In 1671, Virginia had about 40,000, mostly English residents: including 6,000white indentured servants and 2,000 slaves. By 1715, slaves made up some 25% of the population–about 23,000. And there were a total of 96,000 residents. That’s a lot of people to document–
In 1700, there were 2 principal towns: Williamsburg and Norfolk. Around 1704, Manikantown (near where present-day Richmond is located) accommodated a growing Huguenot population which topped out at some 10,000 people before the organized migration ended.
Business before 1715 was transacted at ships’ landings, plantations and manors, inns and ordinaries, campus of William and Mary College, artisans’ workshops, parishes and churches, tobacco warehouses, iron forges, courthouses and local town buildings. I’m working on checklists of record types and probable locations for these kinds of records so you can watch for them and take advantage of their contents. Courthouses have suffered extensive record loss during the Colonial years, you will need these alternatives to trace your Virginia families back in time.
Stay tuned! Your favorite Virginia genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com
PS Take a genealogy plunge–read an archive inventory, on- or off-line. Very cool activity, checking record inventories and lists of new acquisitions at research libraries.