Eltham, Virginia


Eltham is a small unincorporated community in New Kent County, Virginia, United States. Located along state routes 30, 33, and 249 in modern times, it is slightly west of the town of West Point. It was named for Eltham Plantation, across from West Point on the nearby Pamunkey River.

Eltham Plantation

Captain William Bassett was from the Isle of Wight in England, and was given a contract to build a fort at Jamestown, Virginia. He married Bridget Cary, daughter of Colonel Miles Cary, of Southampton, England. He received the patent for Eltham Plantation and lands in 1647. As a minor, his son, later Colonel William Bassett, had a brick mansion built in New Kent County, Virginia, that was named "Eltham", after the Bassett family home in England. Colonel William Bassett married Joanna Burwell, daughter of Lewis Burwell. Their son, also named William Bassett, married Elizabeth Churchill. Their son, Burwell Bassett, married Anna Maria "Fanny" Bassett, sister to Martha Washington, and inherited Eltham plantation upon the death of his father. Burwell Bassett, Jr., then inherited Eltham plantation upon the death of his father. He was a member of congress for thirty years, and died in 1841. At this time, the plantation passed to his brother, John Bassett. His son was George Washington Bassett, and his wife, Bettie Carter Brown, then inherited the plantation. Their son, George Washington Bassett, Jr., inherited the plantation. After the Civil War, the plantation home burned.
Eltham Plantation was owned by William Burwell Bassett and his wife, Anna Maria Dandridge, the sister of Martha Washington. Martha's husband, General George Washington galloped from Yorktown to Eltham on November 5, 1781, to the bedside of his stepson, John Parke Custis, who had contracted camp fever during the Yorktown Campaign and subsequently died at the Pamunkey River plantation.
Eltham Manor in Bassett, Virginia, is named for this plantation.

Eltham's Landing

Eltham Landing played a prominent role for Union forces as a port during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. The manor house was destroyed by fire in 1876. The New Kent - Charles City Chronicle is published here.