Jamestown was planned as the first permanent English settlement in
Virginia. The fixed intention was to establish other seats as soon as
possible. As the limitations of Jamestown became obvious, the desire for
other townsites was intensified. Soon after the settlement was made at
Jamestown, temporary garrisons were placed at outlying points for
protective and administrative reasons—at Kecoughtan (Hampton-Newport
News), Cape Henry, and at the falls of the James. The first efforts in
this direction, except at Kecoughtan, ended in the autumn of 1609 under
pressure from the Indians. With the arrival of Delaware, Kecoughtan
(renamed Elizabeth City in 1619) was established as a permanent
settlement. Dale and Gates went on to establish the city of Henricus
(Henrico) well up the James near the falls. Then came Charles City (the
earlier Bermuda Nether Hundred) which developed into the last of the
four settlements established by the company, each of which had the
designation “city.” These four settlements were the only towns
specifically set up by the company and consequently under its complete
control. These later came to be mentioned in the records as the “Four
Ancient Boroughs” or “four ancient Incorporations.” As one of these,
Jamestown became the center of the political subdivision that developed
into one of the original Virginia shires in 1634. Within the next decade
the term county replaced that of shire, and today, although Jamestown
has ceased to exist as a corporate organization, James City County
continues to function as the oldest governing unit in English America.
Although the four “cities” constituted the first settlements in Virginia
and were the only ones established directly under company control, they
were but the beginning. About 1616, a new plan gave rise to the creation
of settlements known as “particular plantations,” sometimes called
“hundreds” as a result of the practice of awarding land on the basis of
100 acres or of sending settlers in groups of the same number. These
were established with company permission, which included a grant of land
made to individual groups of stockholders organized for the purpose of
setting up a specific settlement. The first of these was Martin’s
Hundred, in 1617, and others followed rapidly. By the summer of 1619,
there were seven particular plantations already functioning, in addition
to the original “cities,” a term sometimes thought to derive from the
form of government being used by the “City of Geneva” in Switzerland
which was held in high esteem by some of the company officials,
particularly by Sir Edwin Sandys who became Treasurer of the Virginia
Company in 1618.
With the spread of settlement east and west along the James and outward
along its rivers and creeks as well, Jamestown lay approximately in the
center of an expanding and growing colony. It was the capital town and
the principal center of the colony’s social and political life. In size
it remained small, yet it was intimately and directly related to all of
the significant developments of the 17th century. Its physical aspects
changed with the evolution of 17th century architectural patterns and
designs. Life in the town was varied and perhaps representative of the
best in the colony for almost a century. As wealth accumulated, the
manner of living broadened and improved. There is strong evidence that
Jamestown was the first to feel the impact of the advantages and efforts
that this produced, particularly in the first half century of its
existence. Material progress is evident as early as 1619 in the letter
of John Pory, secretary of the colony, written from Virginia late in
that year:
Nowe that your lordship may knowe, that we are not the variest beggars
in the worlde, our cowekeeper here of James citty on Sunday goes
accowtered all in freshe flaming silke; and a wife of one that in
England had professed the black arte, not of a schollar, but of a
collier of Croydon, weares her rough bever hatt with a faire perle
hatband, and a silken suite thereto correspondent.