William Cole (immigrant)
William Cole emigrated from Essex, England to the Colony of Virginia in 1618, and in 1629 was one of the two men who represented Nutmeg Quarter in the House of Burgesses.
Cole was the eldest son of Humphrie Cole and his wife Hester of Tillingham in Essex, England.
Career
Cole sailed to Virginia aboard the Neptune in 1618. The muster roll of 1624/1625, shows his wife as Frances who had emigrated to the colony aboard the Susan around 1616, and was slightly older than he and that 26 year old Roger Farbrace and/or 27 year old Francis Cole lived with them. His relation to George Cole who was killed when Native Americans attacked Edward Bennett's plantation on March 22, 1622, and with John Cole and William Cole who sailed for Virginia aboard the Margaret with their passage paid for by the Society of Berkeley Hundred's investors is unknown, and both those probably died soon after arriving in Virginia. Virginia authorities sent back to England in May 1625 a list which credited this man with planting 50 acres in Elizabeth City, Virginia. Cole died some time before September 15, 1664, when 100 acres of land he had patented in Accomack County, escheated and was assigned to another man.
Disambiguating his descendants
His son William Cole may be the family's most distinguished member, representing clients as a lawyer at least since 1670, purchasing the 1350 acre Boldrup plantation on the Warwick River in 1671, serving on the Virginia Governor's Council from 1674/75 until in 1692, and co-founding the College of William and Mary. His son William Cole also served in the House of Burgesses, representing Warwick County in the early 18th century. The next probable descendant who served in the legislature was Roscow Cole who represented James City County in the mid-19th century.