A New Concept in Colonial Era Entertaining

At the January 25, 2015 King and Queen Historical Society Meeting, Mr. Cary Carson introduced “All Dressed Up, and No Place To Go,” a new concept about Virginia colonial society – magnificent private buildings initially considered private homes (MacMansions) masquerading as private club houses. The owners were born in the Virginia colony or arrived mid-1700s, married into the early prestigious colonial families and were wealthy, fashionable, and cosmopolitan, like their European counterparts. However, the colonial communities had barely begun emerging from their “hard scrabble” existence and had very few, if any, upscale entertainment venues where these individuals could “be seen”.

Fashionable towns in Virginia did not exist before the mid-18th Century. Therefore, they built their own “banqueting” houses where dances, dinners, and musical entertainment were held and which also served as private “inns” for overnight stays. Although no new artifacts specific to this concept have been discovered, a fresh look at existing artifacts and data substantially supports this theory. Mr. Carson walked the audience through the analysis, citing three colonial buildings in Virginia as examples: one each on Green Spring Plantation in James City County built by Gov. William Berkeley in 1645, Fairfield in Gloucester County built by Lewis Burwell II in 1694 and Corotoman in Lancaster County built by Robert “King” Carter in 1725.

Mr. Carson was Vice President for Research at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation until his retirement three years ago. He received his professional training in early modern British and colonial American history from Harvard University. He served as Colonial Williamsburg’s chief historian from 1976-2006 and for many years on the National Historic Landmarks Advisory Board. Currently, Mr. Carson divides his life between Williamsburg, Virginia and The Hague, Netherlands.