Born: December 27, 1727 in Williamsburg (perhaps in the Peyton Randolph House)
Married: Ariana Jennings
Died: January 31, 1784 in Brampton, England
Burial: Randolph vault in the chapel at the College of William & Mary1
Will:
Parents: Sir John Randolph and Susannah Beverley
Children:
Susannah Beverley Randolph
Ariana Randolph
Edmund Jennings Randolph
John Randolph II was educated first at the College of William & Mary, and in 1745-49 at the Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London.
He wrote A Treatise on Gardening by A Citizen of Virginia, often cited as the first American publication on kitchen gardening.2
He played violin with Thomas Jefferson. He became Virginia's Attorney General when his brother Peyton Randolph left that position after being elected as Speaker of the House of Burgesses.
John Randolph was a Loyalist and became known as "John the Tory." He chose to go to England rather than fight his friends and family, or betray his oath to the king. Peyton Randolph was a patriot and served as the chair of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
John Randolph was the last Attorney General for the colony of Virginia. Leaving the colony required him to abandon both his position and his home in Williamsburg, Tazewell Hall on South England Street. It was confiscated by the new state of Virginia, and he was never able to obtain compensation for the seizure of Tazewell Hall.
The American Revolution split the family. John Randolph's two daughters sailed with him to London, but his son Edmund Randolph served as one of George Washington's aides. Edmund Randolph ended up being the first Attorney General under President Washington and then Secretary of State.3