William Cole (circa 1598 to before 1664) emigrated from Essex, England to the Colony of Virginia in 1618, and in 1629 was one of the two men who represented Nutmeg Quarter (which later became part of Warwick County) in the House of Burgesses.
[6] Cole died some time before September 15, 1664, when 100 acres of land he had patented (based on immigrants for whose passage he had paid) in Accomack County (on Virginia's Eastern Shore), escheated and was assigned to another man.
[7][3] His son William Cole (1638-1694) may be the family's most distinguished member, representing clients as a lawyer at least since 1670, purchasing the 1350 acre Boldrup plantation (also known as Bolthrope) on the Warwick River in 1671, serving on the Virginia Governor's Council from 1674/75 (including as Governor Berkeley's agent during Bacon's Rebellion) until (near his death) in 1692, and co-founding the College of William and Mary.
[8][9] His son William Cole (this man's grandson) also served in the House of Burgesses, representing Warwick County in the early 18th century.
The next probable descendant who served in the legislature was Roscow Cole who represented James City County in the mid-19th century.