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Note: ! The data about Thomas is not exact, from various records this information has been extracted and since the records are from this time period that he lived , one almost has to assume that it related to him. The Bona Nova sailing ship made several trips between England and the Colonies from about 1618 to 1624. By examining these passenger lists it has been determined that Thomas arrived in the Colonies in Jamestown, Virginia about 1623 aboard the ship Bona Nova. Whether his family came at the same time is not known. He must have been recruited by the Virginia Company of London . Some records indicate that he was born in Huntington , just north of London . Edward Blaney who owned the Blaney Plantation in Jamestown and where Thomas was counted on a census in 1624 also came from Huntington . Between 1623-1650 there is a record of a Thomas Otwell as a landowner on Chesseman River in York County. Two of Thomas's children, John and William go first to Northumberland, then to Kent Island. They were encouraged to come to Kent Island by William Claiborne who established the first trading post there in 1629 . This land later fell under the 'Calvert' grant in Maryland and ownership was disputed for many years. The Otwells were somewhat involved in this dispute. In 1659 this land was 'platted' to William Taylor and some evidence is known that the place called "Otwell Plantation" was named after William's mother's maiden name of Otwell. It appears that John Otwell died at a fairly early age . William Otwell settled finally on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay and he developed a tobacco farm. We think Thomas Otwell died in 1645 in Lancaster County Virginia. From the 1650's through the 1700's the Otwells were some of the original pioneer families to populate the areas of Nanticoke, Pokomoke, Rehobeth and Dagsboro Communities. Living on the Eastern Shore in early Maryland were the families of William [1624-1690], Francis of Bashaw [1630-1645], Charles of Nanticoke [1675-1745], Francis,Sr of Pokomoke [1675-1775] and Solomon of Somerset [1716-1755] .
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