page_title: Randolph family of Virginia
section_title: Colonial Virginia
hierarchical_section_title: Randolph family of Virginia / History / Colonial Virginia
caption_attribution_description: Plate captioned "Dale's Settlements on the Upper James" from Virginia Under the Stuarts
context_page_description: The Randolph family is a prominent Virginia political family, whose members contributed to the politics of Colonial Virginia and Virginia after it gained its statehood. They are descended from the Randolphs of Morton Morrell, Warwickshire, England. The first Randolph to come to America was Henry Randolph in 1643. His nephew, William Randolph, later came to Virginia as an orphan in 1669. He made his home at Turkey Island along the James River. Because of their numerous progeny, William Randolph and his wife, Mary Isham Randolph, have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia." The Randolph family was the wealthiest and most powerful family in 18th-century Virginia.
context_section_description: Henry Randolph I, born in 1623 in Little Houghton, Northamptonshire, England, immigrated to the colony of Virginia in 1642, protege of Sir William Berkeley. He acquired title to land on the north side of Swift Creek in Bermuda Hundred in 1655 and he built Swift Creek Mill, considered one of the first grist mills in the United States, about 1663. The mill was located alongside Randolph's plantation. Henry married Judith, the daughter of speaker of the House of Burgesses Henry Soane, with whom they had a son, Captain Henry Randolph. Henry Randolph I was the uncle of William Randolph of Turkey Island in Colonial Virginia, whom Henry sponsored to emigrate to Colonial Virginia following a visit to England and Ireland in 1669 or 1670. He was also the half brother of Thomas Randolph, the poet of England. Henry died in Henrico County, Virginia in 1673.
  William Randolph, nephew of Henry Randolph I, resided in Colonial Virginia by 1672. William was a transatlantic merchant and ran a tobacco plantation. He represented Henrico County, Virginia at the Virginia House of Burgesses and later was Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He was a founding trustee of the College of William and Mary.
  Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe and William Randolph II, sons of William Randolph, were Virginia Burgesses for Henrico County in 1720 and 1722. Sir John Randolph, son of William Randolph, was a Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and later Deputy Attorney General for Charles City, Prince George, and Henrico Counties.
caption: Map showing Bermuda Hundred and other early settlements along the James River
exif: {}