Leaving England behind: The experience of women in Northampton County, Virginia, 1650-1699

This study examines the lives of English women in Northampton County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia during the second half of the seventeenth century. Previous historians have identified a high mortality rate, late age at first marriage, and demographic imbalance as the salient characteristics of the Chesapeake region in the seventeenth century. The minority demographic status of women has led some scholars, notably Lois Green Carr and Lorena Walsh, to posit a theory of women's, and especially widows', relative strength and authority within that society. They also suggest that in the "trade-off" between family stability in England and the greater risks attendant with colonial emigration, women in some ways fared better than their English counterparts.; Evidence from Northamptom County indicates that the trade-off was less than ideal and underscores the distinction between the eastern and western shores of Virginia. Women in this county did receive larger amounts of their husbands' estates, as did their daughters. However, Northampton County widows received less authority over estate affairs than widows from other Chesapeake counties. There were higher rates of primogeniture--a direct result of the finite amount of land available on the peninsula; thus, daughters' portions did not compare favorably with the region as a whole. Contrary to the theory that fewer women meant greater marriage opportunities, it was found that certain kinds of sexual behavior had a detrimental effect on a woman's marital prospects. Most important, however, were the diminished opportunities available to native-born daughters when compared to their mothers. Creole daughters were not raised in the expectation that upon reaching adolescence they would leave home, enjoy a period of independence before marriage, and participate in a wage and market economy. Instead, they lived relatively isolated lives with few opportunities other than marriage at an early age.