Wives for the Settlers at Jamestown.

A nineteenth-century historic engraving depicts young women from England being greeted warmly as they land at Jamestown during the colonial era. The title of the print, Wives for the Settlers at Jamestown, indicates that these young women had come from England with the express hope of marrying Virginia planters. The Virginia Company of London, the commercial enterprise that oversaw the colony, viewed marriage as a way to make the colony more stable and ensure its long-term future.