A complaint was raised in 1660 by the masters of merchantmen, that on arriving at the mouth of the James, they found no one to steer their vessels up that stream, and no beacons to mark the sites of shoals in its waters. With a view to removing the ground of this complaint, Captain William Oewin was appointed the chief pilot in James River, and to encourage him in the performance of the duty thus imposed on him, he was allowed the privilege of demanding five pounds sterling from the master of every vessel above eighty tons who engaged his services, and forty shillings from the captains who declined the offer. Every ship dropping anchor in the Roads was required to pay Captain Oewin a fee of thirty shillings. This was not so much of a gratuity as it appeared, since he was expected to maintain beacons at every point between Willoughby Shoals and Jamestown where navigation was dangerous. If these beacons were removed or destroyed, it was his duty to replace them before the expiration of fifteen days.[1] The successor of Captain Oewin was Captain Chichester, who was followed by his son. The position was filled by the latter during the time of the second administration of Sir William Berkeley, and during the whole of the official terms of Culpeper and Howard. In a petition presented to Governor Nicholson in 1691, he referred to himself as for a period of many years the only pilot in James River who was serving under commission front the colonial authorities. The duties of his office occupied his whole time and was his only means of livelihood In order that there might be competent men at hand to take his place when he died or became disabled by accident or old age, he declared himself ready to instruct apprentices in the art of his calling and to inform
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. II, p. 35. The spelling of the name is followed as given in Hening.
