George Reade (October 25, 1608 – November 21, 1671) was a prominent landowner, military officer, judge, and politician who served as a member of the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

and as

Acting Governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. He is the great-great-grandfather of the first

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Early life and family

Reade was born on October 25, 1608 in

Linkenholt Linkenholt is a village near Andover in Hampshire, England with about 40 inhabitants. It is in the civil Parish of Faccombe. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as ''Linchehou'', when it was part of the land of the Abbey of St Peter of Glouceste ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

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 ...

, the son of Sir Robert Reade and Mildred Windebank Reade. He descended from

Magna Charta Sureties (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

. His paternal grandparents were Andrew Reade and Alice Cooke, and his maternal grandparents were Frances Dymoke and Sir Thomas Windebank. His uncle was Sir

Francis Windebank Sir Francis Windebank (1582 – 1 September 1646) was an English politician who was Secretary of State under Charles I. Biography Francis was the only son of Sir Thomas Windebank of Hougham, Lincolnshire, who owed his advancement to the Cecil ...

, Secretary of State to King Charles I. After his mother died, Reade traveled to Virginia in January 1637 at the age of 28 as a member of

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

's staff.

Marriage and children

In 1641, Reade married Elizabeth Martiau, daughter of

Nicolas Martiau Nicolas Martiau (; 1591–1657) was a Frenchman who immigrated to the English colony of Virginia in the 17th century. He was born on the western island of Île de Ré. The garden behind the Ernest Cognacq Museum in Saint Martin de Ré hol ...

. They were likely married in what is now known as Yorktown in

York County, Virginia York County (formerly Charles River County) is a county in the eastern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in the Tidewater. As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,045. The county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown. ...

. They had seven children, including: * Mildred Reade (1643–1694), married

Augustine Warner Jr. Colonel Augustine Warner Jr. (1642 – June 19, 1681) was a Virginia politician, planter, and landowner. He served in the House of Burgesses 1666–77 and was its Speaker in two separate sessions in 1676 and 1677, before and after Bacon's Rebelli ...

* Robert Reade (1644–1722/23), married Mary Lilly * George Reade Jr. (born ca. 1648) * Francis Reade (1650–1694), married Jane Chisman * Elizabeth Reade (1654–1717), married Capt. Thomas Cheesman * Benjamin Reade (born ca. 1667), married Mary Gwynn * Thomas Reade (birthdate unknown), married Lucy Gwynn

Career

Reade settled first in a plantation home in Williamsburg, and later resided in York and Gloucester Counties. Reade acquired considerable land holdings throughout Virginia colony. He was granted 600 acres of land in Lancaster County in 1651, 500 acres in Northumberland County in 1653, 2,000 acres in Westmoreland County in 1657, and 2,000 acres of land along the

Piankatank River The Piankatank River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Virginia. Located on the Middle Peninsula, between the Rappahannock and ...

by the General Assembly in 1667. Reade served in the Virginia Militia beginning in the late 1630s, achieving the ranks of Captain, Major, and Colonel.

Virginia political career

After Charles I restored John Harvey to the post of Governor of Virginia in 1636, Reade joined him as a member of his party to return to Virginia. Reade worked as an advisor to Harvey and resided at the governor's mansion for a period. From 1638 to 1639, Reade served in the post of Acting Governor of Virginia during Harvey's absence, and until Sir

Francis Wyatt Sir Francis Wyatt (1588–1644) was an English nobleman, knight, politician, and government official. He was the first English royal governor of Virginia. He sailed for America on 1 August 1621 on board the ''George''. He became governor shortl ...

was appointed to succeed Harvey. Reade worked closely with

Richard Kemp Colonel Richard Justin Kemp (born 14 April 1959) is a retired British Army officer who served from 1977 to 2006. Kemp was an infantry battalion commanding officer. Among his assignments were the command of Operation Fingal in Afghanistan from ...

who was the Secretary of the Virginia Colony, and he assumed the post in an acting capacity during Kemp's absence from 1640 until 1642. From 1649 until 1656, Reade served as a member of the House of Burgesses representing James City County. Reade served as a member of the

Virginia Governor's Council The Governor's Council (also known as the "Council of State" or simply "the Council") was the upper house of the colonial legislature (the House of Burgesses was the other house) in the Colony of Virginia from 1607 until the American Revolution i ...

from around 1656 until his death. On August 25, 1656, Reade was a justice of the General Court of Virginia, sitting for York County.

Death

Reade died in 1671 at the age of 63. He is buried at the Grace Episcopal Churchyard in Yorktown.

Notable descendants

* George Washington (1732–1799) – General of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, first American President; 2rd great-grandson * Thomas Nelson Jr. (1738–1789) – Brigadier General, Signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, Governor of Virginia; 2nd great-grandson *

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

(1774–1809) – American explorer, Governor of

Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of the ...

; 3rd great-grandson *

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

(1885-1945) – General of the United States Army during World War II; 7th and 8th great-grandson *

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

(1926-2022) – Queen of the United Kingdom; 9th great-granddaughterAlbert H. Spencer, ''Genealogy of the Spencer family'' (1956)
p. v (snippet)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reade, George Colonial governors of Virginia 1608 births 1671 deaths English emigrants