The Eight Original Shires
But the colony was growing too fast for this arrangement to continue adequate for long. With a population of about 5,000 persons, the time for division into shires or counties was at hand. It may be noted that, though these units were designated as shires in the Act of the General Assembly creating them, they were, after that, always called counties. Their functions were the same as those of their English prototypes, but conditions here required two changes which will be mentioned later.
The names of the four corporations, Charles City, Henrico, James City and Elizabeth City were kept for four of the newly created counties, but their areas were lessened. The four new divisions were: Warwick River, later called Warwick; Warrosquyoake, later Isle of Wight; Charles River, later changed to York, and Accomack which embraced all the settlements on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The tender feeling for the homeland is evidenced by the fact that six out of the "eight original shires," as they are generally called, bore names reminiscent of England. Henrico perpetuated Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I whose early death made even more difficult the first years of the Colony. Charles City honored his brother Charles, later Charles I, who combined, to his undoing, the charm and obstinacy of the Stuarts. Elizabeth City and the river of the same name derive from Princess Elizabeth, the oldest sister of Henry and Charles. She married Frederick, for a time King of Bohemia, but later overthrown and exiled. Though her life was bitter and tragic, her descendants since 1714 have occupied the throne of Britain. James City was, of course, for King James I, of whom it was said that his instructors had given him an abundance of knowledge but had been unable to give him sense. Warwick's name was for Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, leader of one of the factions of the Virginia Company, who had founded and cared for the colony. He belonged to the "Court Party" which wished to continue martial law in the colony and opposed the liberal views of Sir Edwin Sandys and the Earl of Southampton. For awhile the Sandys faction was in control and the "Great Charter of Laws, Orders and Privileges" brought over by Sir George Yeardley was the expression of their views on colonial government. But the "Court Party" prevailed in the end and the charter of the Virginia Company was revoked in 1624. Charles River County presumably took its name from Charles I, who was King when it was formed. In 1642/43 when it became York, the change was made to honor James, the second son of Charles I, who in that year was created Duke of York. Warrosquyoake, an Indian word, was later Isle of Wight County since some of its most prominent residents were from the small island of that name lying off the English coast. The Parish lying in and coterminous with Isle of Wight County was called Newport from the largest city in the English island. Accomack honored the friendly tribe of Indians of that name residing on the Eastern Shore.
The bounds of these eight counties as noted in Tyler's The Cradle of the Republic were as follows:
Elizabeth City County extending on both sides of Hampton Roads, on the south side to Chuckatuck Creek and on the north side to Newport News and including a small part thereof.
Warrosquyoake County, later Isle of Wight, extending on the south side of James River from Chuckatuck Creek to Lawne's Creek.
Warwick River County extending on the north side of James River from Elizabeth City County to Skiffe's (Keith's) Creek. This is the only original shire from which no other county was formed. The name was changed to Warwick County in 1643.