Early Settlers of Colonial Virginia

Historical Overview

The recorded History of Virginia began with settlement of the geographic region now known as the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, previously settled thousands of years ago by Native Americans. The earliest visits to the area were conducted primarily by English and Spanish explorers. After early attempts by Spain to establish a colony in the 1570's were abandoned, permanent European settlement did not occur until the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, by English colonists. As tobacco emerged as a profitable export, Virginia imported more Africans to cultivate it and hardened boundaries of slavery. The Virginia Colony became the wealthiest and most populated British colony in North America.

After an early expedition in 1584 to the "New World" by Sir Walter Raleigh, many other expeditions from England were sent to explore and colonize, including three ships that set sail on April 30, 1607, which were funded by "The Virginia Company". The 'Discovery', the 'Godspeed' and the 'Susan Constant' sailed for 4½ months to reach the shores of the New World. From the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the three ships sailed. Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, Captain Christopher Newport, Captain John Ratcliffe, Captain Gabriel Archer, and Captain Edward Wingfield were in charge of the expedition. The people of the expedition consisted of 'gentlemen' and farmers.

The first settlement in what became known as the Virginia Colony was Jamestown, which was founded in 1607. It was set up to be the center of the Virginia Colony's government and commerce. Later in 1624, Virginia was created as a royal colony that included the original Jamestown settlement, when King James I revolked the charter of the bankrupt Virginia Company and the colony transferred to royal authority as a crown colony, but the elected representatives in Jamestown continued to exercise a fair amount of power. Under royal authority, the colony began to expand to the North and West with additional settlements. In 1630, under the governorship of John Harvey, the first settlement on the York River was founded. In 1632, the Virginia legislature voted to build a fort to link Jamestown and the York River settlement of Chiskiack and protect the colony from Indian attacks. This fort would become Middle Plantation and later Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1634, a palisade was built near Middle Plantation. This wall stretched across the peninsula between the York and James rivers and protected the settlements on the eastern side of the lower Peninsula from Indians. The wall also served to contain cattle.

Also in 1634, a new system of local government was created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. Eight shires were designated, each with its own local officers. These shires were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:

Accomac (now Northampton County)

Charles City Shire (now Charles City County)

Charles River Shire (now York County)

Elizabeth City Shire (existed as Elizabeth City County until 1952, when it was absorbed into the city of Hampton)

Henrico Shire (now Henrico County)

James City Shire (now James City County)

Warwick River Shire (existed as Warwick County until 1952, then the city of Warwick until 1958 when it was absorbed into the city of Newport News)

Warrosquyoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County)

These counties served as the primary foundation for governing for many years in early Colonial Virginia, until the colonies agreed many years later to form what now is the United States of America. The settlers listed below were all considered very important to the establishment of government and were significant in the historical impact on Colonial Virginia:

Sources:

Wikipedia: History of Virginia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Virginia

Colonial Virginia, Williamsburg Official site; http://www.williamsburg.com/

InfoPlease: Virginia: History, Geography and State Facts: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108283.html

List of Early Colonial Virginia Settlers

The following persons were among the prominent first families that immigrated to Colonial Virginia in the 1600's-early 1700's: