Adam Thoroughgood: Difference between revisions

'''Adam Thoroughgood''' (1604–1640) was a [[colonist]] and community leader in the [[Virginia Colony]] who helped settle the area of [[South Hampton Roads]] known in contemporary times as the [[independent city]] of [[Virginia Beach, Virginia]]. ▼

Young Thoroughgood was from a prominent family in [[King's Lynn]], [[Norfolk]], [[England]], the ninth son of Rector of Grimston Rev. William Thorowgood, and baptised at St.Botolph's Church on July 14, 1604. Some of [[Henry Spelman of Jamestown|Henry Spelman]]'s family lived in Congham, a mile to the north of Grimston and Adam heard about Spelman's exploits in Virginia. At the age of 18, he became an [[indentured servant]] to pay for passage to the Virginia Colony, a project of the [[Virginia Company of London]] at the time. Around 1622, he settled in an area south of the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and a few miles inland from the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. This area had been passed by when the earlier settlements such as [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] were established beginning in 1607 in favour of locations further inland which would be less susceptible to attacks by other European forces, such as the Spanish.<ref>Bellamy, Joe Davis [http://books.google.com/books?id=XggfG3i-8pIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s ''The Bellamys of Early Virginia''] (iUniverse, 2005). p. 31.</ref>▼

Serving his period of indenture, he returned to England, to return to Virginia with a wife and 105 men. Granted a large landholding, he became a leading citizen of the area. He was elected to the [[House of Burgesses]] in 1629, 1629&ndash;1630 and 1632<ref>Stanard, William G. and Mary Newton Stanard. [http://books.google.com/books?id=WaA-AAAAYAAJ ''The Virginia Colonial Register'']. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons Publishers, 1902. {{OCLC|253261475}}, Retrieved July 15, 2011. pp. 54&ndash;56. Thoroughgood was not a member in two other sessions in the early 1630s. No list of the members for the assemblies of 1633, 1634 and 1635 was found by the Stanards.</ref> and to the Governor's Council, and as a Justice of the Court. He also became a Captain in the local militia and started the first ferry service in [[Hampton Roads]].▼

The London Company lost its franchise and Virginia became a royal colony in 1624. In 1634, the Colony was divided into [[shire]]s, soon renamed [[county (US)|counties]], a term still in use in Virginia 350 years later. He is credited using the name of his home in England when helping name [[New Norfolk County]] when it was formed from [[Elizabeth City County, Virginia|Elizabeth City County]] in 1637. From New Norfolk County, there were several additional smaller entities formed including most notable [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk County]], which existed from 1691 to 1963 and is now the [[Chesapeake, Virginia|City of Chesapeake]] and most famously the town which became the modern [[Norfolk, Virginia|City of Norfolk]].▼

Despite his widespread and long-lasting influence in South Hampton Roads, his choice of residence was along the [[Lynnhaven River]], also named for his home in England. In 1635, he earned a land patent for over 5,000 acres (20&nbsp;km²) in this area for having persuaded 105 new residents to settle in Virginia, including Augustine Warner, a progenitor of Virginians [[George Washington]] and [[Robert E. Lee]]. ▼

Thoroughgood appears to have had the foresight to realizing earlier than many other leaders that [[Lower Norfolk County]] (which encompassed the modern cities of Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach) was too large for a single site for convenient worship and court affairs. He led the effort to establish a second parish church--now known as [[Old Donation Episcopal Church]], court, and glebe house at what was then known as Churches Point on the Lynnhaven River in the eastern portion in what was later subdivided to form [[Princess Anne County, Virginia|Princess Anne County]] in 1691 (and the present City of Virginia Beach in 1963). ▼