Beverley Randolph was born in 1754 at Chatsworth plantation in Henrico County, Virginia, the son of Peter Randolph and Lucy Bolling Randolph. He belonged to two of the colony’s most influential families. The Randolphs held extensive lands and public offices, while the Bollings claimed descent from Pocahontas and John Rolfe. Beverley grew up within Virginia’s planter aristocracy, surrounded by kin who expected educated men to manage estates and participate in government. Chatsworth’s prosperity depended upon tobacco and enslaved labor. Randolph’s childhood education was probably private, emphasizing classics, writing, arithmetic, law, riding, and plantation administration. He later attended the College of William and Mary, where sons of the gentry formed relationships that often lasted throughout their political careers. Williamsburg exposed him to the House of Burgesses, royal government, courts, and the intellectual arguments accompanying resistance to Britain. His father died while Beverley was still young, leaving property and family obligations that encouraged an early transition to adulthood. Randolph inherited land and became responsible for maintaining the household’s position. He married Martha Cocke, strengthening connections with another established Virginia family. During the Revolutionary era Randolph served in the militia and entered public life, but his route to office began in county society rather than on a battlefield. Local courts, vestries, elections, and networks of neighboring planters taught the practical mechanics of authority. His family connections brought opportunity, while effective participation required tact and reliability. Before becoming governor of Virginia, Randolph had therefore been shaped by inherited privilege, paternal loss, elite education, plantation management, marriage, and close observation of colonial politics. He belonged to the generation of Virginia leaders who converted gentry authority into republican office without abandoning the social and economic foundations of plantation life. His early experience made him cautious and administrative rather than flamboyant, qualities that later defined his public service.