# First Lady of Virginia

The spouse of the Governor of Virginia is given an honorary position, styled as First Lady or First Gentleman of the Commonwealth of Virginia. To date there have been no female governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and all first spouses have been first ladies.
The current first lady of Virginia is Suzanne Youngkin, the wife of incumbent Governor Glenn Youngkin, who assumed office in 2022.

## Role

The position of the first lady is not an elected one, carries no official duties, and receives no salary. However, the first lady holds a highly visible position in state government. Since 1813, the role of the first lady includes serving as the host of the Executive Mansion. She organizes and attends official ceremonies and functions of state either along with, or in place of, the governor. It is common for the governor's spouse to select specific, non-political, causes to promote.

## List

| | Name | Took office | Left office | Spouse of | Notes |
| 1 | Dorothea Dandridge Henry | 1777 | 1779 | Patrick Henry | 1st and 6th First Lady of Virginia |
| 2 | Martha Jefferson | 1779 | 1781 | Thomas Jefferson | Died at age 33, twenty years before husband's election as U.S. President |
| 3 | Anne Christian Fleming | 1781 | 1781 | William Fleming | |
| 4 | Lucy Grymes Nelson | 1781 | 1781 | Thomas Nelson Jr. | |
| 5 | Elizabeth Bassett Harrison | 1781 | 1784 | Benjamin Harrison V | |
| 6 | Dorothea Dandridge Henry | 1784 | 1786 | Patrick Henry | |
| 7 | Elizabeth Nichols Randolph | 1786 | 1788 | Edmund Randolph | |
| 8 | Martha Cocke Randolph | 1788 | 1791 | Beverley Randolph | |
| 9 | Anne Hill Carter Lee | 1793 | 1794 | Henry Lee III | Mother of general-in-chief of the Confederate States of America, Robert E. Lee |
| 10 | Mary Ritchie Hopper Brooke | 1794 | 1796 | Robert Brooke | |
| 11 | Jean Moncure Wood | 1796 | 1799 | James Wood | |
| 12 | Elizabeth Monroe | 1799 | 1802 | James Monroe | 12th and 15th First Lady of Virginia, served as First Lady of the United States (1817–1825) |
| 13 | Margaret Lowther Page | 1802 | 1805 | John Page | |
| 14 | Agnes Sarah Bell Cabell | 1805 | 1808 | William H. Cabell | |
| | None | 1808 | 1811 | John Tyler Sr. | Tyler was a widower |
| 15 | Elizabeth Monroe | 1811 | 1811 | James Monroe | |
| 16 | Jane Reade Smith | 1811 | 1811 | George William Smith | |
| 17 | Lucy Johnson Barbour | 1812 | 1814 | James Barbour | |
| 18 | Margaret Smith Nicholas | 1814 | 1816 | Wilson Cary Nicholas | |
| 19 | Ann Barraud Taylor Preston | 1816 | 1819 | James Patton Preston | |
| 20 | Martha Jefferson Randolph | 1819 | 1822 | Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. | Daughter of 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, served as Acting First Lady of the United States for father (1801–1809) |
| 21 | Susanna Lawson Pleasants | 1822 | 1825 | James Pleasants | |
| 22 | Letitia Christian Tyler | 1825 | 1827 | John Tyler | Served as Second Lady (1841) and First Lady of the United States (1841–1842) |
| 23 | Frances Ann Gwynn Giles | 1827 | 1830 | William Branch Giles | |
| 24 | Letitia Preston Floyd | 1830 | 1834 | John Floyd | |
| 25 | Anne Stratton Tazewell | 1834 | 1836 | Littleton Waller Tazewell | |
| 26 | Maria Hamilton Campbell | 1837 | 1840 | David Campbell | |
| 27 | Anne Baker Gilmer | 1840 | 1841 | Thomas Walker Gilmer | |
| 28 | Susanna Smith Preston McDowell | 1843 | 1846 | James McDowell | |
| 29 | Elizabeth Bell Smith | 1846 | 1849 | William Smith | |
| 30 | Sally Buchanan Preston Floyd | 1849 | 1852 | John B. Floyd | |
| 31 | Sarah Johnson | 1852 | 1855 | Joseph Johnson | |
| 32 | Mary Elizabeth Lyons Wise | 1856 | 1860 | Henry A. Wise | |
| 33 | Susan Holt Letcher | 1860 | 1861 | John Letcher | |
| 34 | Julia Augusta Robertson Pierpont | 1861 | 1868 | Francis Harrison Pierpont | Early founder and adopter of "Decoration Day" (now known as Memorial Day) in the United States |
