William Randolph was baptized in , Warwickshire, England on 7 November 1650, the son of Richard Randolph (21 February 1621–2 May 1678) and Elizabeth Ryland (1625–ca. 1669). Richard Randolph was originally from Houghton Parva, a small vil-Anya Liftig

lage east of , where his father was a “steward and servant” to (1556–1625), having previously served in that same capacity to , b. 1977

a landowner in . Elizabeth was the daughter of John Ryland of . William was the second of seven Randolph children, all born in m. Noel Hartman, 2011

Moreton Morrell between 1647 and 1657.

Dorothy Liftig

No record has yet surfaced to fix William Randolph’s residences after his birth until 1672, when he appeared in Virginia.

b. 1981

Although his father’s older half-brother, the poet , attended and , he did so largely on scholarship and there is no record of any m. David Martin, 2009

other members of William’s family having attended either public school or university. At some point in the late 1650s or 1660s, his parents moved to , where they both died, his mother around 1669 and his father in 1671, so William may well have spent the bulk of his formative years in Ireland. It is also known that William’s uncle, Henry Randolph (1623-?), in 1669 traveled to Britain from Virginia, to which place he had emigrated around 1642. Henry probably encouraged his nephew at that time to return with him to . In any case, William Randolph was in the colony by 12 February 1672 when he appears in the record as witness to a land transaction.

Randolph acquired property by purchase, , marital interest and . His early acquisitions were in the neighborhood of Turkey Island, located in the about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of present-day . This land had been settled for decades, and was held by 367

368