Edward Jaquelin
Edward Jaquelin or Jacquelin was a child immigrant who became a Virginia planter and politician who represented Jamestown in the House of Burgesses.
Early life
Jaquelin was born to the former Elizabeth Craddock of Kent County, England and her Huguenot husband John Jaquelin in 1668 or 1669. The family emigrated to the Virginia Colony in 1685, when Edward was a teenager.Career
Jaquelin married twice, each time to a wealthy widow and each time gained control of additional property, which was increasingly farmed using enslaved labor. In the early 18th century, some of his slaves were involved in an elaborate escape attempt. Around 1699, Jaquelin married the twice-widowed Rachel James Sherwood, who had inherited property from each of her earlier husbands. Sherwood owned a plantation on Jamestown Island, as well as land on the mainland, which may account for the quitrent Jaquelin paid in 1704 for 400 acres in James City County. On December 11, 1704, Jaquelin purchased the reversionary interest of London merchant John Jeffries in the estate of her previous husband, former attorney and burgess William Sherwood, and earlier would have been able to use his wife's dower interest in the estate of her first husband, Richard James. Sherwood had leased 260 acres in Governor's Land, on the isthmus connecting Jamestown to the mainland. Although the colony's capital moved to Williamsburg in 1699, Jaquelin leased meeting space in their home or a neighboring brick house to the assembly in that year. Jaquelin also prepared correspondence for the legislature and by 1702 was clerk for its committee of propositions and grievances. In 1712 he purchased the "Glasshouse" 24 acre tract at the entrance to Jamestown Island and began renting 151 acres in Governor's Land. In 1718 Jaquelin bought 27 acres next to the Glasshouse Tract and Governor's Land, so his mainland acreage had grown to 202 acres.Demonstrating his increased social presence, Jaquelin became coronet of Jamestown's troop of horse in 1701, and also served as justice of the peace, sheriff, and coroner.
Jamestown voters elected Jaquelin as their representative in the House of Burgesses in the 1712–1714 session. He succeeded Nathaniel Burwell and was in turn replaced by John Clayton.