to disperse the colony and complicate efforts to maintain
adequate protection from the imminent threat of hostile natives.

The term hundred was applied to some, but not all, of these particular
plantations. The origin of this designation has sometimes been explained
as a derivation from the English administrative system, but this seems
valid only as it pertains to the name. There was no attempt to establish
a system based on English counties and hundreds, rather the Virginia
hundreds were closer to the feudal manor with a degree of economic and
political independence. In the light of these conditions, Professor
Wesley Frank Craven suggested the possibility that the term might have
been a "colloquial designation" applied to plantations with no definite
name and related to the units of 100 acres included in the grants or by
the requirement to seat 100 settlers on the land.

There were three general types of particular plantations. The first of
these represented the voluntary pooling of land and resources by several
adventurers of the company, since few had adequate land or financial
support to go it alone. The company granted a patent to contiguous areas
of land according to the number of shares of stock possessed by the
group. Examples of this type include the Society of Smith's Hundred and
Martin's Hundred. Smith's Hundred, later called Southampton Hundred, was
organized in 1617 and included among its adventurers Sir Thomas Smith,
Sir Edwin Sandys, and the Earl of Southampton. The grant included 80,000
acres and was located on the north side of the James River in the area
between "Tanks Weyanoke" and the Chickahominy River. The society was
administered by a treasurer and committees selected by a meeting of the
adventurers. The associates settled at least 300 colonists within their
boundaries and reported in 1635 the expenditure of L6,000 on the
settlement. Martin's Hundred, organized in 1618, was named for Richard
Martin and should be distinguished from (John) Martin's Brandon
organized the previous year. The Society of Martin's Hundred held patent
to 80,000 acres and dispatched over 250 colonists, but only a part of
the tract was ever occupied.

The second type of particular plantation involved an adventurer who
combined with persons outside the company to obtain a grant. The title
usually resided in the original adventurer, and the nature of government
and special privileges was similar to grants of the first kind