Burgesses, House of
Burgesses, House of
Representative assembly in colonial Virginia, the first elective governing body in a British colony. It was one division of the legislature established in 1619 by the colonial governor at Jamestown; the other included the governor himself and a council, all appointed by the colonial proprietor (the Virginia Company). Each Virginia settlement was entitled to elect two delegates, or burgesses (citizens of a borough in England). See also London Co.
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