There is a website of Albemarle County.

On the name "Albemarle" the following information was kindly provided by Mrs. Margaret M. O'Bryant, Librarian of the Albemarle County Historical Society:

Mr. Hogendijk:

In answer to your questions of last month about the origins of our county's name--first, I'll have to correct the source of it. Albemarle County, Virginia, was NOT named for George Monck, Duke of Albemarle; it was named for William Anne Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, who was the royal governor of the Virginia colony when Albemarle County was formed, in 1744. George Monck, one of the original proprietors of the Carolina colony, was made Duke of Albemarle by King Charles II in 1660. All of the places called Albemarle in NORTH CAROLINA were named after him (Albemarle Sound, etc.). The dukedom became extinct in 1688 at Monck's death (no heirs).

In the 1690's, after the accession of Queen Mary and William of Orange to the English throne, the title of Earl of Albemarle was given to Arnold Joost van Keppel, a Dutch supporter of William's who came to England with him. His son was William Anne (covering all the bases of patrons with that name) Keppel, who became the 2nd Earl. He had a distinguished military and diplomatic career and was governor of Virginia from 1737 until his death in 1754--although he never came to the colony in person. The earldom of Albemarle is still an active title.

The origin of the name Albemarle is French, from the Aumale region of Normandy. A count of Aumale came to England with William the Conqueror, and his descendants became the earls of Aumale (or Albemarle, as the English called it). The line died out in the 13th century and the title lapsed until Charles II revived it for George Monck. Another somewhat different version I have seen is that the name had its sources in the Latin "alba marla," for the white earth/clay of the Normandy coast. The name may have passed through a localizing effect at least once, if not twice--from Alba Marla to Aumale to Albemarle, in variable order.

I hope that this information is helpful to you, and that you will be pleased that there is such a strong Dutch connection. We are glad that you enjoyed your time here; perhaps you'll be able to come again. Please let me know if I can help with any other questions.

Margaret M. O'Bryant, Librarian
Albemarle County Historical Society
200 2nd St. NE
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
(434)296-7294 E-mail: acohslibrary at cstone.net

Back to my home page.