Middlesex County, next to be noted, was functioning as a county in 1669 as Mr. F. W. Sydnor demonstrated in an article in _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, Volume 42. It was taken from Lancaster County, being the portion that lies on the south side of the Rappahannock River and extends to Dragon Run, the northern boundary of Gloucester. It had been the southern part of Christ Church Parish in Lancaster and retained the same parish name. Christ Church was the only parish and coterminous with Middlesex County. By good fortune, Christ Church in Lancaster and Christ Church in Middlesex are still preserved and in use. Both the Register and Vestry Book of the latter have survived the years, the former begins in 1653 and the latter ten years later. No Register of Christ Church Lancaster survives, and the extant Vestry Book covers only the years 1739 to 1786. Middlesex, never large, was, in colonial days, the home of numerous distinguished families, among them the Wormeleys, whose house "Rosegill" has seen many important historical events. The name Middlesex is for the English shire, doubtless the birthplace of many early residents of the Virginia County. THE COLONY PROSPERS UNDER A KING AND QUEEN AND TWO NEW COUNTIES HONOR THE ROYAL FAMILY After Middlesex in 1669, there was a hiatus of 22 years before a new county was created. In that period, the colony's fortunes had been checkered, and unrest and depression had been widespread. Troubles with the Indians, Bacon's Rebellion and economic ills, which led to tobacco cutting, all combined to make Virginia a gloomy place. The accession of James II brought no improvement in England, and the time was ripe for revolution. James II was forced to flee. He was succeeded by his daughter Mary and her husband, who was his nephew, Prince William of Orange. Under their rule, both England and Virginia became more prosperous. The next new county, King and Queen, created 1691, was named in their honor. This was formed from New Kent, "so that Pamunkey River divide the same, and so down York River to the extent of the county, and that the part which is now on the south side of York and Pamunkey River be called New Kent, and the north side with Pamunkey Neck be called and known by the name of King and Queen county." It was enacted further "that the inhabitants of Pamunkey Neck, that now belong to St. Peter's Parish be restored and added to St. John's Parish from which they formerly were taken, and that the Pamunkey River be the bounds betwixt the two parishes."