THE LONDON CHRONICLE, England, Aug. 15, 1767  A short report on page 6 is headed: "From the Virginia Gazette, Williamsburgh, Virginia" mentioning that John Randolph was appointed Attorney General, to replace Peyton Randolph. The balance of the issue is taken up with various reports from Europe from just 8 years before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Many advertisements as well.
Eight pages, 8 1/4 by 11 inches, some front page rubbing, good condition.

Background: The year 1767 marks a profound institutional and genealogical bottleneck for the Randolph family of Virginia, highlighted by a historic legal passing of the torch and the publication of rare colonial records that remain cornerstone artifacts of early American history. Amidst escalating imperial tensions driven by the Townshend Acts of 1767, the family executed a monumental transfer of power when Peyton Randolph officially stepped down as the King's Attorney General to lead the increasingly defiant House of Burgesses, paving the way for his brother, John Randolph, to be appointed as the last Royal Attorney General of Virginia. This political shift coincided with the death of their cousin, Peter Randolph of Chatsworth, whose 1767 probated will triggered a massive redistribution of land, wealth, and enslaved laborers, while solidifying a legal legacy that is exceptionally rare in colonial printing; the meticulously recorded legal opinions, General Court decisions, and library inventories associated with the Randolphs during this precise year survived through scarce manuscript copies that legal historians consider invaluable. The extreme rarity of these 1767 archival records and subsequent private family pamphlets—which captured the family's transition from British loyalists to architects of American independence—underscores the unique historical significance of a dynasty that, in this exact year, was simultaneously managing the Crown's laws and mentoring a young nephew named Thomas Jefferson as he was admitted to the Virginia bar.