Editing Gloucester County, Virginia (section)

=== English developments ===
In 1619, the Virginia Company divided its developed areas into four incorporations, called "citties" {{sic|nolink=y}}. At that time, most of the area which became Gloucester County would have been considered part of [[James City (Virginia Company)|"James Cittie"]] (although it was not yet settled). In 1634, by order of [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] the colony was divided into the eight shires of Virginia. First named [[Charles River Shire]] by the English, [[York County, Virginia|York County]] was renamed in 1642 during the [[English Civil War]]. The [[Pamunkey]] called the river of their territory "Pamunkey"; residents retained that name for the portion upstream from West Point. The English first named the major river the Charles River; during the English Civil War, it was renamed as the York River).

The colonial government granted early land patents in the area in 1639, but it was not until after 1644 that Gloucester was considered safe for settlement.<ref name="gloucesterva.info">Gloucester County, Virginia, ''History of Gloucester County'' (http://www.gloucesterva.info/151/History-of-Gloucester-County : accessed April 8, 2019).</ref> By that time, Algonquian peoples had been pushed out of the area by colonists after many died in epidemics of infectious diseases. They had no immunity to the new diseases carried by the Europeans. [[George Washington]]'s great-grandfather received a Gloucester County land patent in 1650.