Born ‎ 1693 at Turkey Island, Henrico, Virginia, USA, died ‎after 1754 at Williamsburg, James City, Virginia, USA‎, at least 61 years
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Lady Susannah Beverley Randolph
Born ca. 1692
Member of prestigious Virginia family
Wife of only knight in the colony
Managed large household
Mother of accomplished offspring
Died sometime after 1754
Early years

Susannah Beverley Randolph was born about 1692 and became a wife about 1718 – there are no records of the exact dates. If truly 26 at the time of her marriage, she was rather mature for a colonial bride – but certainly not alone in taking her vows at that age. Her eldest sister was the wife of her husband's eldest brother, which may suggest how they met. Whatever the uncertainties, there is no doubt that Sir John found her to be an excellent mate, or that she reared children of unusual ability.

Truly a lady

In almost two centuries of colonial Virginia history, there was only one woman who had a certifiable claim to the title of “Lady” – Susannah Beverley Randolph. Courtesy, of course, bestowed the honor of "lady" on every woman of "the better sort," and certainly most of "the middling class." But she was the wife of Sir John Randolph, the only Virginian knighted from the day Roanoke Island was settled in 1585 until independence was declared in 1776.

Prestigious Virginia family

To be a Randolph was to be a member of the most powerful clan in 18th-century Virginia. Sir John was the most accomplished lawyer in the colony, and a public servant of the first rank. But Susannah Beverley brought to her marriage a connection to a family nearly as distinguished. Her kinsmen had been high government officials and prominent planters. One had written a history of the colony in 1705 that was still in print 242 years later.

It appears – again the records are silent – that she bore her first child, a son named Beverley, about 1720. Peyton, named for his maternal grandmother's family, was born in 1721. John, known to historians as "The Tory," but sincerely respected by his contemporaries, was born in 1727 or 1728. Her only daughter, Mary, followed, but the year of her birth is uncertain.

Considerable domestic responsibilities

Apart from her children, Susannah Randolph had charge of a domestic establishment that was among Williamsburg's largest and best. Moreover, there were three plantations, at least one of which had houses of some sort that may have required her management. Her husband's position required frequent and fine entertaining of clients and associates, an activity that also required her attention.

Sir John's obituary in the Virginia Gazette stated: "As he received a noble Income, for Services in his Profession and Emploiments, so he, in some Measure, made a Return, by a most generous, open and elegant Table . . . But the Plenty, Conduct, and Hospitality, which appeared there, reflect an equal Praise on himself and his Lady."

Young widow

Widowed in 1737, she was entrusted with a share in the supervision of her husband's estate for the benefit of their children and for herself. When Sir John penned the portion of his will specifying his bequests, he began with "my dear and most beloved wife who for her faithfulness affection and prudence deserves to be remembered in the first place." She was given the use of his property in Williamsburg for her life, after which it became Peyton Randolph's.

In the care of the estate, she had the assistance of her two brothers-in-law, but she seems to have been quite capable of acting for herself. In 1740, after the family's tobacco inspection and warehousing facilities on nearby College Creek expanded, she petitioned the General Assembly for an increase in the rents. Her petition was granted.

Life in Williamsburg society

After Sir John’s death, Susannah Randolph still moved in Williamsburg's social circle and remained the object of the considerate attention of the friends she and her husband had shared. Among them was William Byrd II, who was a member of the colony's Council and General Court, the scion of another first family, and the master of Westover plantation on the James River.

Byrd and his wife were old and particular friends, and his diaries record visits to the Widow Randolph many evenings when business carried him to the city. Sometimes she sent a carriage to meet him at the ferry. They played cards, drank tea, or merely visited. In the words of a Colonial Williamsburg historian, Byrd had "special ties of affectionate concern for her welfare, and pleasure in her company."

By 1751, and perhaps earlier, Susannah had the company of son Peyton and his wife as well. In 1745, when he was entitled to his share in the income of his father's estate, he married Betty Harrison. Peyton may have lived with his mother all along, but by 1751 the house was referred to as if it were already his, suggesting that he was in residence and in charge.

Burial site unknown

The records of Bruton Parish Church show that Susannah Randolph had two slaves baptized in 1754. It is her last appearance in the historical record. Neither the date of her death nor the place of her burial is known.

