Books by Barbara McLennan

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  The Wealth of Virginia

  Francis Nicholson, sent to Virginia as Governor in 1699, wants to build a capital city and a powerful colony with himself as the center. He sees himself as a colonial king, but he’s never had to deal with Virginia colonists. He demands that Lucy Burwell, sixteen year-old daughter of one of the wealthiest planter families, marry him and threatens the family with bodily harm if they refuse. The colonists respond by sending the Rev. James Blair and his wife Sarah to London to have Nicholson recalled. The Virginians go to London, and meet Londoners of all walks of life. They participate in violence, pursue romances, and succeed in having the Governor replaced. The Wealth of Virginia is historical fiction, closely based on historical events. It relates the next decade for some of the characters introduced in The Wealth of Jamestown. The period was revolutionary in world history: the Glorious Revolution in England removed a king, Louis XIV rose to power in France and threatened the rest of Europe, and Virginia saw the birth of commerce, piracy, and vast accumulations of wealth. The Wealth of Virginia deals with Virginia during the decade 1700-1710. It tells the story of efforts by characters created in The Wealth of Jamestown to remove a governor sent to Virginia by the English Board Of Trade. The Virginians visit London, meet a variety of Londoners, engage in romance, witness violence, and successfully press their case to the Board of Trade. The book continues the exploration of the origins of many of our political, economic and social institutions in a form that is entertaining and easy to read. It also describes the earliest part of our history, a part which is generally untaught in the school curriculum

  
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  The Wealth of Jamestown

  William Roscoe, a young Virginia planter and sheriff of Yorktown and Gloucester, and Sarah Harrison, seventeen-year old daughter of one of Virginia’s wealthiest planters, are in love and engaged to be married. But Sarah’s father, Benjamin Harrison II, forces Sarah to break the engagement and marry James Blair, lobbyist, church bureaucrat and Commissary of the Church of England, with connections to the Board of Trade in England.

  Sarah retains her dowry and wealth, and while Blair goes to England to lobby for a college of which he’d be President, she continues her relationship with William. Sarah and William buy two sailing ships, and William begins trade with pirates in the new city of Charles Towne. With King William’s War with France finished, commerce and trade open up and Virginia planters become very wealthy—William becomes a member of the House of Burgesses. But Blair returns, reclaiming his status and seeking power over all of Virginia, forcing a showdown with William over the affections of Sarah.

  
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