George Durant (October 1, 1632 – February 6, 1692) was an attorney,
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alaba ...
. He is sometimes called the "father of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
".
Biography
Durant was born in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to William Durant and Alice Pell. Prior to July 1658 he resided for a time in Northumberland County,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, where he had purchased . He married Ann Marwood on January 4, 1658, and shortly thereafter moved to
Nansemond County, Virginia
Nansemond is an extinct jurisdiction that was located south of the James River in Virginia Colony and in the Commonwealth of Virginia (after statehood) in the United States, from 1646 until 1974. It was known as Nansemond County until 1972. From ...
, where he lived for about two years.
Durant was associated with
Nathaniel Batts
Nathaniel Batts (–1679) was a fur trader, explorer and Indian interpreter. He became the first recorded European to permanently settle in North Carolina in 1655. He often appears as Captain Nathaniel Batts in the records of Norfolk County, Vir ...
, a
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
r, and Richard Batts, a sea captain, and together with them explored the
Albemarle Sound
Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a ba ...
area of Virginia.
On August 4, 1661, Durant purchased, in the second oldest recorded deed of the area, land from Cisketando, king of the Yeopim Indian tribe. On March 13, 1662, a second purchase was made from Kilcocanen, another Yeopim. By 1662 Durant was living in Virginia on property adjacent to the Albemarle Sound, which became part of the Carolina colony in 1665. His plantation, called "Wicocombe" (subsequently known as "Durant's Neck"), was located in
Perquimans River
The Perquimans River is a coastal waterway in Northeastern North Carolina in the United States. Located entirely within Perquimans County, the river drains directly to the Albemarle Sound between Durant's Neck on the north and Harvey Neck on th ...
and the Little River, lies on the neck of land five miles east of
Edenton
Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has b ...
, that was sold to George Durant by the two Indian leaders.
A mariner turned planter, Durant was one of the ablest and most influential men in the county and a leader of the 1677
Culpeper's Rebellion
Culpeper's Rebellion was a popular uprising in 1677 provoked by the enforcement of the Navigation Acts. It was led by settler John Culpeper against the ruling Lords Proprietor in Albemarle County, Carolina, near what is now Elizabeth City, North ...
,Harcourt Social studies, ''North Carolina Geography, History, and Culture'', 2009, page 57 an uprising over the requirement that all colonial goods be transported in British ships. Durant's open opposition to
Seth Sothel
Seth Sothel (also spelled Sothell and Southwell, d. c. 1694) was a colonial American proprietor and governor of the Province of Carolina. He ruled the northern portion, Albemarle Sound (future North Carolina), in 1678 and the southern portion (fut ...
, one of the
Lords Proprietor
A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary".
Origin
In the beginning of the European ...
, led to his arrest and imprisonment. But when Sothel confiscated of Durant's property, residents of the Albemarle region rose in defense of Durant and banished Sothel from the area.
The Durant family Bible, printed in 1599 and brought by Durant to the New World, is displayed in a locked cabinet at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
.
Durant died on February 6, 1692, at the age of 59.