Robert Beverley Jr. (1667April 21, 1722) was a
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
of early
colonial Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...
, as well as a planter and politician.
Early and family life
Beverley was born in
Jamestown, the second of three sons of the widow Mary Keeble and her second husband, Major
Robert Beverley. Major Beverley had emigrated to the Virginia colony from
Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and became the Clerk of the
House of Burgesses
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 which several of his descendants would serve. Thus, Major Beverley founded one of the
First Families of Virginia
First Families of Virginia (FFV) were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They descended from English colonists who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsburg ...
during the colonial era. The Beverley household also included an elder half-brother
Peter Beverley
Peter Beverley (1663 – 1728) was an English-born planter and lawyer who served as the 27th speaker of the House of Burgesses as well as treasurer of the Colony of Virginia (1710-1723). His father Robert Beverley had been the clerk of the H ...
(who would not only serve in the House of Burgesses but became its speaker and the colony's Treasurer), several full brothers and at least two daughters. His father and elder full brother both died before this Robert Beverley reached legal age, so when he did in 1690, Robert Beverley succeeded his half-brother Peter as the guardian of his full brother John Beverley. Virginia at the time having no public schools and limited educational options other than private tutors, Robert Beverley was educated in England, possibly at Beverley Grammar School in Yorkshire.
Jamestown official and politician
Beverley followed the career paths of his father and half-brother, securing influence with a series of public offices of increasing responsibility, as well as securing plantations and eventually becoming a Burgess in his own right. In 1688, the year following his father's death, Beverley worked as a copyist in Jamestown, assisting the colony's secretary as well as becoming a deputy clerk of the surrounding
James City County
James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg.
Located ...
. However, when Governor Francis Nicholson ousted William Edwards as the chief clerk of the General Court and the colony's secretary, Beverley probably also lost his position. However, in the summer of 1692, his uncle
Christopher Robinson became the colony's secretary and appointed his nephew as clerk of
King and Queen County
King and Queen County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia, located in the state's Middle Peninsula on the eastern edge of the Richmond, VA metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,608. Its county seat is King a ...
nearby. Although Christopher Robinson died the next year, his successor was Ralph Wormeley, a planter in Middlesex County and friend of the Robinson family. Wormeley appointed Peter Beverley as the Chief Clerk of the General Court and the colony's secretary, so Robert began working for his half-brother, who had also succeeded their father as Clerk for the House of Burgesses. Robert became clerk to the Committee of Public Claims in March 1693. In May 1693 Robert filled in for his brother as clerk of the General Court, and in October 1693 succeeded Peter Beverley as clerk of the General Court, as well as the colony's secretary and clerk of James City County. He also substituted for James Sherlock as clerk for the Governor's Council and as clerk of the General Assembly for the 1696 term. In June 1697, Beverley became clerk of the court of Vice-Admiralty. When fire destroyed the statehouse at Jamestown on October 20, 1698, Peter and Robert Beverley salvaged many valuable papers, but Robert resigned as chief clerk about a month later.
In 1699, citizens of Jamestown elected Beverley to represent them in the House of Burgesses, and re-elected him in 1700. In 1699, Beverley also was appointed to the committee to revise the colony's laws. Meanwhile, Beverley had purchased land in Jamestown and nearby Elizabeth City County. He was appointed to the Elizabeth City County court on December 27, 1700, but that body (which also held administrative powers over the county) soon found itself in litigation, and the General Court decided adversely to it, so Beverley appealed to the Privy Council and set sail for England to prosecute the case in 1703. However, Francis Nicholson returned to the colony as its governor, and not only removed him as clerk of the House of Burgesses, but engineered his removal as clerk of King and Queen County.
Westward adventure and literary career
Beverley's most notable work is his ''History and Present State of Virginia'', published originally in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1705 (while Beverley was in London prosecuting the Elizabeth City County land case, which he lost, but which also gave him access to government records in London). It documents the history of early life in the Virginia colony. Three French-language editions were published between 1707 and 1718, which one historian believes were distributed as promotional literature to encourage emigration.
The treatise reflected his father's loyalty to former governor Sir William Berkeley, and was critical of Nicholson, and so might have helped Nicholson's recall at about the same time as the treatise's publication.
Beverley returned to Virginia and became a tobacco planter in King and Queen County, living on the plantation he called "Beverley Park." However, his experiments in viticulture were not successful Beverly also in 1719 acquired a large interest in an iron foundry. When
Alexander Spotswood
Alexander Spotswood (12 December 1676 – 7 June 1740) was a British Army officer, explorer and lieutenant governor of Colonial Virginia; he is regarded as one of the most significant historical figures in British North American colonial h ...
became the colony's governor (technically lieutenant governor to an Englishman) Beverley cultivated a relationship with him. He probably accompanied Spotswood in 1716 on his "
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition
The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, also known as the Transmontane Expedition, took place in 1716 in the British Colony of Virginia. The Royal Governor and a number of prominent citizens traveled westward, across the Blue Ridge Mount ...
" to the
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Rid ...
. Journalist John Fontaine records that on the return trip, both Beverley and his horse fell, and rolled to the bottom of a hill, but without serious injury to either. However, when Beverley published a revised edition of his ''History'' in 1722, he continued it only to 1710, so there is no known account by Beverley of this event. Beverley also completed the revision of the colony's laws, published in 1720 as 'An Abridgement of the Publick Laws of Virginia, In Force and Use, June 10, 1720' and dedicated the volume to Spotswood. It was published by Beverley's London publisher in 1722, after Beverley added abridgements of the acts of the assembly during its November to December 1720 session (in which Beverley represented King and Queen County). The publisher also published a second edition of Beverley's 'History', which removed some critical remarks about Virginia customs as well as about former Governor Nicholson, as well as brought the volume up to date.
