c

2nd Known Generation

THE FAMILY OF THOMAS AND MARTHA SHERIFF

There is an abstract in "Rhode Island Gen. Reg.", vol 3 pg 363, of the will of Elizabeth Carter, from "PortsmouthTown Council and Probate Records", vol. 2 pg 159-160, dated 1718, which mentions (among others) brothers John and Daniel Shrieve, Sarah Moon and her daughters Abigail Vaughn, Martha Corey and Elizabeth Moon

I would be absolutely thrilled beyond words to hear from any of the above descendants ; especially MARY SHERIFF SHEFFIELD, SARAH SHERIFF MOON, SUSANNAH SHERIFF THOMAS, JOHN & JANE HAVENS SHERIFF, ELIZABETH SHERIFF CARTER AND JOSEPH SHERIFF FAMILIES

In old England, 10 familie sequaled a tithing

Ten tithings equaled a shire

Each shire elected a shire

Each shire elected a reeve

That "shire-reeve" came to be known as a "sheriff."

There is much speculation and many stories about the following family of Shreve. Will we ever really know the truth ; however, there is much fun in thinking about the kin of Sheriff-Shreve family. Has anyone done a DNA for the Shreves? That may be our only truth to get to the origin. We know that the Middle East was at one time 4,000 years ago the center of the world. As the Bible quotes "and they scattered to the ends of the earth" we can imagine families moving along different trails; some west, some east, some south and some north. Our Sheriff family must have taken a northerly route and of course stopping off in various places along the way...Turkey, Greece, Italy and eventually making their way to England and all this time remember there were wars going on between Romans, Greece as well as the Lords in England and don't forget the Vikings. And of course the Middle East was still having their own problems with families scattering to the wind. And I am sure our Sheriff family was in the middle of it all

The following may be our family but for now we are not certain if this is correct until further research digs into the past

An interesting Origin of the Shreve Family as seen by some Shreve researchers : A 300-year old document tells the story of Sir William Shreve, the first of the family in England. Sir William, a man of noble birth and largely of Greek ancestry, married Lady Elizabeth Fairfax. A grandson, Thomas, left England and settled in Rhode Island, thus founding the family in America (Steadman, 1969)

The romantic story of Oara Oara, as forwarded to me by the late Samuel H. Shreve (Caleb Shreve descendant)

Sometime about the close of the Sixteenth, or the beginning of the Seventeenth century, SIR WILLIAM SHREVE, KNIGHT lived upon the Isle of Wight. Of his life but little is known; traditions in regard to his early history vary. One says he came from Italy, others that he came from Greece, others that he was a native of Southeastern Europe. To account in these cases for his name, which is apparently English, it is said he changed it when he came to England, or, that it was originally Sheriff, a name that formerly was not uncommon in Greece, but was of Mohammedan origin, signifying, first, a descendant of Mahomet, and after, a nobleman. After his arrival in England he was knighted. Probably he was an Englishman who had been sent on some service in Italy or Greece by his government, and was rewarded for his conduct by a knighthood

He married LADY ELIZABETH FAIRFAX, and had a son, William. Tradition says nothing of other descendants. The Fairfax family at that time were very prominent in England, and Sir William’s marriage with one of its members indicates the high position in society he held

William, the son, from his childhood upwards was a great favorite with the Lady Abbess of a convent in England, who was an old and intimate friend of his parents, and whom he frequently visited. At this convent, as is the custom at the present day, many young ladies, not only of the country, but of foreign countries, were educated. Among these young ladies was a niece of the Abbess, the only daughter of the latter’s brother, a wealthy nobleman living in Amsterdam, Holland, whose surname was OARA, and who had christened his daughter, OARA

William and Oara met at the convent, and there occurred the old story even in those old days, and there never was a time so old that it was not the older old story, and then, as now and ever will be, the new, newest, sweetest story. William’s young and impressionable heart knew henceforth no owner but the gentle and fair Oara

