John Randolph (politician) explained

Sir John Randolph
Order:	31st
Office:	Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses
Term Start:	1734
Term End:	1736
Preceded:	John Holloway
Succeeded:	John Robinson
Death Place:	Williamsburg, Virginia
Restingplace:	Wren Building (Crypt) at the College of William and Mary
Spouse:	Lady Susanna Beverley
Children:	4, including Peyton and John
Parents:	William Randolph Mary Isham
Relatives:	William Randolph II (brother)
Residence:	Tazewell Hall
Alma Mater:	College of William and Mary
Occupation:	Politician

Sir John Randolph (1693  - March 7, 1737)^[1] was an American politician. He was a Speaker of the House of Burgesses, an Attorney General for the Colony of Virginia, and the youngest son of William Randolph and Mary Isham.^[1]

Early life

Randolph was born in Charles City County, Virginia.^[1] He was the youngest son of William Randolph and Mary (née Isham) Randolph.^[2] He was a grand-uncle of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.^[3]

Randolph later reflected, "I should have been an atheist if it had not been for one recollection—and that was the memory of the time when my departed mother used to take my little hand in hers and cause me on my knees to say, 'Our Father who art in heaven.'"^{[4] [5]}

He attended the College of William & Mary and completed his studies in 1711.^[1]

Career

In 1712, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, appointed Randolph as Deputy Attorney General for Charles City County, Prince George County, and Henrico County.^[1] On May 17, 1715, Randolph was admitted to Gray's Inn at the Inns of Court, then called to the bar on November 25, 1717.^[1]

Randolph was the only native of Colonial Virginia to receive a knighthood.^[6]

Personal life

Randolph married Susanna Beverley (the daughter of Peter Beverley, a Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer of Virginia, and Elizabeth Peyton, and sister of Elizabeth Beverley, the wife of his brother William Randolph II) around 1718. Together, the couple lived at Tazewell Hall,^[7] and had at least four children who reached adulthood:^{[8] [9]}

• Beverley Randolph (1719–1764), who married Agatha Wormeley (1721–1786) in 1742.^[10]
• Mary Randolph (1720–1768), who married Col. Philip Ludwell Grymes (1721–1761), a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, in 1742.^[11]
• Peyton Randolph (1721–1775), the first and third president of the Continental Congress, who married Elizabeth Harrison.^[12]
• John Randolph (1727–1784), who married Ariana Jennings in 1750.^[13]

He died in 1737 and was interred at the chapel of the Wren Building at the College of William & Mary.^[1] His will had been witnessed in 1735 by Charles Bridges.^[14]

See also

• First Families of Virginia
• Randolph family of Virginia

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sir John Randolph . The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation . Williamsburg, Virginia . November 13, 2010 .
2. Book: Randolph . Robert Isham . The Randolphs of Virginia: A Compilation of the Descendants of William Randolph of Turkey Island and His Wife Mary Isham Of Bermuda Hundred . 1936 .
3. Book: Lyon Gardiner . Tyler . Lyon Gardiner Tyler . Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography . II . 1915 . Lewis Historical Publishing Company . New York . 311 . Burgesses and Other Prominent Persons . https://books.google.com/books?id=UCgSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311 .
4. Book: Leeman . Richard W. . African-American Orators: A Bio-critical Sourcebook . 1996 . Greenwood Publishing Group . 978-0-313-29014-5 . 176 .
5. Book: Sorley . Merrow Egerton . Lewis of Warner Hall: The History of a Family . 2000 . 1935 . Genealogical Publishing Co. . Baltimore, Maryland . 9780806308319 . 832 . Chapter 33: Families Related to the Lewis Family . https://books.google.com/books?id=wCowEcMe3BcC&pg=PA832.
6. Book: Railey . William Edward . History of Woodford County, Kentucky . 2002 . 1938 . Genealogical Publishing Com . 9780806379999 . 278 .
7. Book: Thomas Allen . Glenn . Some Colonial Mansions: And Those Who Lived In Them : With Genealogies Of The Various Families Mentioned . 1 . 1898 . Henry T. Coates & Company . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 430–459 . The Randolphs: Randolph Genealogy . https://books.google.com/books?id=iQkpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA433 .
8. Book: Page . Richard Channing Moore . Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia . 2 . 1893 . Press of the Publishers Printing Co. . New York . 249–272 . Randolph Family . https://books.google.com/books?id=cOBBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA247 .
9. Railey . W.E. . Jennie C. . Morton . September 1918 . Notes and Corrections of the Railey Geneaology . The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society . 16 . 48 . 47–49 . The State Journal Company . Frankfort, Kentucky . November 12, 2010 .
10. Book: Bentley . Elizabeth Petty . Virginia Marriage Records: From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly . 1982 . Genealogical Publishing Com . 978-0-8063-0983-5 . 319 . 19 October 2020 . en.
11. Book: Wheeler . William Archie . Alden-Shedd Families: Elwell, Grimes, Morse; a Contribution to a Knowledge of the Genealogy and Family History of the Families of Albert Martin Alden and His Wife, Maria Elizabeth Shedd, and the Families of Their Descendants . 1965 . W.A. Wheeler . 157 . 19 October 2020 . en.
12. Book: Keith . Charles Penrose . The Ancestry of Benjamin Harrison: President of the United States of America, 1889-1893, in Chart Form Showing Also the Descendants of William Henry Harrison, President of the United States of America in 1841, and Notes on Families Related . 1893 . Lippincott Company . 50 . 19 October 2020 . en.
13. Book: Mooney . Barbara Burlison . Prodigy houses of Virginia : architecture and the native elite . 2008 . . Charlottesville . 978-0-8139-2673-5 . 145 . 19 October 2020 . en.
14. Encyclopedia: Bridges, Charles (bap. 1672–1747). encyclopediavirginia.org. 21 March 2015.