Nansemond County-Suffolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives History.....Suffolk charter, 1792 

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"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 37, No. 150, Thurs., June 25, 1959, p. 11 

History Relates Chartering of Suffolk in 1742 
   'Healthful, Commodious, Convenient' 

  One of the more significant events in the history of Nansemond County was 
the chartering of the town of Suffolk June 3, 1742. 

  An account is given [in] the history of Suffolk and Nansemond, compiled by 
Mrs. P.M. Burton under the direction of the Chamber of Commerce, which is to 
be published in the not distant future as part of a program to disseminate 
information about this region. 

  The following is the record: 

  "For as much as it hath been represented unto this General Assembly that 
great numbers of people have lately settled themselves at and near a place 
called Constant's Warehouse on the east side of the Nansemond River, in the 
county of Nansemond, where the public warehouses are built, which place is 
healthful, commodious, and convenient for traders to cohabit in, and brings 
their goods to;  And that in case a town was laid out there, trade and 
navigation would be greatly encouraged and increased; 

  "Be it enacted by the Lieut. Governor, Council and Burgesses of this present 
General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that 
within eight months after the passing of this act, 50 acres of land, belonging 
to Jethro Sumner, Gentleman, lying and being at the place aforesaid, be laid 
out from the river between two creeks, or guts, one below the warehouse, the 
other above, by the surveyor of the said county of Nansemond, to include the 
warehouses aforesaid and shall be vested in: 

  "Lemuel Reddick, Edward Wright, William Baker, John Gregory, William Wright, 
Mills Reddick, and Edward Norfleet, 

  "gentlemen, are hereby constituted directors and trustees to designing, 
building, carrying on and maintaining a town on said land. 

  "And the said town shall be called by the name of Suffolk.  Lots were to be 
half an acre in size and the price was to be three pounds per acre. 

  "Signed Thomas Milner." ... 

  "At the time of the chartering [in] 1742, William Gooch was Governor of 
Virginia, and George the Second was King of England. 

  "The primary use for the warehouses seems to have been for the storage of 
tobacco until such time as shipments could be made." 

  As to the probable origin of the name Suffolk, the history relates: 

  "There is on the east coast of England a county called Suffolk (South Fork), 
and it is bounded on the north by Norfolk (North Fork).  It may have been that 
in the early days settlers from Suffolk County, England, came to the shores of 
the Nansemond River.  Finding the topography similar to that of their 
homeland, they were pleased to call one of the consolidated parishes by the 
name Suffolk. 

  "Later when the town in Nansemond County was chartered, at what had been 
previously known as Constant's Warehouse, the name Suffolk was again employed. 
While the new town was not in the original Suffolk parish, the original bill 
wished to do away with the old Nansemond colonial town known as Town Point. 

  "Then there is perhaps an additional reason:  The Governor of Virginia at 
the time was Sir William Gooch, from Yarmouth, Suffolk County, England. 
Perhaps the Hon. Lemuel Riddick, member of the House of Burgesses from 
Nansemond, thought it would be a nice gesture to name the new town after the 
governor's home county in the old country.  At any rate, the bill was passed 
by the General Assembly in June, 1742, and Mr. Riddick was given the honor of 
taking it to the Royal Governor for his signature." 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/history/charter.txt