The Randolph family is a prominent Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 political family, whose members contributed to the politics of Colonial Virginia and Virginia after it gained its statehood. They are descended from the Randolphs of Morton Moreton, Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The first Randolph to come to America

British North America

British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...

 was Henry Randolph in 1643. His nephew, William Randolph

William Randolph

William Randolph was a colonist and land owner who played an important role in the history and government of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He moved to Virginia sometime between 1669 and 1673, and married Mary Isham a few years later...

 later came to Virginia as an orphan

Orphan

An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...

 in 1669. He made his home at Turkey Island along the James River

James River (Virginia)

The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

. Because of their numerous progeny, William Randolph and his wife, Mary Isham Randolph, have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...

 of Virginia."

The name Randolph is supposedly derived from the Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

 word "Radwulf", meaning "fierce wolf". Randolph bloodlines can be traced to several noble characters from history, such as King John II of Jerusalem

John II of Jerusalem

John II of Jerusalem was the eldest son of Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of Ibelin. He succeeded his father as King of Cyprus on March 24 and was crowned at Santa Sophia, Nicosia on May 11, 1284. His succession as King of Jerusalem was opposed by Charles of Anjou, who had also disrupted his...

, Richard the Lion-Heart of England, Robert the Bruce of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and various other nobility.

The Randolph family can trace much of its roots back to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and elsewhere in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray was a nephew

Nephew

Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...

 of Robert the Bruce, and served with distinction during the Wars of Scottish Independence

Wars of Scottish Independence

The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....

. Many Randolphs are descendants of Robert the Bruce due to the marriage of his daughter to Jiles Randolph.

Descendants of William Randolph and Mary Isham Randolph include President of the First Continental Congress

First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the...

 Peyton Randolph

Peyton Randolph

Peyton Randolph was a planter and public official from the Colony of Virginia. He served as speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, chairman of the Virginia Conventions, and the first President of the Continental Congress.-Early life:Randolph was born in Tazewell Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia...

, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

 (son of Jane Randolph, first cousin of Peyton Randolph), First Lady Edith Bolling, U.S. Attorney General Edmund Randolph

Edmund Randolph

Edmund Jennings Randolph was an American attorney, the seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.-Biography:...

, Chief Justice of the United States

Chief Justice of the United States

The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...

 John Marshall

John Marshall

John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...

, Virginia Governor Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. (son-in-law

Son-in-Law

Son-in-Law was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and an influential sire, especially for sport horses.The National Horseracing Museum says that Son-in-Law is "probably the best and most distinguished stayer this country has ever known." Described as "one of the principal influences for stamina in...

 of Thomas Jefferson), and Confederate States Secretary of War

Confederate States Secretary of War

The Confederate States Secretary of War was a member of the Confederate States President's Cabinet during the Civil War. The Secretary of War led the Confederate States Department of War. The position ended in May 1865 when the Confederacy crumbled during John C. Breckinridge's tenure of the...

 George W. Randolph

George W. Randolph

George Wythe Randolph was a lawyer, planter, and Confederate general. He served for eight months in 1862 as the Confederate States Secretary of War during the American Civil War, when he reformed procurement, wrote the conscription law, and strengthened western defenses...

 (grandson of Thomas Jefferson), as it was the Confederate General Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

 through his father Henry Lee III and his grandfather Henry Lee II

Henry Lee II

Henry Lee II of “Leesylvania”, Prince William County, Virginia was the father of Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee III and grandfather of Robert E. Lee....

. Historic homes associated with the family include Tuckahoe Plantation

Tuckahoe Plantation

Tuckahoe, also known as Tuckahoe Plantation, is located on Route 650 near Manakin, Virginia overlapping both Goochland and Henrico counties...

 in Goochland County

Goochland County, Virginia

Goochland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 21,717. Its county seat is Goochland. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area ....

, the Peyton Randolph House

Peyton Randolph House

Peyton Randolph House, also known as Randolph-Peachy House, is a home in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the home of Peyton Randolph , first President of the Continental Congress. It is located within what is now known as Colonial Williamsburg.It was declared a National Historic Landmark in...

 in Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

, the Wilton House Museum

Wilton House Museum

Wilton House Museum is a museum located in a historic house located in Richmond, Virginia. Wilton House was constructed circa 1753 in a Georgian style by William Randolph III, son of William Randolph II, of Turkey Island. Wilton was constructed as a tobacco plantation and located along the north...

 and the John Marshall House

John Marshall House

The John Marshall House is the home of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, located in Richmond, Virginia. Marshall was appointed to the court in 1801 by John Adams and served for the rest of his life, writing such influential decisions as Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v...

 in Richmond

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, and Monticello

Monticello

Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...

 near Charlottesville

Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

. Members of the Randolph family also intermarried with other prominent Virginia families including the Blands, Byrds, Carters, Fitzhughs, and Harrisons. Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 Pocahontas

Pocahontas

Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...

 was directly related to members of the Randolph family through her descendants with husband John Rolfe

John Rolfe

John Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.In 1961, the Jamestown...

. Their son was Thomas

Thomas Rolfe

Thomas Rolfe was the only child of Pocahontas by her English husband, John Rolfe. His maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of Powhatan tribe in Virginia.-Early Life:Thomas Rolfe was born in Virginia...

. Some evidence suggests that the famous American frontiersman, politician and hero Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett

David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...

 was in fact of Randolph descent. Actor Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...

 and actress and producer Kimberley Kates

Kimberley Kates

Kimberley Kates is an American actress and film producer.-Early life:Born in California, Kates grew up there and in Montana. Her biological father was killed by a drunk driver when she was a child. Kimberley was pre-med in College before winning a modeling contest which brought her back to Southern...

 are also Randolph descendants, in her case through her paternal grandmother.

Today, many Randolphs still hold political prestige in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Randolph family is considered to be one of the political families of America.