predecessor successor birth_name birth_place death_date death_place office birth_date term_start appointer spouse image article_title term_end name alma_mater
frederick w. sims richard h. cardwell preston w. campbell joseph w. chinn robert riddick prentis charlottesville , virginia , u.s. 25 november 1931 suffolk , virginia , u.s. 16th court of virginia chief justice of virginia justice of the supreme 24 may 1855 march 10 , 1926 february 1 , 1917 henry c. stuart mary allen darden robert prentis.jpg robert r. prentis
 november 25 , 1931 november 25 , 1931 robert r. prentis university of virginia
robert r. prentis

robert riddick prentis -lrb- may 24 , 1855 -- november 25 , 1931 -rrb- was born at the university of virginia where his father was proctor of the university .
his education was very scant because of the death of his father while robert was still a boy .
when just a very young man , he worked for a short time in the clerk 's office in albemarle county , virginia and from there entered the university of virginia in 1875 .
after graduating with a law degree , he opened a law office in charlottesville in 1876 .
in 1878 , however , he moved to norfolk .
an opportunity to practice with a.c. withers was accepted in 1880 and prentis moved to suffolk , which was his home for the rest of his life .
his first political office was as mayor of suffolk from 1883 to 1885 .
in 1894 , he was elected judge of the first judicial circuit of virginia .
he held that position until 1907 when he was appointed a member of the state corporation commission .
in december 1916 , he was elected to the supreme court of appeals and , on march 10 , 1926 , became its first `` chief justice '' .
prior to this , the judge longest in continuous service was called `` president '' of the court .
he was on the court until his death in 1931 .
robert r. prentis 's brother-in-law was nathaniel beaman , co-founder and president of the national bank of commerce of norfolk , virginia , and mayor of norfolk in 1901 -lrb- filled the remainder of predecessor 's term -rrb- .
beaman named his first son robert prentis beaman , after robert r. prentis , and the name has subsequently passed to two other descendants .
the latest , robert prentis beaman iii , followed in his namesake 's footsteps , graduating from william and mary law school earning order of the coif honors , and currently resides in portsmouth , virginia .
