Michaelmas was celebrated each year on September 29. (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language Second Edition - Unabridged. New York: Random House, Inc., 1987. pp. 1213.) Although Patrick is listed as a landowner, the Patrick it is referring to is most likely Patrick, Jr. The senior Patrick would have been 67 to 68 years at this time (REF: 1683/84) and had apparently divided his land among his oldest sons sometime prior to when this list was compiled.

​

Obviously, sometime between December 1740 (when Patrick received his land grant) (REF: December 10, 1740) and September 1751 (the date of this list), Robert had gained ownership of Patrick's 118 acre parcel. According to law, inherited property had to be passed via a deed. (William Waller Hening. Hening’s Statutes At Large, Vol III, 1684 - 1710. Charlottsville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1969. pp. 318-319.) Unfortunately, many of the records for this period were destroyed during the Civil War. (Prince William County Clerk's Office. May 1994.) The property was not transferred to Robert before January 1741. The only Prince William County Deed Book that has survived from the period February 1741 to May 1748 is Deed Book I (eye), which covers the period November 25, 1745 to October 27, 1746, and it does not include a deed for the transfer of the 118 acres to Robert. Deed Books L and M, which cover the period May 23, 1748 through April 27, 1752 are also intact, but the deed is not recorded in them either. This means that the property was transferred from Patrick to his son Robert sometime between February 1741 and October 1745, or between November 1746 and May 1748.

​

Although there is no acreage listed by his name, nor any payment of rent indicated, son James also owned property or he would not be on this list, because it only includes landowners. (There are other landowners listed with no acreage by their names. Apparently, the assessor did not always know the exact status of parcels.) Actually, the next Rent Roll (1753) lists James as owning 130 acres. ("Huntington Library Collection.") In fact, since Patrick is shown with 260 acres on this list and 130 acres on the next, at first glance it seems that Patrick sold James 130 acres sometime between September 1752 and September 1753 (another timeframe with lost deeds). However, closer examination of the lists reveals that this was not the situation that occurred. Like this list, the 1753 list indicates that James did not pay his rent. The 1753 list also shows that he was 2 years in arrears. This, of course, means that a payment had been due on this list; i.e., he owned land at the time this list was made. The amount that Patrick paid on this Rent Roll is even more revealing. Based on the tax per acre that other landowners paid, Patrick only paid for 130 acres. (Notice, for example, that Robert's amount for 118 acres was 4 shillings and 9 pence. At 12 pence per shilling, this totals 57 pence for the 118 acres, or roughly ½ pence per acre. On the other hand, Patrick's amount of 5 shillings and 5 pence for 260 acres only works out to be ¼ pence per acre or half as much. At ½ pence per acre like Robert and other landowners, Patrick's payment only covers 130 acres.) These facts leave little doubt that James, in fact, owned the 130 acres at the time this list was made but, like Robert's case, there is no record of the deed which transferred the property.

​

There is no doubt that Patrick, Jr. also received 130 acres from his father, because he sold it in 1770. (REF: September 6 & 7, 1770) However, again, a record of the deed transferring the property is not extant. Although the transaction could have taken place sometime after this list was compiled (because the deeds from May 1752 to January 1761 are also lost), it does not seem reasonable to believe that Robert and James inherited property from their father before Patrick, Jr., who was the oldest. (REF: 1747 comments) Therefore, the Patrick on this list is most likely Patrick, Jr. Presumably, all three of the parcels were transferred sometime during the timeframes defined above. Since Patrick, Jr. was the oldest, he most likely inherited the property with the family's home, so Patrick was probably living on Patrick, Jr.'s parcel at this time. (REF: September 6 & 7, 1770 comments)

​

Beyond this particular list, Patrick Hamrick appears with 130 acres on surviving lists for 1753 (as mentioned above), 1754, 1760, 1761, 1762, and 1767. ("Huntington Library Collection" and "Tax Lists" notebook. Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center (RELIC), Bull Run Regional Library, Manassas, VA.) These entries are not included in this collection of information because they actually refer to Patrick, Jr. and do not have specific relevance to Patrick's life.