The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly,the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642,the General Assembly,which had been established in 1619,became a bicameral institution.
Richard Bland,sometimes referred to as Richard Bland II or Richard Bland of Jordan's Point,was an American Founding Father,planter and statesman from Virginia. A cousin and early mentor of Thomas Jefferson,Bland belonged to one of the colony's leading families. He served more than 30 years in the House of Burgesses,Virginia's colonial legislative assembly.
James Pleasants Jr. was an American politician who served in the U.S. Senate from 1819 to 1822 and was the 22nd Governor of Virginia from 1822 to 1825.
Robert "King" Carter was a merchant,planter and powerful politician in colonial Virginia. Born in Lancaster County,Carter eventually became one of the richest men in the Thirteen Colonies. As President of the Virginia Governor's Council,Carter served as the royal governor of Virginia from 1726 to 1727 after the previous governor,Hugh Drysdale,died in office. He acquired the moniker "King" from fellow Virginians in his lifetime connoting his wealth,autocratic business methods and political power. Carter also served as the colony's Treasurer,many terms in the House of Burgesses and twice fellow members elected him as their Speaker.
Thomas Lewis was an Irish-American surveyor,lawyer,politician and pioneer of early western Virginia. He was among the signers of the Fairfax Resolves,represented Augusta County at four of the five Virginia Revolutionary Conventions and the first session of the Virginia House of Delegates during the American War for Independence,and after the conflict,represented newly established Rockingham County at the Virginia Ratification Convention,as well as contributed to the settlement of an area that long after his death become part of West Virginia.
Colonel John West,Jr. of West Point,Virginia (1632–1691) was a planter,commander of the New Kent Militia in the Colony of Virginia,and represented the county in the House of Burgesses,as would his sons.
Nathaniel West of Poplar Neck was a planter,military officer and politician of the British Colony and Dominion of Virginia who was one of the first two representatives for King William County in the House of Burgesses,and later represented New Kent County in that legislative assembly.
John Robinson,Jr. was an American politician and landowner in the colony of Virginia. Robinson served as Speaker of the House of Burgesses from 1738 until his death,the longest tenure in the history of that office.
Frances Jones Dandridge was the mother of Martha Washington,the first First Lady of the United States. She was born in New Kent County,Virginia. Her father Orlando Jones and maternal grandfather Colonel Gideon Macon served on the House of Burgesses in Colonial Virginia. Her parents were prosperous Virginia landowners.
William Dawson (1704–1752) was an Anglican clergyman,poet and member of the Governor's Council of Virginia who became the second president of The College of William &Mary in Williamsburg,Virginia (1743-1752).
Peter Beverley was an English-born planter and lawyer who served as the speaker of the House of Burgesses and treasurer of Virginia. Born in England,he emigrated to the Colony of Virginia.
Richard Bland I,sometimes known as Richard Bland of Jordan's Point,was a Virginia planter and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses,and the father of Richard Bland,
Windsor Shades is located on the Pamunkey River in Sweet Hall,Virginia,United States,that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Archeological native artifacts found on the property surrounding the house suggest it was the site of Kupkipcok,a Pamunkey village noted on John Smith's 1609 map.
The Burwells were among the First Families of Virginia in the Colony of Virginia. John Quincy Adams once described the Burwells as typical Virginia aristocrats of their period:forthright,bland,somewhat imperious and politically simplistic by Adams' standards. In 1713,so many Burwells had intermarried with the Virginia political elite that Governor Spotswood complained that " the greater part of the present Council are related to the Family of Burwells...there will be no less than seven so near related that they will go off the Bench whenever a Cause of the Burwells come to be tried."
Richard Buckner was a Virginia attorney and land speculator who served many years as the clerk of Essex County and for three years served as clerk of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1712–1715). When Caroline County was created from Essex County,he held many offices in the new county,including winning election to represent it in the House of Burgesses.
Burwell Bassett,Sr. was an American planter,patriot and politician from New Kent County in the Commonwealth of Virginia,who served in both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly,and in the Virginia Ratification Convention in 1788.
Bernard Moore (1720–1775) was a prominent landowner and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses representing King William County. His brother-in-law,powerful speaker John Robinson made unauthorized loans to Moore and other allies,discovered after Robinson's death in 1766,which caused his estate's administrator Edmund Pendleton and creditors including George Washington to auction Moore's land and 55 slaves.
William Chamberlayne emigrated from England to the Virginia colony,where he became a merchant,planter and politician in New Kent County,which he represented in the House of Burgesses for multiple terms. Complicating matters,several descendants shared the same name as their emigrant ancestor,including two members of the Virginia House of Delegates following the Revolutionary War,a Confederate States Army officer and U.S.Army officer.
Thomas Massie was a planter,politician,militia officer,a Justice of New Kent County,and vestryman in colonial Virginia. At the time of his death around 1731,he owned 4,000 acres of land in New Kent County,Virginia near the Little Byrd Creek in what is now Goochland County,Virginia as part of his family's Windsor Forest Plantation,which he inherited from his father.
Thomas Massie (1747-1834) was an American planter,Continental Army military officer,and magistrate from Virginia during the American Revolutionary War who also served as an aide-de-camp to General Thomas Nelson at the Siege of Yorktown.
