Robert Saunders (1761–1835), attorney, attended the College of William and Mary in about 1775 and was a notary public in Williamsburg between 1789 and 1799. He also served as deputy commonwealth’s attorney for James City County, and he represented a district consisting of Elizabeth City, Warwick, and York counties in the Senate of Virginia, 1800–05. In 1813 Saunders declined a judgeship on the Virginia General Court, in part because he was serving in the militia as captain of a Williamsburg cavalry unit. He also sat on the board of visitors of the College of William and Mary and was a director of the Public Hospital in Williamsburg. Saunders died in Williamsburg (WMQ description begins William and Mary Quarterly, 1892–  description ends , 1st ser., 7 [1899]: 155; 14 [1906]: 147; William and Mary Provisional List description begins A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. From 1693 to 1888, 1941 description ends , 35; CVSP description begins William P. Palmer and others, eds., Calendar of Virginia State Papers … Preserved in the Capitol at Richmond, 1875–93, 11 vols. description ends , 4:627, 5:384, 6:463, 656, 9:70, 10:214; Leonard, General Assembly description begins Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, 1978 description ends ; Butler, Virginia Militia description begins Stuart Lee Butler, A Guide to Virginia Militia Units in the War of 1812, 1988 description ends , 113, 247; The Officers, Statutes and Charter of the College of William and Mary [Philadelphia, 1817]; American Beacon and Norfolk and Portsmouth Daily Advertiser, 19 May 1835; will in Vi: RG 50, James River Company, Wills and Qualifications).