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PictureImage courtesy The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation













The John White map, 1585, was the first map to be exclusiviely devoted to Virginia and to show the area with any deree of accuracy and detail. It also was the first map to name the Chesapeake Bay and to illustrate Sir Walter Raleigh’s ill-fated Roanoke colony, where White was Governor in 1587.The orientation of the map illustrates west at the top perhaps due to the early cartographer’s perception of the terrain as they looked westward. In this rare first state of the map, Chesapeake is spelled “Ehesepioc.” The map seen here is a 1590 engraving by Theodore De Bry and is commonly described as ‘that part of Ameria, now called Virginia”
PictureTheodore De Bry
​Born to a wealthy Protestant family and trained in his native Liège as a goldsmith and engraver, Theodore de Bry fled the Netherlands around 1570 due to religious persecution and made his home in the free city of Strasbourg. From there De Bry left for England in 1586, where he made some of his best-known works, engraved copies after scenes from the New World. De Bry and his sons illustrated ten volumes of American travel literature with his New World engravings, published from 1590 to 1618. Most Europeans came to know the costumes and customs of the American Indians and the historical events of the New World through de Bry's prints.  He also published a series of engraved portraits of famous men.

What's New on the Website?


Click here for the Spring 2021 edition of the Jamestowne Society Magazine. 
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Jamestowne Society recognized as $150,000 donor to Jamestown Rediscovery in support of ongoing archaeology in and around the 1907 Memorial Church. Click here to read more.​
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 Welcome To
Jamestowne Society

Members of the Jamestowne Society are descended from early settlers who lived or held colonial government positions in Jamestowne, Virginia prior to 1700, or who invested in its establishment.  
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The Jamestowne Society was organized for educational, historical, and patriotic purposes. The Society has a range of activities, from visiting early American sites, providing an annual graduate fellowship for research on Colonial Virginia prior to 1700, funding the restoration of records, and supporting preservation of Colonial sites.

Want to learn more about Jamestowne during the period 1607-1700, the Jamestowne Society, and its members? You are in the right place!

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Last Update: 12 May 2021