Edward Randolph

For other people named Edward Randolph, see Edward Randolph (disambiguation).

Edward Randolph

Edward Randolph (~October 1690[1][2] – after 1756[3]), sometimes referred to as Edward Randolph of Bremo, was a ship captain, a London tobacco merchant, and the seventh and youngest son of William Randolph and Mary Isham.[3][4]

Biography

In 1713, Randolph inherited 625 acres of land near the Chickahominy River when his father's will was probated at the Henrico County court in Varina, Virginia.[3] Although known as "Edward Randolph of Bremo", the Virginia Historical Society reported that the Bremo Plantation located along the James River in Henrico County near Malvern Hill and Turkey Island was actually owned by the Cocke family of Virginia during the 18th century.[3] Randolph "chose a seafaring life" and operated merchant vessels between England and the Colony of Virginia.[3] Residing in England, he met an heiress named "Elizabeth" (whose last name has been noted as "Graves", "Groves", and "Grosvenor") from Bristol, England at a launch at Gravesend, Kent.[3] The couple married around 1715 and had four children:[1][3]

• Joseph Randolph did not marry.[3]
• Edward Randolph (?[nb 1] – April 1757) married Lucy Harrison of Berkeley (the daughter of Benjamin Harrison IV, the sister of Benjamin Harrison V, the sister-in-law of Peyton Randolph and William Randolph III, and the granddaughter of Robert "King" Carter) in the late 1740s and had two children.[4] Harrison's sisters were married to Peyton Randolph and William Randolph III, Edward Randolph Jr's cousins.[4]
• Elizabeth Randolph first married Reverend William Yates, the fifth president of The College of William & Mary, and had three children.[3][5] She then married Theodorick Bland of Cawsons.[6]
• Mary Randolph married Robert Yates, the brother of William Yates, and had three children.[7]

Two sons of Bartholomew Yates, William and Robert, were members of the Church of England and married the two daughters of Randolph, Elizabeth and Mary, while visiting England to obtain their clerical orders.[3][7]

Although he came from a large, wealthy, and powerful family, Edward Randolph's children were born into a branch that was not very prosperous.[4] Randolph was bankrupt by 1732 and misfortune had later brought him near poverty.[4] Benjamin Harrison IV was among his many creditors and brought suit against him in 1737.[4]

It is not known where or when Randolph died, but was placed in Virginia as late as 1756 by the Dinwiddie Papers.[3]

Ancestry and descendants

Ancestors of Edward Randolph

16. Robert Randolph 8. William Randolph 17. Rosa Roberts 4. Richard Randolph 18. Richard Lane 9. Dorothy Lane 19. Elizabeth Vincent 2. William Randolph 20. John Rilande 10. Richard Ryland 21. Maria Canning 5. Elizabeth Ryland 11. Elizabeth Harward 1. Edward Randolph 24. Sir Euseby Isham 12. William Isham 25. Anne Borlase 6. Henry Isham 26. William Brett 13. Mary Brett 27. Mary Toddington 3. Mary Isham 28. Christopher Banks 14. Christopher Banks 29. Alice Foxe 7. Catherine Banks 30. John Royall 15. Janet Royall 31. Angeline

In addition to the familial connections noted previously, Randolph was a great-great-great grandfather of Harrison Randolph, the President and Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston.[8] He was also a great-uncle of United States President Thomas Jefferson.

See also

• First Families of Virginia
• Randolph family of Virginia

Notes

1. One source states that no record of Edward Randolph Jr.'s birth has been found but that he was likely 21 by the time he was listed as a ship's master in 1743.[4]

References

1. Page, Richard Channing Moore (1893). "Randolph Family". Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia (2 ed.). New York: Press of the Publishers Printing Co. pp. 249–272.
2. Glenn, Thomas Allen, ed. (1898). "The Randolphs: Randolph Genealogy". Some Colonial Mansions: And Those Who Lived In Them : With Genealogies Of The Various Families Mentioned. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Henry T. Coates & Company. pp. 430–459.
3. Stanard, William G., ed. (June 1900). "Genealogy". Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. VII. Richmond, Virginia: The Virginia Historical Society. pp. 331–332, 436.
4. Cowden, Gerald Steffens (July 1981). "Spared by Lightning: The Story of Lucy (Harrison) Randolph Necks". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 89 (3). Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Historical Society: 294–307. JSTOR 4248494.
5. Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). "Burgesses and Other Prominent Persons". Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. II. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 188, 366.
6. Campbell, Charles (1860). "XCI". History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. J.B. Lippincott and Co. p. 672.
7. Lomax, Edward Lloyd (1913). "Mention of the Families of... Yates". Genealogy of the Virginia Family of Lomax. Chicago: Rand McNally & Co. p. 56.
8. Barringer, Paul Brandon; Garnett, James Mercer; Page, Rosewell, eds. (1904). "Randolph, Harrison". University of Virginia: Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics, with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni. Vol. II. New York: Lewis Publishing Company. p. 313.