John Robinson (burgess)
John Robinson (1683 - August 24, 1749) was an American planter and politician in the colony of Virginia. Robinson acquired significant landholdings (farmed using enslaved and indentured labor) and held several public offices in Colonial Virginia, including two terms as one of the representatives of Middlesex County in the House of Burgesses and nearly three decades on the Governor's Council (rising to become its President). He may be best known either for the final weeks of his life, when he was acting Governor of Virginia, or as the father of John Robinson Jr., who served as Speaker of the House of Burgesses and as the colony's Treasurer for more than three decades. Early and family life This John Robinson was probably born on one of this father's plantations in Middlesex County, Virginia in 1683 to the former Agatha Obert (1649-1686) and her merchant and planter husband Christopher Robinson (1645-1693). He had an elder brother, Christopher Robinson (1681-1726), who also followed their father's paths as a planter and politician. During their childhood, their father grew in political power in Virginia (eventually becoming the colony's secretary) as well built a manor house which this man would inherit, and which survives today, Hewick