Daily life in the Virginia Colony is known from letters, laws and the finds of archaeologists at Jamestown. The first years were harsh; life became more settled in the 1620s.

Quick answer: Daily life in the Virginia Colony began in crowded, barracks-like housing at Jamestown. Settlers ate deer, ducks, fish, oysters, crabs and corn, and wild animals supplied a large share of their meat. Many died of disease and hunger, above all in the Starving Time of 1609-1610. By the 1620s colonists lived in separate households.

Contents

Houses

In the early years most settlers appear to have lived in crowded, barracks-like conditions. Some higher-status men may have had simple pit houses or tents of their own. Once the colony stabilized, by the 1620s, it had distinct household units, which archaeologists identify from building foundations.[1]

Most furnishings were made of organic materials and have not survived. Its traces are metal parts such as chest locks, curtain rings and the lead that held window glass.[1]

Food

Animal bones and seeds found at Jamestown show what the settlers ate.[2]

Food group Examples found
Wild meat Deer, duck, groundhog
Farm animals Chicken, sheep, goat
Seafood Oysters, crabs; fishhooks
Plants Corn, acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, cherries, grapes, persimmons, squash

Researchers at Historic Jamestowne estimate that wildlife supplied 46.4 percent of the colonists’ meat.[3]

Water and Disease

Settlers drank salty or slimy river water, and disease and food shortages killed many of them.[4] In the Starving Time of 1609-1610, during a drought and a breakdown in relations with the Powhatan, most of the colonists died.[4]

Rules and Work

Life in early Jamestown was strictly regulated. Under the laws of Governor Thomas Dale, everyone had to attend church twice a day; repeated absence could bring the loss of the day’s food allowance, whipping or service in the galleys.[5] After 1612, tobacco became the main cash crop of the colony.[6]

Frequently asked questions

Where did the first Virginia colonists live? Most lived in crowded, barracks-like quarters at Jamestown; separate households appeared by the 1620s.

What did the Jamestown colonists eat? Deer, ducks, fish, oysters, crabs, corn and wild nuts and fruit, among other foods.

What was the Starving Time? The winter of 1609-1610, when most of the colonists died of hunger and disease.

Did colonists have to go to church? Yes. Under Governor Dale’s laws, attendance was required twice a day.

References

The founding of the settlement is described in Jamestown: Why There?.