Memories of Virginia. Flora Adams Darling
that was appointed by King James the year before his death, when the Company was abolished and the Royal Government established known as the Royal Council.
The Royal Councillors included Yeardley, former Governor; Sandys, head of the Company; Matthews, Percy, Harvey, Smith, Hamor, Madison, Martin and Claybourne, Secretary of the Council. To be a member of the Royal Council was an order of nobility in Virginia, and the title of Colonel to designate distinction. By right of his official position Colonel Matthews was a Royal Councillor, member of the General Court, the House of Burgesses; and Director General of Surveyors and Commander-in-chief of the forces. History enumerates the above distinctions and closes with the following: "Colonel Matthews held every important office in the Colony from 1622 to 1660.
The Royal Councillors enjoyed the confidence of the King and Colony. History says: "Matthews' reports as Chief Councillor were loyal and reliable," and progress was established. King James died 1625, King Charles took Virginia affairs into his own hands. The London Company was abolished, the Virginia Charter declared null and void. The new King gave more power to the Royal Councillors, and to Matthews he gave the same confidence his father had awarded "The King's Commissioner," and designated him "The Guardian of Virginia."
This Great Pioneer of Results, one of a family of many shields and quarterings, was true to the motto of his race.
"Every soil is native land to the hero." He was destined to organize and carry a colony through perilous trials; a man who organized fourteen counties on the James River, and through union of the counties he laid the Arch of the Dominion, the cornerstone of the United States. The Church made Jamestown, Jamestown made the counties, the counties made Virginia, Virginia made the Colonies, the Colonies made the United States Republic of America.
The early history of the Dominion and records of the British pioneers are better known in England than America, but this tercentennial year of our nation's birth has awakened interest in the founding days of our country, when all North America, possessed by the British Crown, was known as Virginia. The period of occupation from 1607 to 1624, the date when Royal Government was established, to a great degree was merged into the colonization period, dating from 1660—the date of Restoration—when under King Charles II, Berkeley, Culpepper, Spottswood, Dinwiddie and other Governors won extended recognition in American history as the founders of the Dominion, but the men of the 17th century, under Royal Government, had laid solid foundation on which the colonies could rest. We are now turning the pages of history backward with educational results that will benefit our people, and it is easy to send "messages" and create "memories" through research to awaken pride in the founders of our country.
Virginia, named by Sir Walter Raleigh in honor of Elizabeth, Virgin Queen of England—the patron of his ambitions and achievements, but King James, her successor, had little veneration for her memory, and "The Queen's Favorite" became the King's victim, and as a consequence when Captain Smith and his mariners reached Virginia, many changes followed to honor King James. Powhatan River, the gateway of the possession, was named James River. Raleigh was abandoned and Jamestown was made the center point of action. Wessex, the west; Essex, the east; Norfolk, the north; Suffolk, the south; Middlesex, the middle, to designate plantations. "In Memory of Home," and to the end of the foundation of British Colonies of America, English names succeeded the Indian.
References: English Records of Virginia. Records of Essex County, Virginia. Archives of the College of William and Mary. Seventeenth Century Colonies of America. Campbell's History of Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. British Calendar of State Papers. Hening's Statutes. The Cradle of the Republic. Burke's Armory of England.
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