Oil on canvas, 36 x 28 in, undated, unknown artist
Location: courtroom foyer, far right

Born July 10, 1778 in Tappahannock, Virginia.
Died December 10, 1838 in Richmond, Virginia.

Elected by the General Assembly on February 20, 1834 to fill the vacancy created by the death of John William Greene and began his service on March 1, 1834. Service terminated by death.

Education:
Attended the College of William and Mary and studied law, 1798

Other judicial service:
Judge, General Court, 1809-1834 (president, 1820-1834).

Professional career:
Virginia state delegate, 1801-1803, 1807-1809.
Council of State, 1803-1806.
Compiler, with Hugh Holmes, of Virginia Cases, reports of the General Court, 1789-1826.
Appointed official reviser of the Virginia Code, 1816.
Member, Rockfish Gap Commission, appointed to choose the location for the University of Virginia, 1818.
Author, “Amphictyon” essays published in the Richmond Enquirer on March 30 and April 2, 1819, attacking John Marshall for attempting to extend the authority of the federal courts.

Further reading/Research collections

Sources:
Elected, 32 Va., iii; birth, death, education, and career, F. Thornton Miller, “William Brockenbrough (1778-1838),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography (1998); see also David A. Powers, III, “William Brockenbrough,” The Virginia Law Reporters Before 1880, edited by W. Hamilton Bryson, (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1977), 7-10; portrait, Library of Virginia catalog. The portrait was donated to the court for display in the courtroom on December 2, 1884, by Brockenbrough’s daughter (Order Book 26, p. 233-234).