nch of them settled at Shelby, the other at Beverley, in Yorkshire.
In the time of Charles I, John Beverley of Beverley adhered to the cause
of royalty, and at the restoration his name appears in the list of those
upon whom it was intended to confer the order of the Royal Oak. Robert
Beverley of Beverley, the representative of the family, having sold his
possessions in that town, removed with a considerable fortune to
Virginia, where he purchased extensive tracts of land. He took up his
residence in the county of Middlesex. Elected clerk of the House of
Burgesses, he continued to hold that office until 1676, the year of
Bacon's rebellion, in suppressing which he rendered important services,
and by his loyal gallantry won the marked favor of the Governor, Sir
William Berkley. In 1682 the discontents of Virginia arose again almost
to the pitch of rebellion. Two sessions of the Assembly having been
spent in angry and fruitless disputes, between Lord Culpepper, the
Governor, and the House of Burgesses, in May of that year, the
malcontents in the counties of Gloucester, New Kent and Middlesex,
proceeded riotously to cut up the tobacco plants in the beds,
especially the sweet-scented, which was produced nowhere else.
Culpepper, the Governor, prevented further waste by patrols of horse.
The ringleaders were arrested, and some of them hanged upon a charge of
treason. A riot-act was also passed, making plant-cutting high treason,
the necessity of which act evinces the illegality of the execution of
these unfortunate plant-cutters. The vengeance of the government fell
heavily upon Major Robert Beverley, clerk of the House of Burgesses, as
the principal instigator of these disturbances. He had before incurred
the displeasure of the governor and council, by refusing to deliver up
to them copies of the legislative journal, without permission of the
Assembly. Thus by a firm adherence to his duty, he drew down upon
himself an unrelenting persecution.

In May, 1682, he was committed a prisoner on board the ship, the Duke of
York, lying in the Rappahannock river. Ralph Wormley, Matthew Kemp, and
Christopher Wormley, were directed to seize the records in Beverley's
possession, and to break open doors if necessary. Beverley was
afterwards transferred from the Duke of York to the ship Concord, and a
guard was set over him. Contriving however to escape from the custody of
the sheriff at York, the fugitive was retaken at his own house in
Mid