| 35 | Olive E. Evans | 1869 | 1874 | Gilbert Carlton Walker | |
| | None | 1874 | 1878 | James L. Kemper | Kemper was a widower |
| | None | 1878 | 1882 | Frederick Holliday | Holliday was a widower |
| 36 | Louisa Cameron | 1882 | 1886 | William E. Cameron | |
| 37 | Ellen Bernard Fowle Lee | 1886 | 1890 | Fitzhugh Lee | |
| 38 | Annie Clay McKinney | 1890 | 1894 | Philip W. McKinney | |
| 39 | Jennie Wickliff Knight O'Ferrall | 1894 | 1898 | Charles Triplett O'Ferrall | |
| 40 | Sue Hammet Tyler | 1898 | 1902 | James Hoge Tyler | |
| 41 | Elizabeth Lyne Hoskins Montague | 1902 | 1906 | Andrew Jackson Montague | |
| 42 | Elizabeth Deane Lyons Swanson | 1906 | 1910 | Claude A. Swanson | Official hostess of the Jamestown Exposition |
| 43 | Etta Edloe Donnan Mann | 1910 | 1914 | William Hodges Mann | |
| 44 | Margaret Bruce Carter Stuart | 1914 | 1918 | Henry Carter Stuart | |
| 45 | Marguerite Inman Davis | 1918 | 1922 | Westmoreland Davis | Served as a nurse during the 1918 influenza epidemic in Richmond, for which she was featured in The New York Times. President of the Women's Munition Reserve during World War I. |
| 46 | Helen Ball Sexton Trinkle | 1922 | 1926 | Elbert Lee Trinkle | |
| 47 | Anne Douglas Beverley Byrd | 1926 | 1930 | Harry F. Byrd | |
| 48 | Grace Phillips Pollard | 1930 | 1932 | John Garland Pollard | Died in 1932 during husband's term |
| 49 | Violet E. MacDougall | 1933 | 1934 | John Garland Pollard | |
| 50 | Nancy Bane Gillespie Peery | 1934 | 1938 | George C. Peery | |
| 51 | Lillian Martin Price | 1938 | 1942 | James Hubert Price | |
| 52 | Constance Simons Du Pont Darden | 1942 | 1946 | Colgate Darden | |
| 53 | Eva Ellis Lovelace Dillard Tuck | 1946 | 1950 | William M. Tuck | |
| 54 | Janie Lipscombe Battle | 1950 | 1954 | John S. Battle | |
| 55 | Anne Bassett Stanley | 1954 | 1958 | Thomas B. Stanley | |
| 56 | Josephine Katherine Minter Almond | 1958 | 1962 | J. Lindsay Almond | |
| 57 | Lacey Barkley Harrison | 1962 | 1966 | Albertis Harrison | |
| 58 | Katherine Godwin | 1966 | 1970 | Mills Godwin | 58th and 60th First Lady of Virginia |
| 59 | Jinks Holton | 1970 | 1974 | Linwood Holton | Mother of 67th First Lady of Virginia, Anne Holton |
| 60 | Katherine Godwin | 1974 | 1978 | Mills Godwin | |
| 61 | Edwina P. Dalton | 1978 | 1982 | John N. Dalton | Served as a member of the Virginia Senate from the 12th district (1988–1992), Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1989 |
| 62 | Lynda Bird Johnson Robb | 1982 | 1986 | Chuck Robb | Daughter of 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, served as chairwoman of President's Advisory Committee for Women |
| 63 | Jeannie Baliles | 1986 | 1990 | Gerald Baliles | Founder of the Virginia Literacy Foundation |
| | None | 1990 | 1994 | Douglas Wilder | Wilder was divorced |
| 64 | Susan Brown Allen | 1994 | 1998 | George Allen | |
| 65 | Roxane Gilmore | 1998 | 2002 | Jim Gilmore | Gilmore, a classics professor at Randolph-Macon College, was the first woman to actively maintain her own, independent job and career while serving as first lady. |
| 66 | Lisa Collis | 2002 | 2006 | Mark Warner | First woman to continue using her maiden name as First Lady |
| 67 | Anne Holton | 2006 | 2010 | Tim Kaine | Daughter of Governor Linwood Holton and First Lady Jinks Holton, served as 17th Virginia Secretary of Education and acting president of George Mason University |
| 68 | Maureen McDonnell | 2010 | 2014 | Bob McDonnell | Sentenced to 12 months in prison after a federal corruption trial. The conviction was overturned and charges dismissed after a Supreme Court decision. |
| 69 | Dorothy McAuliffe | 2014 | 2018 | Terry McAuliffe | Appointed as the U.S. State Department Special Representative for Global Partnerships by President Joe Biden |
| 70 | Pamela Northam | 2018 | 2022 | Ralph Northam | |
| 71 | Suzanne Youngkin | 2022 | serving | Glenn Youngkin | |