 Another 200 years later, the long-lost site of Wolstenholme Towne was rediscovered in 1976 during an archaeological dig overseen by Ivor Noel Hume after the Carter's Grove Plantation property came under the ownership of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.The privately owned Virginia Company lost its charter in 1624, and Virginia became a royal colony.In 1634, the English Crown created eight shires (i.e., counties) in the colony of Virginia, with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.