User:Hewick/Hewick

Hewick, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places for the county of Middlesex in Virginia, was added to the register on 17 Nov 1978. It is northwest of the town of Urbanna at 37'38'26N 76'35'15W. It was named for the British Robinson estate near Cleasby, a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, about two miles east of Ripon. Hewick, one of the most significant manors in Virginia, was the home of the Robinson family in Virginia and was constructed by the immigrant Christopher Robinson (1645-1692/3) in 1678. He served the colony in the House of Burgesses (1685-1692; was a member of the Governor's Council 1691 (equivalent to elevation to the House of Lords in England); was secretary of state of the colony (1691-1692); was a member of the board of trustees at the founding of the College of William and Mary (1693); was appointed Councillor and Secretary of Foreign Plantations by King Wi1liam III of England (1692); and served as senior vestryman and warden of Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia. He was one of the best known residents of the colony. His home was the gathering place for many of the important families of Virginia, families who in time helped shape the colony into the commonwealth and state it eventually became. The master of Hewick and the owners of Rosegill, Brandon, and Buckingham, three other important estates along the shores of the Rappahannock River in Middlesex, were considered among the most intellectual men living in Virginia. They were referred to as "Barons of the Rappahannock River."

The son of Christopher I, John Robinson (1683-1749), who was named acting governor of Virginia in 1749 upon the departure of Governor Gooch to England, was born in the house. His son, Christopher Robinson II (1703-1738), upon inheriting the estate, renamed the plantation "Hewick" for the ancestral home in England. His brother was the Honorable John Robinson (1704-1766), Treasurer of Virginia and speaker of the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg for seven sessions (1738-1765). Carter Braxton (1736-1797), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, married Judith Robinson, granddaughter of the original owner, Christopher.

Sir John Beverley Robinson (1791-1863), probably the most distinguished Canadian of the 19th century, was a descendant of Christopher Robinson of Middlesex County, Virginia. He became one of the governors of Upper Canada, and was eventually known as Chief Justice Sir John Beverley Robinson, Bart.

Hewick is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register of Historic Places. The plantation still consists of 66 acres within walking distance of the original 1680 port town of Urbanna.

An article can be found in The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 1, Series 2, page 134, 1921. Christopher Robinson, one of the first trustees of William and Mary College, with his home "Hewick on the Rappahannock" was featured in Colonial Williamsburg, the journal of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in the Spring, 1995, issue, pp. 34-38. (See "For gods sake refuse not," by Harold B. Gill, Jr. The last page features an aerial photo of Hewick Plantation. The Bishop of Bristol, later the Bishop of London, was the brother of Christopher Robinson of Virginia. His portrait, labeled Rev. John Robinson, D.D., hangs at Fulham Palace in England.

Historical Marker N-45, the marker for Hewick, is located on I-17 in Middlesex County, Virginia, and reads: "Three Miles east of Hewick, built about 1678 by Christopher Robinson, Clerk of Middlesex County, it was the birthplace of John Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer of Virginia, 1738-1766, the leading man of the colony! Hewick has been lived in continuously since 1678 by Robinson descendants until 2005."