William Byrd I (1652 – December 4, 1704) was an English-born

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 ...

colonist and politician. He came from

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has mea ...

, London where his father John Bird (c. 1620–1677) was a goldsmith. His family's ancestral roots were in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

Personal life

On the invitation of his maternal uncle, Thomas Stegge Jr., in March 1669, William Bird/Byrd immigrated to Virginia. In Virginia, the spelling ''Byrd'' became standard. On October 27, 1673, he was granted on the James River. Byrd became a well-connected fur trader in what would later become the Richmond, Virginia area. Some of Byrd's landholdings became (after his death) part of the site of modern-day

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. About 1673, he married a 21-year-old widow named Mary (née Horsmanden) Filmer, a native of

Lenham Lenham is a market village and civil parish in Kent situated on the southern edge of the North Downs, east of Maidstone. The picturesque square in the village has two public houses (one of which is a hotel), a couple of restaurants, and a tea ...

, England. Mary's father had spent time in Virginia as a

Cavalier The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ) ...

fleeing

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, and her former husband Samuel Filmer (third son of

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

author

Robert Filmer Sir Robert Filmer (c. 1588 – 26 May 1653) was an English political theorist who defended the divine right of kings. His best known work, '' Patriarcha'', published posthumously in 1680, was the target of numerous Whig attempts at rebuttal ...

) descended from the sister of

Samuel Argall Sir Samuel Argall (1572 or 1580 – 24 January 1626) was an English adventurer and naval officer. As a sea captain, in 1609, Argall was the first to determine a shorter northern route from England across the Atlantic Ocean to the new English ...

, governor of Virginia. William Byrd I and his wife would become the parents of

William Byrd II William Byrd II (March 28, 1674August 26, 1744) was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor, author, and a man of letters. Born in Colonial Virginia, he was educated in London, where he practiced law. Upon his father's death, he returned to Virg ...

and three daughters. Their daughter, Ursula, at age 16, married Robert Beverley Jr., Major Robert Beverley's son. They had one child,

William Beverley William Beverley (1696–1756) was an 18th-century legislator, civil servant, planter and landowner in the Colony of Virginia. Born in Virginia, Beverley—the son of planter and historian Robert Beverley, Jr. (c. 1667–1722) and his wife, Ursu ...

(1698–1756), and Ursula died in 1698, within a year of her marriage. Colonel William Beverley married

Richard Bland Richard Bland (May 6, 1710 – October 26, 1776), sometimes referred to as Richard Bland II or Richard Bland of Jordan's Point, was an American Founding Father, planter and statesman from Virginia. A cousin and early mentor of Thomas Jeffers ...

's daughter, Elizabeth Bland. They had four children. Their son, Robert, married Maria Carter on February 3, 1763. Her parents were

Landon Carter Col. Landon Carter, I (August 18, 1710 – December 22, 1778) was an American planter and burgess for Richmond County, Virginia. Although one of the most popular patriotic writers and pamphleters of pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary-era Vir ...

and Maria Byrd.

Biography

In 1676, Byrd was a sympathizer of Nathaniel Bacon in

Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Colony of Virginia, Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist), Nathaniel Bacon against List of colonial governors of Virginia, Colon ...

, and took an active part in the rebellion, first by helping persuade Bacon to take unlawful command of a militia and lead it against the Indians. He also rode with Bacon after the rebellion began and was involved in the sack of

Warner Hall Warner Hall is a historic plantation in Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. Augustine Warner, progenitor of many prominent First Families of Virginia, and great-great-grandfather of President George Washington established the plantation ...

, confiscating goods amounting to £845, or the equivalent of what 40 slaves or servants would produce in a year. He later allied himself with the Governor and became a prominent citizen. Also in 1676, Byrd established the James River Fort on the south bank of the James River in what is now known as the Manchester District of Richmond. Byrd was elected to the Virginia

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 establishe ...

in 1677 and later served many years on the

Governor's Council The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the experience under colonial rule would ...

. In 1688, Theodorick Bland Jr. and his brother Richard conveyed 1,200 acres of their

Westover Plantation Westover Plantation is a historic colonial tidewater plantation located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. Established in c. 1730–1750, it is the homestead of the Byrd family of Virginia. State Route 5, ...

property to William Byrd I in 1688 for £300 and 10,000 pounds of tobacco and cask. Byrd's grandson built a Georgian mansion there in the 1750s. Byrd died on 4 December 1704, at his plantation home of Westover, in

Charles City County, Virginia Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River. The ...

. He is buried near the original site of the

Westover Church Westover Church is a historic church located west of Charles City off Virginia State Route 5 in Charles City, Virginia, United States. It was built in 1731 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Theodorick Bland of Westo ...

References

External links

*
Biography at Virtualology.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, William I 1652 births 1704 deaths People from Shadwell

William Byrd I William Byrd I (1652 – December 4, 1704) was an English-born Virginia colonist and politician. He came from Shadwell, London where his father John Bird (c. 1620–1677) was a goldsmith. His family's ancestral roots were in Cheshire. Personal li ...

English emigrants American planters Virginia Governor's Council members

Personal life

Biography

Further reading

References

External links