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

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

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.

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

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

Professional career:
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, “Amphityon” 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).