In the matter of colonial office-holders, one frequent source of error is
any reliance on William Glover Stanard and Mary Newton Stanard's _The
colonial Virginia register : a list of governors, councillors and other
higher officials, and also of members of the House of Burgesses, and the
revolutionary conventions of the colony of Virginia_ (Albany, N.Y. : J.
Munsell’s Sons, 1902 and various reprints). In pioneering work for their
day (more than a century ago) the Stanards tried to list burgesses and
councilors etc BEFORE McIlwaine published the journals of either the
Burgesses or the Council, and long before American scholars had ready
access to the originals of English records and and County records not to
mention photostats and microfilm. So, for example, the Stanards simply did
not know exactly when the General Assembly met in colonial Virginia, when
sessions continued by adjournment, when new elections were held etc. Their
lists of meetings and members are woefully incomplete and unreliable. (I
say this from first-hand knowledge because in 1973 I did compile from
McIlwaine and other relevant sources the accurate dates of the General
Assembly's various convenings, adjournments, prorogations, dissolutions
etc etc.) Working from a vastly larger available body of primary source
evidence, some of us long ago were involved with the compilation of a new
register of members of the General Assembly, Council and (after 1643)
House of Burgesses.
   For any inquiry into the membership of the General Assembly between
1619-and 1990, the place to start is :

The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978 : a
bicentennial register of members (Richmond : Published for the General
Assembly of Virginia by the Virginia State Library, 1978).

   and a supplement :

The General Assembly of Virginia, 11 January 1978-27 April 1989 : a
register of members (Richmond : Published for the General Assembly of
Virginia by the Virginia State Library and Archives, 1990).

   As to the Stanard's ancient Register, I suppose one should never
advocate burning a book, but people who reprint sorely outdated stuff
like this and foist it upon the unsuspecting public ought to be scorned
- and no one wanting accurate information should trust it.


Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
1250 Red Hill Road
Brookneal, Virginia 24528
www.redhill.org
Phone 434-376-2044 or 800-514-7463

> Could we please not rely on faint recollections  of old reading if there
> is
> reputable material readily available (online no less) against which to
> check
> some assertions.