Concerning slavery, in the 1722 re-edition, Beverley says that whilst both black males and females were likely to work in fields, white women were not.
Death and legacy
On April 21, 1722, Beverley died at Beverley Park, his estate in
King and Queen County, Virginia
King and Queen County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia, located in the state's Middle Peninsula on the eastern edge of the Richmond, VA metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,608. Its county seat is King an ...
. He was buried at the Jamestown Church cemetery. Beverley probably helped his son become clerk of Essex County, and bequeathed a large estate to him.
However, there is no evidence that he ever saw the second edition of his 'History' or the first edition of his 'Abridgement.'
Personal life and descendants
This younger Robert Beverley married Ursula Byrd, the daughter of Burgess and prominent planter
William Byrd I
William Byrd I (1652 – December 4, 1704) was an English-born Virginia colonist and politician. He came from Shadwell, London where his father John Bird (c. 1620–1677) was a goldsmith. His family's ancestral roots were in Cheshire.
Personal li ...
and his wife Mary Byrd (the heiress of former Charles City County burgess Warham Horsmanden) in 1697.
Their only child, Colonel
William Beverley
William Beverley (1696–1756) was an 18th-century legislator, civil servant, planter and landowner in the Colony of Virginia. Born in Virginia, Beverley—the son of planter and historian Robert Beverley, Jr. (c. 1667–1722) and his wife, Ursu ...
(1698–1756) would also serve in the House of Burgesses, as well as married Elizabeth Bland, daughter of planter, lawyer and burgess
Richard Bland
Richard Bland (May 6, 1710 – October 26, 1776), 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 Jefferso ...
. William and Elizabeth Beverley had four children. Their son, Robert married Maria Carter, the granddaughter of the powerful Speaker of the HOuse of Burgesses
Robert Carter, on February 3, 1763. Her parents were
Landon Carter
Col. Landon Carter, I (August 18, 1710 – December 22, 1778) was an American planter and burgess for Richmond County, Virginia. Although one of the most popular patriotic writers and pamphleters of pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary-era Vir ...
and Maria Byrd.
Blandfield
Blandfield is a historic plantation house located at Caret, Essex County, Virginia. It was built about 1716–1720, and is a brick dwelling consisting of a two-story, central block with flanking two-story dependencies connected by one-story hyphe ...
at
Caret, Virginia
Caret is an unincorporated community in Essex County, in the U.S. state of Virginia.
Blandfield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal governmen ...
was built for William Beverley about 1750. The house is one of the largest colonial plantation mansions in Virginia, and was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...
in 1969.
Robert and Maria's daughters, Maria (1764–1824) and Lucy (1771–1854) married grandsons of powerful planter and burgess
Richard Randolph
Richard Randolph (c.1691 – 1749),
also known as Richard Randolph of Curles, was a planter, merchant and politician in colonial Virginia. Richard served as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1727 until his death. Randolph was ...
. They were lineal descendants of
Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter o ...
.
Maria Beverley married Richard Randolph III (1757-1799) on December 1, 1785 and Lucy Beverley married Brett Randolph (1766-1828) on November 21, 1789. Lucy and Brett Randolph had ten children, all of whom moved to Oakleigh plantation in
Greensboro, Alabama
Greensboro is a city in Hale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 2,497, down from 2,731 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Hale County, Alabama, which was not organized until 1867. It is part o ...
.
Robert's brother John Beverley (1635-1737) and his wife Margaret Early (1689-1738) begot a son in
Bertie County, North Carolina
Bertie County ( , with both syllables stressed) is a county located in the northeast area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,934. Its county seat is Windsor. The county was created in 1722 as Ber ...
. This John Beverly II (1708-1765) and his wife Margaret Williams resided in
Orange County, North Carolina
Orange County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 148,696. Its county seat is Hillsborough.
Orange County is included in the Durham–Chapel Hill, NC Metrop ...
. Their son John Beverly III (1755-1843) and his wife Frances Morris begot a son named James Franklin Beverly (1798-1870) in
Wadesboro, North Carolina
Wadesboro is a town in Anson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,049 at the 2020 census. The town was originally found in 1783 as New Town but changed by the North Carolina General Assembly to Wadesboro in 1787 to honor C ...
. James and his wife Penelope Boswell had a son named Christopher Columbus "Tip" Beverly (1824-1896). The whole Beverly family moved to
Shiloh, Marengo County, Alabama
Shiloh is an unincorporated community in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. Historically, Shiloh was served by its own post office.
Geography
Shiloh is located at and has an elevation of .
Notable person
* Autherine Lucy, first African A ...
except Christopher. He and his family settled in
Campbell, Alabama
Campbell is an unincorporated community in Clarke County, Alabama, United States.
History
Robert Beverley Jr.'s family moved here from Wadesboro, North Carolina due to harsh winter climate. They were lineal descendants of Thomas Rolfe (only child ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Robert Beverleyat ''
Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...
The History of VirginiaFrom the Collections at the Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beverley, Robert
1667 births
1722 deaths
American planters
People from King and Queen County, Virginia
Beverley family of Virginia
Historians of Virginia
Byrd family of Virginia
Burials at Jamestown Church
Historians of Colonial North America
People from Jamestown, Virginia