and security" mentioned by the Company; the death rate continued extremely high. The phrase "ancient planter" was not an honorific; it was simply a descriptive term, as used in the "Instructions", for a planter of long standing. According to a letter from John Rolfe dated January 1619/20: All the Ancient Planters being sett free have chosen places for their dividends according to the Comyssion. Which giveth all greate content, for now knowing their owne landes, they strive and are prepared to build houses & to clear their groundes ready to plant, which giveth great encouragement and the greatest hope to make the Colony florrish that ever yet happened to them. Identification Because the surviving historical records are incomplete, and sometimes demonstrably inaccurate, it is not possible to compile a definitive list of ancient planters. The database of Colonial Land Office Patents at the Library of Virginia is the principal source of information as to the identities of those who received grants as ancient planters. Though the record does not begin until 1623, when administration of the colony was taken over by the Crown, many of the subsequent patents identify "ancient planters", or provide information which shows that a tract of land must have been originally granted under the terms applying to Ancient Planters. Additional information comes from the 1624/5 Muster, a census ordered as part of the handover of the colony from the Virginia Company to the Crown. For some of the colonists, the census includes information on the year and ship of arrival. In many cases this valuable information is missing. Also as part of the transition to Crown Colony status, a list of grants was compiled in 1625 and sent to London. This list does not identify the ancient planters as such, but in some cases knowledge of the grant combined with information from other sources (e.g., knowledge of the date of arrival) is enough to show that the planter in question must have received the grant as an ancient planter. Bibliography Billings, Warren M. "An Account of George Percey," in The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 22–27. UNC Press, 1975. Boddie, John B. Colonial Surry. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974 . Campbell, Charles. History of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Lippincott, 1860. Coldham, Peter W. The Complete Book of Emigrants 1607-1660. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987. Dorman, John F., ed. Adventurers of