The Forgotten Shires of Virginia: From Warraskoyack to Isle of Wight
Before Virginia was divided into the 95 counties we recognize today, it looked a lot more like medieval England. In 1634, King Charles I ordered the growing Virginia Colony to be carved into eight original shires. These vast administrative districts were established to bring British law, tax collection, and local courts to the rugged New World.
Among these original eight was Warraskoyack Shire, named after the local Algonquian-speaking tribe that lived along the Pagan River.
The Early Patents and First Patentees
Long before it was a shire, the region was defined by massive tracts of land claimed by early English Puritans under the colonial headright system. Settlement began in earnest in May 1619 when Captain Christopher Lawne arrived and established the first plantation at Lawne’s Creek. Following Lawne's early death, his business partners and heirs successfully petitioned the Virginia Company to renew and expand the land grant.
On November 21, 1621, this expanded territory was officially patented as the Isle of Wight Plantation. The patent was spearheaded by prominent "adventurers" and merchant investors, most notably Edward Bennett (a wealthy London merchant who financed the nearby settlement of Bennett's Welcome) and Captain Nathaniel Basse. Basse soon went on to establish his own neighboring 300-acre patent downstream, famously known as Basse's Choice. These early patentees flooded the area with hundreds of indentured settlers to cultivate tobacco, fundamentally changing the landscape.
A Royal Renaming
The flavor of the old country didn’t last long in the colonial tongue. Settlers found the Native American names difficult to spell and pronounce, while the local memory of the 1622 Powhatan Uprising left deep-seated tensions.
Because the region’s most prominent geographic anchor was already widely known as the Isle of Wight Plantation, the colonial government leaned into familiarity. In 1637, just three years after its creation, Warraskoyack Shire was officially renamed Isle of Wight County. Within a few more years, the House of Burgesses formally replaced the word "shire" with "county" across the entire colony, officially ending Virginia's short-lived shire era.
The Other 7 Original Shires
While Warraskoyack evolved into Isle of Wight, the other seven foundational shires also laid the groundwork for modern Virginia geography:
- Accomack Shire: Encompassed the entire Virginia Eastern Shore. It was later split into Accomack and Northampton counties.
- Charles City Shire: Stretched along both sides of the James River. It was eventually divided into multiple modern counties, though the core remains Charles City County.
- Charles River Shire: Named for King Charles I, it was quickly changed to York County in 1643 as political tides shifted.
- Elizabeth City Shire: Located at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula, it eventually became the independent city of Hampton.
- Henrico Shire: Covered a massive area extending westward from Richmond. Its original borders now encompass dozens of modern counties.
- James City Shire: Centered around the original colonial capital of Jamestown, it remains today as James City County.
- Warwick River Shire: Located on the Peninsula, it was later renamed Warwick County and was eventually consolidated into the city of Newport News.
Though the word "shire" vanished from Virginia's legal books nearly four centuries ago, the boundaries drawn in 1634 still define the heart of the Commonwealth today.
