Shire of Virginia
The eight Shires of Virginia were administrative units of the English colony of Virginia , the forerunner of today's US states of Virginia and West Virginia . They were formed in 1634. The Shires were modeled on the model used at the time in England as a kind of local government. A few years later they were converted into counties .
history
In 1634 King Charles I of England ordered eight shires to be created by the House of Burgesses , the colonial parliament. Each should have its own officials. The term Shire was renamed County a short time later . Later there was also a name change, for example for the term Warrosquyoake, which was renamed Isle of Wight. Warrosquyoake was the name of an indigenous tribe. During the English Civil War (1642–1649) , Charles River Counties and Charles River (both named after King Charles I) were renamed York County and York River .
The original Shires of Virginia were:
- Accomac Shire (now Northampton County )
- Charles City Shire (now Charles City County )
- Charles River Shire (now York County )
- Elizabeth City Shire (merged with the City of Hampton )
- Henrico Shire (now Henrico County )
- James City Shire (now James City County )
- Warwick River Shire (merged with the city of Newport News )
- Warrosquyoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County )
Shire was renamed County between 1637 and 1642. This caused confusion for several years, as it came to naming such as "James City County" and "Charles City County". County and city are actually administratively contradicting each other. In 1870, the Virginia's constitution stipulated that an administrative unit could not have both names.
- In 1952 the citizens of " Elizabeth City County " requested the amalgamation with the city of Hampton , which was also approved.
- In 1952 Warwick County became a city of its own. On July 1, 1958, the City of Warwick merged with Newport News . Newport News was from a county itself.