FIRST FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA

'First Families of Virginia' is a hereditary society composed of individuals who have proved their descent from one of the original Virginia colonists from England who primarily settled at Jamestown and along the James River and other navigable waters in the Virginia Colony during the 17th century. Most of these English colonists migrated to Virginia during the English Civil War and English Interregnum period (1642-1660) when many Royalists escaped Cromwellian England. Because most of Virginia's leading families recognized Charles II as King immediately after the execution of Charles I in 1649, Charles II is reputed to have called Virginia his "Old Dominion," a nickname that endures to the present day.
Most of these early settlers who came to Virginia were so-called "Second Sons" as a consequence of primogeniture, evolving into a society of second or third sons of English nobility who inherited land grants or land in Virginia forming part of the southern aristocracy in America. Many of these early settlers were descended from English aristocracy and some members of the First Families of Virginia also trace their ancestry to the marriage in 1614 of Pocahontas, daughter of Native American who was daughter of a Powhatan chief, and English-born John Rolfe, who had arrived in Virginia in 1611, and had become prominent and wealthy as the first to successfully develop an export cash crop for the Colony with new varieties of non-native tobacco. The combination of notable Native American and English heritage began when their only son, Thomas Rolfe, was born in 1615, and with his offspring, many of whom married other persons of FFV heritage.
In shorthand, families/family members and the society is referred to as 'FFV'. Membership to FFV is by invitation only and requires nomination by three active members who personally know the prospective member. Active solicitation for membership by interested individuals typically precludes them from receiving an invitation. FFV is considered to be one of the most difficult hereditary societies to join as a consequence.
Some family names include:

★ Ackiss

★ Allerton

★ Armistead

★ Bacon

★ Bailey

★ Ballard

★ Baskerville Robert and John Baskerville arrived 1635

★ Bassett

★ Bates

★ Beale

★ Bell--Sir Robert Bell

★ Berkeley

★ Belt

★ Beverley

★ Blair

★ Bland

★ Bolling

★ Branch -- although Christopher Branch did not arrive until 1620

★ Bray

★ Bridger

★ Browne of "Four Mile Tree"

★ Browning

★ Burwell

★ Byrd

★ Carter

★ Cary

★ Chandler

★ Chichely

★ Churchill

★ Claiborne

★ Clay(e)

★ Cobbs

★ Corbin

★ Custis

★ Cole

★ Compton

★ Cox

★ Dabney

★ Dawson

★ Digges

★ Dillard

★ Eppes

★ Fairfax

★ Farrar

★ Firby

★ Fitzhugh

★ Garrett

★ Gooch

★ Gilbert

★ Graves (CAPT Thomas Graves 1608)

★ Grymes

★ Hammond

★ Hairston

★ Harrison

★ Hobby

★ Holland

★ Holt

★ Hopkins

★ Jenings of Ripon Hall

★ Lee

★ Lewis

★ Lightfoot

★ Limerick (Vincent Limerick 1635)

★ Limbrick

★ Littleton

★ Lyne

★ Ludwell

★ Lunsford

★ Martiau

★ Martin

★ Mathews

★ Minter

★ Morris

★ Nelson

★ Page

★ Percy

★ Parke

★ Pendleton

★ Pickett

★ Presley

★ Randolph

★ Redd

★ Robertson

★ Robinson

★ Rolfe

★ Royall

★ Scarborough

★ Shackelford

★ Smith of Gloucester Co.

★ Spencer

★ Spotswood

★ Snipe

★ Sullivan

★ Talliaferro/Toliver

★ Tayloe

★ Thompson

★ Thoroughgood

★ Thornton

★ Throckmorton

★ Tredway

★ Tyler

★ Venable(s)

★ Waller

★ Ware

★ Warner

★ Washington

★ West

★ Whiting

★ Whittle

★ Willoughby

★ Willis

★ Wood

★ Woodson

★ Wormeley

★ Yardley

★ Young

Contents

Contact

See also

External links

Contact

Order of the First Families of Virginia

5055 Seminary Road, #439

Alexandria, VA 22311

See also

★ WITHINGTON, LOTHROP. Virginia Gleanings in England: Abstracts of 17th and 18th-Century English Wills and Administrations Relating to Virginia and Virginians: A Consolidation of Articles from The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 1998. 745p.

External links

★ William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine article