Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, (21 March 1635 – 27 January 1689) was an English peer and colonial administrator who served as the

governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

from 1677 to 1683.

Biography

Born in 1635, Colepeper (often referred to by the alternate, Culpeper) was the son of Judith and John Colepeper. As a royalist, his father left England at the end of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

following the execution of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. Thomas Culpeper lived with his father in the Netherlands and there on 3 August 1659 married the Dutch heiress Margaret van Hesse. He returned to England after Charles II's restoration, where his wife was naturalised as English by Act of Parliament. Culpeper was made

Governor of the Isle of Wight Below is a list of those who have held the office of Governor of the Isle of Wight in England. Lord Mottistone was the last lord lieutenant to hold the title governor, from 1992 to 1995; since then there has been no governor appointed. Governo ...

from 1661 to 1667 which involved little administration but added to his wealth. He was elected as a Bailiff to the board of the Bedford Level Corporation for 1665 and 1667. He became

in July 1677 but did not leave England until 1679, when he was ordered to by Charles II. While there, he seemed more interested in maintaining his land in the

Northern Neck The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas (traditionally called "necks" in Virginia) on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia (along with the Middle Peninsula and the Virginia Peninsula). The P ...

than governing and soon returned to England. Rioting in the colony forced him to return in 1682, by which time the riots were already quelled. After apparently appropriating £9,500 from the treasury of the colony, he returned to England and Charles II was forced to dismiss him, appointing in his stead

Francis Howard, 5th Baron Howard of Effingham Francis Howard, 5th Baron Howard of Effingham (c. 1643 – 30 March 1694 O.S./95 N.S.)Birth year is estimated from baptism record. For death year, Bolton, p. 152 gives 1695 (New Style) while Tyler, p. 54 gives 1694 (Old Style). Both are corrobora ...

. During this tumultuous time, Culpeper's erratic behaviour meant that he had to rely increasingly on his cousin and Virginia agent, Col.

Nicholas Spencer Colonel Nicholas Spencer, Jr. (1633–1689) was a merchant, planter and politician in colonial Virginia. Born in Cople, Bedfordshire, Spencer migrated to the Westmoreland County, Virginia, where he became a planter and which he represente ...

.Letters of William Fitzhugh, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. II, The Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, 1895
/ref> (Spencer succeeded Culpeper as acting Governor on the Lord's departure from the colony.) Culpeper lived the rest of his life in London with his mistress, Susannah Willis, and their two daughters. He left a will in favour of Willis and her daughters that was suppressed. Catherine Culpeper, his only child with his wife Margaret van Hesse, inherited much of his wealth and married Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron in 1690. In Virginia,

Culpeper County Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is C ...

and its county seat, the town of Culpeper are named for him.

References

*''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' * John T. Kneebone et al., eds., ''Dictionary of Virginia Biography'' (Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1998- ), 3:596-598. *

External links

Thomas Colepeper
at

Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Colepeper, Thomas 1635 births 1689 deaths Colonial governors of Virginia 2

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...