New Norfolk County is a long-extinct county which was located in colonial Virginia from 1636 until 1637.
It was formed in 1636 from Elizabeth City Shire, one of the eight original shires (or counties) formed in 1634 in the colony of Virginia by direction of the King of England. New Norfolk County included all the area in South Hampton Roads now incorporated in the five independent cities located there in modern times.
Elizabeth City Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. The shire and the Elizabeth River were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I.
A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and some other English-speaking countries. It was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century. In some rural parts of Australia, a shire is a local government area; however, in Australia it is not synonymous with a "county", which is a lands administrative division.
A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes, in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or a viscount. The modern French is comté, and its equivalents in other languages are contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, Gau, etc..
The following year, in 1637, it was divided into Upper Norfolk County and Lower Norfolk County.
Upper Norfolk County became Nansemond County in 1646. The county became the independent city of Nansemond in 1972, and in 1974, merged with the city of Suffolk. The new consolidated city assumed the name of Suffolk.
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity.
Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2017 census, the estimated population was 90,237. It is the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as well as the 14th largest in the country.
In 1691 Lower Norfolk County was in turn divided to form Norfolk County and Princess Anne County.
Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they were annexed by the independent and growing cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth and South Norfolk.
County of Princess Anne is a former county in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, first incorporated in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach on January 1, 1963, ceasing to exist.
In 1963, after approval by referendum of the voters of the City of South Norfolk and the rest of Norfolk County and the Virginia General Assembly, were combined and reorganized as a new city, ending the threat of additional annexations. The new name selected by the voters was Chesapeake, and so, the new city of Chesapeake, Virginia was created.
South Norfolk was an independent city in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia and is now a section of the city of Chesapeake, one of the cities of Hampton Roads which surround the harbor of Hampton Roads and are linked by the Hampton Roads Beltway.
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Senate of Virginia, with 40 members. Combined together, the General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the Speaker of the House, while the Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms. The Senate of Virginia's clerk is known as the "Clerk of the Senate".
Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 222,209; in 2013, the population was estimated to be 232,977, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia.
Also in 1963, after approval by referendum of the voters of the City of Virginia Beach and the rest of Princess Anne County and the Virginia General Assembly, were consolidated as an independent city, assuming the better-known name of Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 437,994. In 2015, the population was estimated to be 452,745. In 2017 the estimated population was 450,435. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city in Virginia and the 41st most populous city in the nation. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is included in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. This area, known as "America's First Region", also includes the independent cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk, as well as other smaller cities, counties, and towns of Hampton Roads.