Born ‎ Jul 20, 1693 at Turkey Island, Henrico, Virginia, USA, died ‎ Mar 7, 1736/37 at Tazwell Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA‎, approximately 42 years, buried ‎ 1737 at Wren Chapel at William & Mary College
Virginia Prominent Families Vol 1-4
6. Sir John Randolph, Knight, b. at Turkey Island, April, 1689; settled in Williamsburg, Va. Married (1718) Susanna Beverly, sister of his brother William's wife.
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Sir John Randolph (1693-1737) of “Tazewell Hall” [RA.4]

John Randolph, son of William Randolph and Mary Isham, was born in April 1693. He married Susanna Beverley, daughter of Peter Beverley and Elizabeth Peyton. Sir John Randolph was clerk of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1718-1733) and its speaker representing the College of William and Mary until his death (1736-7).
John died 5 March 1737/8 at age 44 and is buried in the chapel of the College of William and Mary, leaving four children.

Children of John and Susanna (Beverley) Randolph
3› Beverley Randolph [RA.4.1] married Sarah Wormeley, daughter of John Wormeley and Elizabeth. They were the parents of two daughters of unknown name.
3› Peyton Randolph [RA.4.2] (Sept. 1721 - 23 Oct. 1775 ) married Elizabeth Harrison. See their family
3› John Randolph [RA.4.3] (1728- 31 June 1784 {sic}) married Arianna Jennings, daughter of Edmund Jennings and Arianna Vanderhuyden.
4› Edmund Jennings Randolph [RA.4.3.1] (10 Aug. 1753 - 12 Sept. 1813) was the first attorney general of the United States, a member of the Continental Congress (1779-82) and governor of Virginia (1786-1788). He attended the Fifth Revolutionary Convention (1776), was in the Virginia House of Delegates (1778-79, 1788-89), and was a representative at the Convention of 1788 that ratified the Constitution.
To learn more about Edmund Jennings Randolph, read his biography at Congress.gov
He married Elizabeth Nicholas in August 1776.
5› Susan Beverley Randolph [RA.4.3.1.1] married J. Bennett Taylor of Albemarle County.
5› Peyton Randolph [RA.4.3.1.2] (- 26 Dec. 1828 ) married Maria Ward in Amelia County 15 March (bond) 1806. See their family
5› Edmonia Madison Randolph [RA.4.3.1.3] married Thomas Lewis Preston in Henrico County 12 June (bond) 1806.
5› Lucy Nelson Randolph [RA.4.3.1.4] (1790-1847) married Peter Vivian Daniel, a member of Virginia House of Delegates from Stafford (1808-10
4› Susan Beverley Randolph [RA.4.3.2] married John Randolph Gryme
4› Arianna Randolph [RA.4.3.3] married Capt. James Wormeley.
3› Mary Randolph [RA.4.4] married Philip Grymes, son of John Grymes and Lucy Ludwell, in 1742. Their children were the following. Both were members of the Council of State, John 1726-48, and Philip 1749-61, and each represented Middlesex County in the Virginia House of Delegates, John 1718-22, and Philip 1748-49.
Philip’s will in Middlesex County mentioned his plantation, “Brandon,” and named children Lucy, Susanna, Mary, John Randolph, Charles, Benjamin, and Philip Ludwell (will dated 18 Dec. 1756, recorded 2 Feb. 1762
4› John Grymes [RA.4.4.1] died young.
4› Lucy Grymes [RA.4.4.2] (24 Aug. 1743 ) married Thomas Nelson Jr. (26 Dec. 1738 - 4 Jan. 1789), of Yorktown, burgess and delegate from York County (1761-83, 1786-8), militia general during the Revolution, member of the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Virginia governor six months (1781).
To learn more about Thomas Nelson Jr., read his biography at Congress.gov
Among their sons was Hugh Nelson (30 Sept. 1768 - 18 Mar. 1836), a delegate from Albemarle County (1805-9, 1828-9), and member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1811-1823).
To learn more about Hugh Nelson, read his biography at Congress.g
4› Philip Ludwell Grymes [RA.4.4.3] (- 18 May 1805 ) of “Brandon,” married Elizabeth Randolph in 1762, and Judith Wormeley 30 May 1773, a daughter of Ralph Wormeley whose 1787-will named daughter Judith Grymes. Grymes owned 143 slaves in 1783.
Grymes represented Middlesex County in the Virginia House of Burgesses (1769-71) until resigning to take the office of sheriff. Judith was still living when he made his will in Middlesex County mentioning a departed son and Jane Sayre wife of Samuel William Sayre (will dated 23 April 1805, recorded 24 June 1805). In 1808 the court divided his estate between Mrs. Judith Grymes and Sayre.
5› son Grymes [RA.4.4.3.1].
5› Jane Grymes [RA.4.4.3.2] (- 1 Jan. 1806 ) married 23 July 1804 Samuel William Sayre, who married second Virginia Bassett 20 September 1806.
6› Mary Grymes Sayre [RA.4.4.3.2.1] married Carter Braxton in Middlesex County 21 May (bond) 1823.
4› John Randolph Grymes [RA.4.4.4].
4› Charles Grymes [RA.4.4.5] married Mary Hubbard in Middlesex County 20 December 1777. He was head of a household of two whites and seven blacks in Middlesex in 1783, indicating they had no children. This accounts for why Grymes’ will left money to “the natural children of Elizabeth Manhart.”
4› Benjamin Grymes [RA.4.4.6] married Sarah Robinson, a daughter of Peter Robinson, deceased, in Middlesex County 9 October 1773.
4› Susanna Grymes [RA.4.4.7] (1751- 7 July 1788 ) married Nathaniel Burwell (15 April 1750 - 29 Mar. 1814) 28 November 1772. Their children were the following.
5› Carter Burwell [RA.4.4.7.1] (16 Oct. 1773 - 2 Feb. 1819).
5› Philip Burwell [RA.4.4.7.2] (15 Jan. 1776 - 11 Feb. 1849) died in Clarke County, Virginia.
5› Lucy Burwell [RA.4.4.7.3] (20 Nov. 1777 - 22 Mar. 1810) married Archibald Cary Randolph 6 April 1797. See their family
5› Nathaniel Burwell [RA.4.4.7.4] (18 Feb. 1779 - 11 Jan. 1849).
5› Lewis Burwell [RA.4.4.7.5] (24 Jan. 1781 - 28 Sept. 1782) died in infancy.
5› William Burwell [RA.4.4.7.6] (24 July 1782 - Oct. 1782) died in infancy.
5› Lewis Burwell [RA.4.4.7.7] (24 Jan. 1783 - 24 Feb. 1826).
5› Robert Carter Burwell [RA.4.4.7.8] (24 July 1785 - 22 Aug. 1813
4› Mary Grymes [RA.4.4.8] (12 Feb. 1754 ) married Robert Nelson of “Malvern Hill.”
4› Peyton Grymes [RA.4.4.9] died young.
4› Betty Grymes [RA.4.4.10], named in a codicil her father made in 1761, married Dr. Pope.
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Obit in the Virginian Gazette Mar 11, 1737
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Sir John Randolph
Born 1693
Youngest of six sons
Early student at the College of William & Mary
Simple, ethical, kindhearted man
Member of Virginia House of Burgesses
Lifelong interest in Native American Indians
Died 1737
Buried at Wren Chapel at William & Mary
A man of quality

