Temperance Flowerdew

Who was Temperance Flowerdew?

Temperance Flowerdew was an early settler of the Jamestown Colony and a key member of the Flowerdew family, significant participants in the history of Jamestown. Temperance Flowerdew was wife of two Governors of Virginia, sister of another early colonist, aunt to a representative at the first General Assembly and "cousin german" to the Secretary to the Colony.

Flowerdew was one of the few survivors of the brutal winter of 1609–10, known as the "Starving Time", which killed almost ninety percent of Jamestown's inhabitants. Later, upon the death of her second husband, George Yeardley, Flowerdew became one of the wealthiest women in Virginia. Upon her death, the estate was transferred to her children despite the efforts of her third husband to claim it. She appears on the periphery of many historical events that occurred during the period.