Because so many of the doctors and surgeons of seventeenth-century Virginia are given only slight mention in the records, it is impossible to know whether, in most cases, they had acquired their skills and educations before coming to Virginia, or even whether they were born in the New World. Nor is it known how many young men born in Virginia went back to England or Europe to study medicine; a reference made by the famous English surgeon, John Woodall, indicates that a Virginian named Wake may have studied under him in London. Within the Virginia county records, however, can be found evidence indicating that a common method of learning the profession was by apprenticeship. One interesting example of the contract between apprentice and surgeon survives in the records of Surry County, Virginia; made in 1657, it bound Charles Clay to Stephen Tickner, surgeon, for a term of seven years. Clay swore to serve his master in whatever surgical or medical duties he was assigned, and Tickner promised to use his best skill and judgment to teach his apprentice whatever he knew of the art. Another contract for apprenticeship was made between Richard Townshend and the London Company's well-known Dr. Pott. This relationship included a breach of contract that occurred not infrequently between master and apprentice: Townshend argued in court that Pott was not teaching him the "art & misterye" for which he was bound. As an apprentice, the would-be physician or surgeon could gather herbs for his master and assist him in treating the sick. If the apprentice could read, or if the master would teach him, then the novice could study the medical books in the doctor's library. Not only were volumes on medicine available, but in the libraries of the better-educated medical men, the apprentice could also familiarize himself with other fields of learning. Dr. Pott had a reputation for knowing Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and must have imparted much of his learning to Richard Townshend, his apprentice. Such would seem to be the case in view of the facts of Townshend's life. He became an apprentice to Pott in 1621 and by 1636 he was a member of the colony's highest political body, the council, and at the time of his death he possessed a considerable amount of land. In a day when schooling was hard to come by, apprenticeship to an educated man held great advantages.