Shire - Shires in The United States

Shires in The United States

In 1634, eight "shires" were created in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I, King of England. They were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:

• Accomac Shire (now Accomack County, Virginia)
• Charles City Shire (now Charles City County, Virginia)
• Charles River Shire (now York County, Virginia)
• Elizabeth City Shire (now the City of Hampton, Virginia)
• Henrico Shire (now Henrico County, Virginia)
• James City Shire (now James City County, Virginia)
• Warwick River Shire (now the City of Newport News, Virginia)
• Warrosquyoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County, Virginia)

Among these Shires of Virginia, the five noted above are considered to be still existent in somewhat their same political form in Virginia as of 2006, though three of them have vanished. Most of their boundaries have changed in the intervening centuries.

Before the Province of New York was granted county subdivisions and a greater royal presence in 1683, the early ducal colony consisted of York Shire, as well as Albany and Ulster, after the three titles held by Prince James: Duke of York, Duke of Albany, Earl of Ulster. While these were basically renamed Dutch core settlements, they were quickly converted to English purposes, while the Dutch remained within the colony, as opposed to later practice of the Acadian Expulsion. Further Anglo-Dutch synthesis occurred when James enacted the Dominion of New England and later when William III of England took over through the Glorious Revolution.