Randolph Family of England, Scotland and Virginia, History and Genealogy

This book presents histories and genealogies of the Randolph family in Scotland, England, Colonial Virginia, and the United States of America. In addition to the Randolphs, it includes the histories and genealogies of seven important English families that are ancestors of the Randolphs. In Scotland, the Randolph name can be traced, with confidence, back to Sir Thomas Randolph, Lord Chamberlain of Scotland in about 1250, but the family was probably founded in about 1190 in Littelsdaleshire, Scotland. The genealogical line itself can be traced with confidence back to Crínán of Dunkeld died 1045. He founded the Scottish royal house of Dunkeld. In England, the family can be traced back to Robert Randolph in South Sussex, who died in 1602. British archives contain earlier English Randolph primary sources, back to the beginning of the second millennium AD, shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. However, it is difficult to construct a reliable unbroken English Randolph family genealogical line up to Robert Randolph. Nevertheless, there is considerable circumstantial evidence in primary and secondary sources for descent from John Randall of Hamsey, whose will was, dated 1552. A great many excellent books have been written about the Randolph family, and numerous historical documents are available. However, to my knowledge much of the content of this book about the Randolphs has not been published before. Much of the content about seven other important families in England, from whom the Randolphs are descended, dating back to 858 AD, has not been published in connection with the Randolph family before. This book is the first in a series of three volumes. Volume 2 provides thirty-four histories and genealogies of ancestors of the Randolphs in virtually every European country and parts of the Middle East. Volume 2 contains 5,371 references and notes. This is too many to include in volume 2 itself. Volume 3 contains the references and notes to volume 2.