Sampson County Heritage book born says circa 1564 and died 4 Jun 1616 in Middlesex Parish, London.

Humphrey never came to VA, but he was a charter subscriber of the Third Charter of the VA Company, dated 12 Mar 1612.

Nathaniel is said to have been the son of Humphrey Basse and Mary, his wife — and this is where the controversy comes in.

Humphrey Basse was born about 1560 in England and died 4 Jun 1616 in Middlesex, England. He married about 1586 Mary Busscier.

Mary Busscier was born about 1571 in Rouen, France and died in London 22 Jul 1616. She was the daughter of Dominick and Genevieve:

Dominick Busscier born before 1550 in Italy and died about 1588 in London. His wife was named Genevieve and she was born before 1550 in Rouen, France and died about 1620 in London.

Now it can be proven that Humphrey Basse had a son Nathaniel and it is known that Humphrey was an investor in the Virginia Company and may have traveled to Virginia as early as 1612. And the strongest evidence of the whole Indian princess/John Basse union is found in documented records of Nathaniel Basse written by him in his prayer book and now preserved at the Library of Virginia (though I have also read that it is in the possession of the Nansemond Indians). Transcriptions of this and even images can be found easily with not too much Internet searching. Nathaniel documents his marriage to Mary Jordan and then records the births of his children. Clearly the book was passed down to the next generation — to John Basse in fact — and he records additional events that occurred after Nathaniel’s death.

But the controversy arises because some people who claim to have intensely tried to document the association between the Bass family of England and the Nansemond Indians cite a document that seems to say that Humphrey’s son Nathaniel died in Virginia without heirs. The claim seems to be that there were therefore two different men named Nathaniel Basse — with close association with the Nansemond area of Virginia -- who have been confused — and the one most commonly called Captain Nathaniel is not the progenitor of the Virginia Basses nor does he have any familial involvement with the Nansemond Indians.

The problem is the people making these assertions seem to have dropped out of sight and I am unable to contact them nor to determine their full story of just who then was the Nathaniel of interest. Meantime, another group has sprung up to debunk the two Nathaniel’s theory and argue that there was only one Nathaniel — he was the son of Humphrey, the progenitor of the Bass family lines of Virginia and sometimes referred to as Captain Nathaniel and sometimes just Nathaniel. I subscribe to the one Nathaniel theory — because while there are dozens of mentions in the records of Nathaniel, there are no conflicts (he was never in two places at once, for example). Additionally, he named his first son Humphrey — which proves nothing but is a strong indicator nonetheless. And he names his second daughter Genevieve — she was second by 10 minutes being the twin of his first daughter Anne. Finally, the proponents of the one Nathaniel theory argue that the wording of the legal document which appears to say Nathaniel died childless is very cumbersome and it actually was saying his brother Luke was childless (which apparently he was).

All data per an Internet Tree which says her parents were Dominick Busscier born in Italy before 1550 and died in London, England about 1588 and his wife Geneivieve born in Rouen, France before 1550 and died in London about 1620.

The Sampson County Heritage book spells it Buschier and that she was buried in Middlesex Parrish, London.