Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Sources
[4] "And about the latter end of June (1619) he (Sir George Yeardley,
Governor,) called the first General Assembly that was ever held in
Virginia. Counties were not yet laid of, but they elected their
representatives by townships. So that the Burroughs of Jamestown,
Henrico, Bermuda Hundred, and the rest, each sent their members to the
Assembly." * * * * "and hence it is that our lower house of Assembly was
first called the House of Burgesses," Stith, p. 160. "In May, this year
(1620), there was held another Generall Assembly, which has, through
mistake, and the indolence and negligence of our historians in searching
such ancient records as are still extant in the country, been commonly
reported the first General Assembly," Ib. p. 182. We do not see that
Stith "errs" even "a little in the data." Rolfe says, "The 25 of June
came in the _Triall_ with Corne and Cattell in all safety, which took
from us cleerely all feare of famine, then our gouernor and councell
caused Burgesses to be chosen in all places, and met at a general
Assembly," Smith, p. 128. Stith says, "And about the latter end of June
he called," &c., Stith, p. 160. Neither intimate _when_ the Assembly
_met_, only that the governor called them to the latter part of
June.--ED.
[5] The first published notice of the existence of this paper occurred
in the proceedings of the annual meeting of the Virginia Historical
society, held December 15, 1853. In the report of the Executive
Committee the chairman, Conway Robinson, Esq., states that he had seen
the original report in the State Paper Office in London, on a recent
visit to that city.--See Virginia Historical Reporter, Vol. I., 1854.
Whatever question there may be in regard to priority of discovery, it is
to be regretted that it was left to the Historical Society of another
State to publish a document of so much value to the one to which it
solely relates.--ED.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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