One of two brothers (the other was Richard) who emigrated to Virginia in the early part of the eighteenth century. The family is of Welsh extraction.

Robert was reported to be somewhat eccentric and had a beligerent personality but he was a good and useful citizen developing Shepherd’s Hill (his Caroline County, Virginia home) into a large and successful plantation. He was one of 18 Magistrates appointed by the King to set up the Caroline County government in 1727.

See www.hanovertavern.org/pages/history.htm which mentions that Robert Woolfolk purchased the Needwood Tavern and the rights to operate the stage line on the Richmond Post Road. His descendants operated the stage line for the next 100 years.