COLONIAL ATTORNEY-GENERALS OF VIRGINIA; Wm. and Mary Qrtly.; V. 10, No. 1 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Pages 31 - 35 COLONIAL ATTORNEY-GENERALS OF VIRGINIA. PETER JENINGS (Jennings), the first Attorney-General, was born in 1631 and died in 1671. He is spoken of as one who "faithfully served" King Charles I. In March, 1662, he, as "attorney for the King's most excellent majesty", presented for high misdemeanors Capt. Giles Brent and Col. Gerard Fowke for imprisoning Wahanganoche, king of Potomac Indians. In 1663, he was a member of the House of Burgesses for Gloucester county. In June, 1666, Capt. Jenings was made one of the commissioners to treat with the Maryland authorities about a cessation of tobacco. He married Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Lunsford, and in 1668 addressed the following letter to the court of York county: Page 32. Honrd Gentlemen: I am necessitated to intercede in the behalfe of Doctor Haddon*, in case of his non appearance at your court, and doubt not of a candid interpretacon of my desires since the occasion wch causes his absence proceeds from that wch Law itself dispenses with necessity. In fine, my daughter's sickness hath occasioned his stay, nor dare I suffer his absence from her. I shall leave it to you to judge, since you are all fathers, whether on such an occasion as this, where the life or death of the child in probability depends, that latitude may not be allowed wch is another case may be judged intolerable. I shall, therefore, humbly beseech you that the Drs absence may not prejudice him in his affayres, but that all businesse depending may be suspended till the next court, wch will be a determinacon wch I hope will be accounted both just and reasonable beside the obligacon you will putt upon. Yor most humble servt, PETER JENNINGS. March the 6th, 1668. Direction - ffor my most Honrd ffriend, Major Daniell Parke & the rest of the justices for Yorke County. September 16, 1670, he received a grant for the Attorney-General's office. October 12, 1670, he was admitted and sworn one of his Majesty's Council. He died in 1671, and his widow, Catherine, married Ralph Wormeley, Esq.+ GEORGE JORDAN came to Virginia in 1635, and resided in Surry county, near "Four Mile Tree", on James River. He was a justice of Surry county, and had the title of lieutenant-colonel in the militia. October 11, 1670, he was appointed king's Attorney-General; but how long he served is not known. He married (1) Alice Miles, daughter of John Miles, of Branton, near Herreford, Gent., who died January 7, 1650-'51; (2) Elizabeth Coates. His will was proved in November, 1678, and he was buried, according to his request, with his wife and children in the garden of "Four Mile Tree", the residence of Major Browne. _______________________________________________ *Dr. Francis Haddon, a physician of York county, who married Jane, the widow of Dr. Giles Mode (Moody). He died in 1675. +Capt. Peter Jenings was undoubtedly of the same family as Edmund Jenings, who figured at a later date in Virginia, and who was son of Sir Edmund Jenings, of Ripon, in Yorkshire (and Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Barkham) and grandson of Sir Jonathan Jenings, of the same place. (See Quarterly, III., 154). The following extracts from the proceedings of the General Court are of value: April 6, 1671, Robert Bulloch, sonne and heir of William Bulloch, wch was sonne and heire of Hugh Bulloch, and Col. Peter Jenings, guardian to the orphans of Col. Mathewes deced &c. Mrs. Catherine Jennings, admr. of Col. Peter Jennings deced &c, 23 March 1671-2. Page 33. He left no descendants, but his brother Arthur Jordan is numerously represented. EDMUND JENINGS was son of Sir Edmund Jenings, of Ripon, Yorkshire, England, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Barkham, Lord Mayor of London 1621-'22. He was born in 1659, and died June 2, 1727. He came to Virginia at an early age, and settled in York county. He was appointed Attorney-General in 1680, and retained the office till after 1692. He was appointed to the Council in 1701, and remained a member till his death. In 1704, he was appointed Secretary of State, and from June, 1706 till August 23, 1710, he was acting Governor. Later he would have again become Acting Governor, but was set aside on account of his feeble health. He married Frances, daughter of Henry Corbin, of Buckingham House, and had issue (1) Frances, married Charles Grymes, of Moratico, Richmond county, and was ancestress of Gen. R. E. Lee; (2) Elizabeth, married Robert Porteus, of