Birth: 1727 Williamsburg City Virginia, USA
Death: Jun. 30, 1784, London, England
Burial: Chapel of the College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Williamsburg City, Virginia, USA
Parents: Sir John Randolph (1693 - 1737) Lady Susanna Beverly Randolph (1692 - 1754)
Spouse: Adrianna Jennings Randolph (1723 - 1808)
Studied law in England
Member of House of Burgesses
Attorney General for Virginia Colony
Lawyer. Known as "John the Tory". Succeeded his brother, Peyton, as King's Attorney in 1766, appointed by Governor Faquier. He was still in this position when the war for independence looked inevitable, and he decided it was against his oath of office to assist in this rebellion. At this time he took his family to England. While in England, he corresponded frequently with his cousin, Thomas Jefferson. He remained in England until his death several years after the war. His last request was to be buried on his home soil. Despite being opposed to his brother during the war, he was laid to rest next to him.
Peyton Randolph and his Loyalist brother John, portrayed by Charles Redd and Jack Flintom.
Early Years
John Randolph was born in 1727 or 1728, probably at what is now called the Peyton Randolph House on Market Square, and his heritage was thoroughly Virginian. Educated at the College of William & Mary, he traveled to London in 1745 to study law at the Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London, and returned to Williamsburg to practice in 1749.
Civic duties
Among Virginia's best-trained attorneys, John Randolph climbed the rungs of civic responsibility toward authority and power. He had become a member of the city's common council, then a burgess for the College of William & Mary. When his older brother Peyton Randolph was elected speaker of the House of Burgesses, John succeeded him as the colony's attorney general. He could not, however, follow Peyton down the road to rebellion.
At odds with brother’s political views
John Randolph’s brother Peyton Randolph followed the call of duty to the chair of the Continental Congress, but conscience summoned John Randolph "home" to England. As the day approached when he would quit America and its Revolution, he wrote a farewell letter to his cousin Thomas Jefferson. "We both of us seem to be steering opposite courses," he said, "the success of either lies in the womb of Time."
The third child of Sir John and Lady Susannah Randolph, John was convinced British-Americans owed more loyalty to the Crown than to the Massachusetts hotheads or to firebrands like his friend Patrick Henry. Historians have tagged him with the nickname John "The Tory." By the summer of 1775, an anonymous piece in the Virginia Gazette insulted John Randolph for his Loyalist views and "dependence on l[or]d D[unmor]e."
Read transcript of article
View Virginia Gazette, July 27, 1775, Page 3, bottom of column two and top of column three
If Randolph's associates in Williamsburg disagreed with his views, they nevertheless admired his integrity. Most Virginians referred to England as home; John Randolph meant it.
Returns to England
While Peyton chaired the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, John sat in Williamsburg, a confidant of the pugnacious Governor Dunmore. As Peyton prepared to leave for the Second Continental Congress, John was closing up his house, Tazewell Hall. Renowned for its hospitality, Tazewell Hall sat at the southern end of South England Street commanding a 99-acre estate. It was a popular literary and social center frequented by the elite of the community. Its master had been a close friend of Governor Fauquier and Lord Botetourt.
John Randolph arranged passage across the Atlantic for himself, his wife, Ariana, and their two daughters, Susannah and Ariana. His son, Edmund, stayed behind; Edmund joined the American army and served as aide-de-camp to General George Washington.
Enjoyed music and gardening
Gardening and music were among John Randolph's avocations. About 1765 he wrote what is believed to be the earliest American book on kitchen gardening, A Treatise on Gardening by A Citizen of Virginia. Cousin Thomas Jefferson thought Randolph's violin was the finest in the colony and John, in turn, admired Tom's library. In 1771, they struck a lighthearted bargain. If Randolph died first, Jefferson was to have the fiddle; if Jefferson died first, Randolph was to have £100 worth of Jefferson's books. George Wythe and Patrick Henry witnessed the agreement.
In August 1775, Jefferson sent their mutual friend Carter Braxton to Williamsburg with £13 pounds and posted a letter saying he meant it for the instrument. The reply was Randolph's farewell, though the men corresponded after Randolph reached England.
The state government confiscated loyalist properties as the Revolution wore on, and an embittered Randolph spent years fruitlessly trying to reclaim his.
Died in England; buried in Virginia
John Randolph died at Brampton, England, in 1784. In death, as he could not in conscience do in life, Randolph returned to Williamsburg. He is interred beside his father and brother in the family vault in the chapel at the College of William & Mary.
For further reading: •Peyton Randolph House •College of William and Mary •Peyton Randolph •Thomas Jefferson •Sir John Randolph •Lady Susannah Beverley Randolph •Patrick Henry •Ariana Jenings Randolph •Susannah Beverley Randolph •Edmund Randolph •Gardening[1]
John Randolph (loyalist) :[2]
John Randolph (1727 – January 31, 1784) was a lawyer from Williamsburg in the British colony of Virginia. He served as king's attorney for Virginia from 1766 until he left for Britain at the outset of the American Revolution.
Randolph was born in Williamsburg into one of the most prominent families of Virginia. His father was Sir John Randolph, the only colonial Virginian to be knighted. The younger Randolph was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson, his cousin, with whom he often played violin.
During the revolutionary crisis, Randolph remained a Loyalist, unlike his brother Peyton Randolph, and his son, Edmund Randolph. In 1774, he wrote "Considerations on the Present State of Virginia", in which he called for reconciliation between his fellow colonists and Great Britain. He boycotted the Virginia Convention, an extralegal convening of the House of Burgesses headed by his brother Peyton. When hostilities began, Randolph fled to Scotland with Governor Dunmore. In Scotland, Randolph continued to promote reconciliation between Great Britain and the colonies.
When Randolph died in Brompton, London, in 1784, his last request was to be buried in Virginia. His remains were returned and he is interred in the chapel at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. His son Edmund became Governor of Virginia and Attorney General of the United States.
Connections to Super Bowl halftime show performers: John is 22 degrees from Prince Nelson, 16 degrees from Dan Aykroyd, 11 degrees from Garth Brooks, 26 degrees from Chubby Checker, 20 degrees from Ella Fitzgerald, 15 degrees from Dusty Hill, 29 degrees from Whitney Houston, 17 degrees from Mick Jagger, 19 degrees from Paul McCartney, 15 degrees from Tom Petty, 15 degrees from Chris Stapleton and 21 degrees from Shania Twain on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.