It was written of Sir John Randolph that "his Parts were bright and strong; his Learning extensive and useful." He was, it was said, "An Assertor of the just Rights and natural Liberties of Mankind; an Enemy of Oppression; a Support to the Distressed." He had, in short, "the Air of a man of quality."

The phrases are lifted from Randolph's obituary in the March 11, 1737 edition of Williamsburg's Virginia Gazette. Had they been written about another man, they might be discounted as the sort of overgenerous flattery that characterized the death notices of prominent men. But such things were said of Sir John Randolph while he lived, and modern biographers fill their columns with his praise.

According to these reports, Sir John was modest and sincere, a man of integrity and patience who had great concern for impartiality and the rule of law. He was tactful, warm, and good-humored. He was the only colonial-born Virginian to be distinguished with knighthood and the best-regarded lawyer in the colony. A legal scholar, he had an interest in literature and history and a remarkable library.

Early years

Born in 1693 to William and Mary Isham Randolph of Turkey Island in Charles City County, Va., Sir John was the youngest of six brothers who, with their two sisters, led Virginia's most powerful family into the 18th century.

An early student of the college of William & Mary, Randolph finished his studies in the fall of 1711 as "first scholar" and took up the study of the law. Governor Alexander Spotswood made him a deputy attorney general of Charles City, Prince George, and Henrico Counties the following year.

Appointed to Virginia’s House of Burgesses

Randolph prosecuted cases for the Crown until he followed his legal studies to London to be admitted to Grays Inn at the Inns of Court on May 17, 1715. He made short work of his courses, being called to the bar November 25, 1717, and leaving for Virginia the following spring. Spotswood appointed him clerk of the House of Burgesses as soon as he returned.

Randolph married Susannah Beverly, whose elder sister had married his eldest brother. Their first child, a boy named Beverley, was born about 1720, and their second son, Peyton, in 1721.

Early interest in American Indians

Randolph took leave of his young family in 1722 to act as secretary to the Virginia delegation that traveled to Albany, New York, for a meeting of Iroquois chiefs organized by Governor William Burnet of that stat

Property Owner

John Randolph was among the original aldermen of the newly incorporated town of Williamsburg. We do not know where the family first lived in Williamsburg, but in 1724, Randolph did acquire two wooden houses thirty-six feet apart on Market Square. Joining them with a center section, he fashioned what today is called the Peyton Randolph House.