New Bottle, Gloucester county, who afterwards removed to England, where she became the mother of Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London; (3) Edmund, Secretary of Maryland, married in 1728 Anna, widow of James Frisby and Thomas Bordley, and daughter of Matthias Vanderheyden, by which marriage he was father of Ariana (who married John Randolph of Virginia, and who was mother of Edmund Randolph, first Attorney-General of Virginia, and of the United States), and a son, Edmund, who died unmarried in 1819. EDWARD CHILTON was a barrister of the Middle Temple, who came to Virginia some time before 1682, when he was clerk of the Council and of the General Court. In 1697, he had a part in the compilation of a pamphlet called "The Present State of Virginia", his co-laborers being Henry Hartwell, Esq., and Dr. James Blair. After the burning of the State House at Jamestown in 1698, he advised that the seat of government should be removed to the Middle Plantation, "where the College was". In 1699, he was appointed Attorney-General of Barbadoes. He married Hannah, daughter of Col. Edward Hill, or Shirley, in Charles City county, Va., but she died without issue. BARTHOLOMEW FOWLER was commissioned Attorney-General June 22, 1699. He resided in Henrico county, and died about 1703, when his widow, Sarah (Archer?), married Dr. Archibald Blair. Page 34. JOHN CLAYTON, born 1665, died November 18, 1737, was son of Sir John Clayton, of London, and grandson of Sir Jasper Clayton, of St. Edmunds; studied at one of the universities, was admitted to the Inner Temple June 6, 1682, and coming to Virginia in 1705, was appointed Attorney-General of the colony in 1714, and held the office until his death. He was also judge of the Court of Admiralty, and frequently a member of the House of Burgesses. He was father of the distinguished botanist of the same name. (See Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. IV., p. 163). EDWARD BARRADALL succeeded Clayton at Attorney-General, and died in 1743, aged thirty-nine. He was also judge of the Admiralty Court. He married Sarah, youngest daughter of William Fitzhugh, Esq. He prepared the MSS. of the first reports of Virginia cases decided in the General Court. He is buried in the church-yard of Williamsburg, where a large monument to his memory may be seen. Part of the original MSS. of his reports is in the custody of the Virginia Historical Society. The copy of another part is in the Virginia Law Library. WILLIAM BOWDEN was the next Attorney-General (1743-1748), though little is known of him. PEYTON RANDOLPH became the Attorney-General in 1748, and continued such till 1754, when he was suspended by Governor Dinwiddie for going to England at the request of the Burgesses to support their petition against the pistole fee, which Dinwiddie exacted for granting land patents. George Wythe was appointed in his stead, but on Peyton Randolph's return after a few months, some understanding was arrived at with the Governor, and he was reappointed. He then served till 1766, when he resigned, and his brother John was appointed. Peyton Randolph was educated at William and Mary, and studied law at the Middle Temple in London. GEORGE WYTHE (born 1726 in Elizabeth City county, Va., died in Richmond June 8, 1806) was appointed Attorney-General by Governor Dinwiddie in 1754 in the absence of Peyton Randolph in England. He accepted the office only to retain it a few months till his friend's return in the fall of 1754. He studied law under his uncle-in-law, Stephen Dewey, and was the first college professor of law in the United States. JOHN RANDOLPH, born in Williamsburg, Va., in 1727, became Page 35. Attorney-General in 1766, and retained the office till his departure for England in August, 1775. When hostilities became apparent, he considered it inconsistent with his oath of office to assist a rebellion. He died in England January 31, 1784, but his body was brought to Virginia, and interred in the chapel of William and Mary College, where were buried also his father, Sir John Randolph*, and brother, Peyton Randolph, first President of the Continental Congress. He was the last of the Colonial Attorney-Generals. His son, Edmund Randolph, was first Attorney-General of the new Commonwealth of Virginia. John Randolph was educated at William and Mary College, and studied law, it is believed, in England. _________________________________________________ *It is often stated that Sir John Randolph (father of Peyton and John) acted as Attorney-General at one time, but I have found no authority for the statement.