In the early eighteenth century in Virginia, one of the principal seats of power was the Council, which was composed of twelve men. To be designated "Honourable of the Council" was a highly sought position.
The Council members had three areas of responsibilities: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
Taking the Legislative first, as the easiest to understand, the Council was the Upper House of the Legislature. They did not originate legislation. After the Lower House, called the House of Burgesses, and elected by the "citizens", had proposed legislation, it was forward to the Council, who debated it. They could reject it, or ask that certain amendments be made to it. When the Upper and Lower House had reached a concurrence, the bill was submitted to the Governor for his approval. Even after legislation had reached this point, it was still only tentative. A copy of the legislation was forwarded to London, where the Board of Trade and Plantations reviewed it, and often called in a variety of people to obtain their opinions. The Board would send their recommendations to the monarch for his approval.
The Executive duties of the Council consisted of advising the Governor, and, in the absence of the Governor, of fulfilling his role. [When Cyriacus Fleshman and George Utz petitioned the House of Burgesses for help in the lawsuits which had been brought by Alexander Spotswood, it was the Council which ordered that the King's attorney for Spotsylvania County be appointed as their counsel.] If there were no designated Governor at any time, the most senior member of the Council became the acting Governor. For this reason, Council members were very jealous of their seniority ranking. In the four years prior to the arrival of Spotswood in 1710, there had been no Governor in Virginia, and the Council had fulfilled that role. They were not entirely happy to see Spotswood arrive.
The Judicial duties of the Council were that they were the "Supreme Court" of Virginia. All serious cases from within Virginia were referred to them. For example, all murder charges against a white person had to be tried in Williamsburg by them.
Several of the conflicts between Spotswood and the Council arose because each of them claimed rights which the other disputed. The rights had never been clearly specified, and had developed over the course of time. Generally, the Council was claiming rights for the citizens of Virginia, as opposed to the rights of the Crown which the Governor was espousing. But the rights for the citizens of Virginia generally meant rights for the Councillors.
Members of the Council were appointed by the Crown upon the recommendations of several people, but mostly the Governor. Appointments were at the pleasure of the Crown, but generally a Councillor kept his job for a lifetime. At one time, the Board of Trade was tired of the bickering between the Governor and the Council, and told them both that, if they did not stop their arguing, the Board would replace all of them.
(24 Nov 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.