Landowner merchant politician colonist
William Randolph was the son of Richard Randolph of Morton Hall, Warwickshire, half-nephew of the poet Thomas Randolph, grandson of William Randolph of Little Haughton, Northamptonshire, and great-grandson of Richard Randolph, of Hams, Sussex, Gentleman. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Ryland.
Below the site of the later Richmond on the James River he acquired by purchase in 1684 lands known from the days of John Smith and Newport as "Turkey Island. "
By headright, purchase, grant, legacies, and other means he acquired vast tracts of land, owning 10, 000 acres in Henrico County alone, by the year 1705. His fortunes linked him with the conservative political group and he was despoiled of many of his fine linens, broadcloths, and other luxuries by his less-endowed neighbors in Bacon's Rebellion. The land at Curles on the James belonging to Nathaniel Bacon, escheated to His Majesty, was granted by patent by Governor Nicholson to Randolph for a modest consideration.
He imported slaves in large number and became one of the leading planters in the colony. He established on estates of their own his seven sons, William of "Turkey Island, " Thomas of "Tuckahoe, " Isham of "Dungeness, " Sir John of "Tazewell Hall, " Williamsburg, with lands in York County, Richard of "Curles, " Henry of "Chatsworth, " and Edward of "Bremo, " though the last forsook the land for the sea.
As a privileged gentleman of his period in colonial Virginia, Randolph held lucrative official appointments. When his uncle, Henry Randolph, who had preceded him in Virginia by several decades, died in 1673, William Randolph succeeded him as clerk of Henrico County. He held the clerk's office until 1683, and then became sheriff, coroner, justice of the peace, and justice of the county court of chancery in Henrico. He held successive military appointments in the county until in 1699 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of militia.
Often he represented the county in the House of Burgesses and he served in repeated sessions on important committees.
He was speaker of that House in 1696 and 1698 and served as clerk of the Burgesses in 1699-1701 and in 1702. He was escheator-general for lands on the south side of James River, where more desirable tracts were yet to be taken up than on the already well-exploited north side.
In 1694 Randolph was named attorney-general for the Crown in Virginia and, while a fight was made on his tenure because of his ignorance of the law, he held the office for four years, establishing the well nigh inviolable tradition that a Randolph in Virginia could best serve the King's legal interests. The office was subsequently held by his son and two grandsons, Sir John, Peyton, and John Randolph, 1727-1784. Though repeatedly included by the royal governors in lists of Virginians proposed as suitable persons for appointment to the Council, William Randolph was never added to that privileged group.
He was among the founders and first trustees of the College of William and Mary, later sending six sons to test the value of that institution. On his death in 1711 he was buried at "Turkey Island, " potent in death through the lands and prestige he willed his sons and daughters as fortresses for the later fame and fortune of his line.
In neighborly relations he was active in a rôle akin to that of lord of the manor. He had a determining voice in the settlement of his neighbors' affairs, both in their life spans and after their demise, frequently serving in legal matters for them.
He married Mary, daughter of Henry and Katherine Royall Isham of "Bermuda Hundred, " a neighboring plantation. They had nine children.
