Robert Beverley, Jr.

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Robert Beverley, Jr. (1673 – April 21, 1722) was an important historian of early colonial Virginia. He was born in Jamestown and died in King and Queen County, Virginia. He was also a substantial planter of the time as well as an official in the colonial government.

Beverley's History and Present State of Virginia, published originally in London in 1705, is considered by many to be the most important and accurate history of early life in the Virginia colony.[citation needed]

Beverley took part in Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood's 1716 "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition" to the Shenandoah Valley. 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.[1]

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.[2]

Ancestry and family

Beverley was the second of three sons born to Major Robert Beverley of Yorkshire, England and his wife, Margaret Boyd.[3] His brother, Peter Beverley, was a Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer of Virginia.[3]

Robert married Ursula Byrd, the daughter of William Byrd I in 1697.[3] Their only child, Colonel William Beverley (1698-1756) married Richard Bland's daughter, Elizabeth Bland. They had four children. Their son, Robert Beverley III married Maria Carter on February 3, 1763. Her parents were Landon Carter and Maria Byrd. Blandfield at Caret, Virginia 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 in 1969.[4][5]

Robert and Maria's daughters, Maria (1764-1824) and Lucy (1771-1854) married two members of the Randolphs. They were lineal descendants of Pocahontas.[6]

Maria Beverley (1764-1824) married Richard Randolph III on December 1, 1785 and Lucy Beverley married Richard Randolph II's son, Brett on November 21, 1789. Lucy and Brett Randolph had ten children. All of them moved to Oakleigh, Greensboro, Alabama.

References

  1. ↑ John Gwathmey, 1937, Twelve Virginia Counties p. 407-409.
  2. ↑ Peter Kolchin, "American Slavery",Penguin History, paperback edition, 51
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Standard, W.G. (1895). "Major Robert Beverley and His Descendants". In Bruce, Philip A.. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography III. Richmond, Virginia: The Virginia Historical Society. pp. 169–172 
  4. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. 
  5. ↑ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (undated). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Blandfield". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 
  6. ↑ Louise Pecquet du Bellet, Some Prominent Virginia Families, p. 161

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Robert Beverley, Jr.
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