Owing to the Abbess’ warm affection for the one and her relationship to the other, William had many opportunities of meeting the young lady, and consequently becoming more and more devoted and attached to her, and, as the result showed, his attentions were not disagreeable. The Abbess perceived, too late to mend it, the state of affairs, and though she would have been pleased with the union of her two young friends, felt it her duty, regretting her previous blindness, to write immediately to her brother. She acquainted him with the fact, knowing her pupil’s and her friend’s characters, that their mutual attachment was of no trifling nature; she mentioned William’s position in society, her high opinion of him, and strongly recommended him to her brother’s favor. William’s visit to the convent after the Abbess’ discovery were so restricted that his interviews or meetings with Oara were limited to chance, the Abbess acting as discreetly as possible without betraying her knowledge of their feelings towards each other. This course produced the effect that was not intended, and soon led to a declaration by William of his love, which he found was reciprocated, and the stolen meetings always ended with mutual pledges of faith and constancy. The brother’s letter was as the gentle Abbess feared. He was indignant, and his letter was full of scorn and reproaches. His child to wed an Englishman? Never; even of superior rank to her own. But to marry one of inferior rank was a suggestion he could not have expected from his sister. The angry and disdain-ful letter closed with a peremptory demand that his daughter should be immediately sent home

The Abbess immediately informed William that she had perceived his attachment for Oara, remonstrated with him on the folly of it, as the father would never consent; and that, therefore, she must prohibit meetings between them and send Oara home. William was obliged to submit, and the result of his pleadings was only to obtain the Abbess’ consent to a brief interview with the young lady, in which vows of constancy were renewed and each encouraged the other to hope for the future. Oara’s mother was not like her father, “who love nor pity knew,” but gradually came to sympathize with her daughter, who had told her everything. As time wore on and Oara’s love seemed to become stronger every day, the mother saw that her daughter’s life-long happiness depended upon William. She had already been strongly impressed in his favor by the warmhearted Abbess’ letter, and this impression had been made deeper by her confiding daughter. She consented at length to a visit from William, which was to be made without the knowledge of her husband

During this time the young man had found means of communicating with Oara, and when he received the permission to come to Amsterdam lost no time in setting upon the journey, and accompanied by a friendly clergyman, took passage in a vessel bound for Amsterdam, and to return in a short time to the Isle of Wight. Once in the city he made his presence known to Oara and her mother; the latter, after much hesitation, consented to the private marriage of the young couple. This took place on board the vessel on the day of departure for the Isle of Wight, where the happy pair remained for some time. The mother soon found that it was impossible to reconcile the father, and Oara became so fearful of his power in England to separate her from her husband, that a safe refuge for them was sought in America

Thus the origin and cause of the Shreve family in America. Oara’s mother, at her marriage, gave her many presents, and she was by no means a penniless bride, some of her jewelry and silver (as claimed) is still in the possession of members of the family. Among other things that were brought was a picture of a coat of arms, which I was delighted to discover in the garret of a relative, when I was a boy. From the peculiar ornamentation about the shield, the original picture was evidently made not less than about three hundred years ago, and it certainly was brought to this country by the family. I cannot find the name to which it originally belonged, whether Oara, Shreve, Fairfax or any other; and I have looked in many works on Heraldry. I have since found two copies of the same picture in the possession of members of the family. The motto "Fide et Constantia," with Faith and Constancy,” seems quite appropriate for William and Oara

I give you above and in previous letters, all my authority as to the parentage of Caleb Shreve

Very Respectfully,

BARCLAY WHITE

Old deed from John Cooke of Portsmouth, Colony of Rhode Island, to John Shreve of the same town, and conveys three-fourths of all his right and property at Shrewsbury, NJ. Deed is dated January 9, 1676-7; on the back is a transfer from the said John Shreve to his beloved brother, Caleb Shreve

The above story would make most everyone desire to attach themselves to the SHREVE Family

Shreve coat of arms designed by Samuel H. Shreve of New Jersey

The motto above was found in the files of my father-in-law, Dr. Cyrus Ely Warden, Sr., who was the great grandson of William Martin Shreve and now owned by Cyrus Ely, Jr and Janelle Walker Warden. Found in the William Martin & Mary Elizabeth Shreve family was a lampshade with the same Shreve crest ; thanks to cousin Theodora for sharing