His most valuable property was a plantation across the York River in Gloucester County, and at the end of his life he also owned other lots in Williamsburg, lots with a tobacco warehouse at College Creek, a 100-acre plantation at Archer's Hope Creek, land in Martin's Hundred near Carter's Grove, and land on the Chickahominy River.

Attorney General for Virginia Colony

In April 1726, the governor appointed Randolph the colony's acting attorney general and acting clerk of its Council. Perhaps the year after, Susannah gave birth to their son John. The date of birth of their only daughter, Mary, is unknown.

Prominent Attorney

Apart from his official duties, Randolph had a valuable private law practice. He represented prominent men, but accepted the cases of the less fortunate for "Fees he constantly remitted, when he thought the Paiment of them would be grievous to themselves or Families."

In 1728, John Randolph took the House of Burgesses for a client. The house sent Randolph to London as its special agent to secure repeal of a law that prohibited the export of tobacco leaf that had been removed from the stalk. The stems added to the bulk of shipments, and thus to the number of hogsheads the Crown might tax, but impaired the quality of the product and cheapened market prices.

In addition, Randolph represented the College of William and Mary in the transfer of its property from its trustees to its president and faculty. His service was memorialized in an illuminated and handsomely penned parchment.

Colonial Virginian Knighted

Randolph returned to Virginia to report success in both endeavors and was dispatched again to England in 1732 to try to persuade Parliament to adopt an excise on tobacco imported to England. The intent was to improve the economics of the trade, but in this he failed, despite enlisting the help of the prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
In any case, Randolph distinguished himself by his industry and skill and, perhaps because of them, was knighted. The date and the circumstances of the honor are not known, but he was listed on the rolls of the Imperial Society of the Knights Bachelor by September 1732.

Patron of Indian school library

Before returning to Virginia in the summer of 1733, Randolph asked the bishop of London and the archbishop of Canterbury for advice on books for the library of the Brafferton, the Indian school at the College of William and Mary, and he attempted to secure a long-promised donation of volumes.

Multiple civic responsibilities

On August 22, 1734, Sir John Randolph resigned the clerkship of the House of Burgesses. The next day, the college administration elected him its burgess, and on Saturday the burgesses elected him Speaker of the House. In September he became a justice of Gloucester County, and in October he became treasurer of the colony. When Norfolk was incorporated in 1736, it made Randolph its recorder. Although a deputy would perform the actual work of the office, the city marked his swearing in with an elaborate celebration.

Despite the accumulation of wealth, honors, and offices – perhaps because of it –Randolph did not escape criticism or controversy. Spotswood, now a private citizen embittered by political battles of the past, attacked Randolph in the public prints, describing him as "a fawning creature . . . whose Pride and Spell has made him turn against his Benefactor, who first promoted him in the World." Randolph answered the assault in the Virginia Gazette with an angry rejoinder.

An ethical man and a simple Christian

John Randolph preferred simplicity in religion, which offended the dogmatism of the established clergy. In some quarters he was regarded as a deist, a heretic, and a schismatic. These charges he answered in his will, writing a long profession of Christian faith based on the unembellished precepts of the Bible.

He also recorded in his will that he had earned his estate honestly, "tho' by a profession much exposed to temptations of deceit and extortion."

Randolph died on March 7, 1737, and "was (according to his own Directions) carried from his House to the Place of Interment, by Six honest, industrious, poor-House-keepers of Breton Parish " who divided £20 for their services. The place of interment was the chapel of the Wren Building at the College of William & Mary.

Fire gutted the Wren in 1859 and the burial vaults were disturbed. A physician who examined the contents of Sir John Randolph's tomb discovered the bones of two men. The identity of the second is a mystery.
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Sir John Randolph
was son of Colonel William Randolph of "Turkey Island," Henrico county; born 1693, died March 9, 1737. He was educated at William and Mary College, Gray's Inn, and the Temple in London and on his return engaged in the practice of law in Virginia; was clerk of the council, treasurer, agent of the assembly in England, president of the county court of Gloucester, lieutenant-colonel of the militia for that county; burgess and speaker. He was the only native resident, who ever received the honors of knighthood. He was also first recorder, in 1736, of the borough of Norfolk. He seems to have been considered as head of the Virginia bar in his day. He was interred in the chapel of William and Mary College, which he represented in the legislature. He was a great nephew of Thomas Randolph, the poet. He was father of John Randolph, attorney general of Virginia, and of Peyton Randolph, first president of the continental congress. In his latter years he resided in Williamsburg.
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