Mr. Groome addresses the complexity of the Proprietor/tenant relationship (a feudal system of land grants) in the establishment of the county of Fauquier in the territory between the Rappahannock and Potomac, historically known as the Northern Neck. He begins the book with Captain John Smith’s journeys into the Indian occupied territory and the early exploration and settlement of the area.
Much of the early history of the land grant system revolves around a struggle for control between the Virginia Company and King James I, and later Charles I, of England. Col. Robert Carter played an important role in the Northern Neck Agency in assigning land grants and settling the area despite the controversy over who had the actual right to assign these grants. Proprietorship eventually passed to Lord Thomas Fairfax who asserted his authority as Proprietor, managed to define the disputed boundaries of the Northern Neck and actively engaged in the work of colonization.
The first half of the book is an important collection of early records of Fauquier County consisting of abstracts and land grants and patents for land from 1600-1800. Mr. Groome also provides extensive footnotes identifying many of the early settlers and their families. The second half of the book chronicles the religious and political organization of the county and the eventual dissolution of the proprietorship. A full name and subject index provides easy access to information.
H. C. Groome
(1927), 2007, paper, index, 270 pp.
ISBN: 9780788420856
101-G2085
