Adam Thorowgood

Adam Thorowgood was born in 1603, the son of a vicar from Grimston, Norfolk. His wife, Sarah, was a London resident, the daughter of a merchant who was a leading member of the Virginia Company. Captain Thorowgood arrived in Virginia in 1621 and lived at Elizabeth City (formerly Kecoughtan). He married Sarah while visiting London in 1627, and they then traveled to Virginia. He was a wealthy, well-connected man, and he solicited from the Privy Council, probably by means of his brother's connections, a grant of land in Virginia at a place of his choosing. He patented 5,350 acres in 1635, in exchange for the transportation of himself, his wife, and 105 persons to the land. This population made up the nucleus of Lynnhaven Parish in Lower Norfolk County.

He played a leading role in the county for years, and his sons and grandsons held important offices in the county throughout the second half of the seventeenth century. (p.166, 171)

Biography from James Horn's Adapting to a New World