Cameron Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction over the western part of

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, ...

and, once it was created in 1757, over

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

. The parish was named for the minor title of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron. The parish was created in 1748 from

Truro Parish Truro Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction originally over all of Fairfax County. The parish had its central church at the Truro Church and the parish was named for the parish in ...

. It was divided in 1770 and Shelburne Parish was formed from the western half of Loudoun County. After 1770, Cameron Parish covered eastern Loudoun County until disestablishment ended the parish system by 1786.

The parish in colonial Virginia

The Anglican church was the established religion of the

Colony of Virginia 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 ...

from 1619 - 1776.Parish in Colonial Virginia ''Encyclopedia Virginia''. Accessed on July 8, 2012
/ref> Each parish in the colony was ministered to by a single minister and governed by a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquial ...

usually composed of 12 local men of wealth and standing in the community. Parishes were created by acts 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 the upper house of the legislature, 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 ...

Formation of the parish

Cameron Parish was created by the General Assembly of Virginia in 1748 when Truro Parish was divided along

Difficult Run Difficult Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia in the United States. The area has had man ...

. It included what is, at present, Loudoun County and the western part of Fairfax County. The parish was named for Thomas, Lord Fairfax, who was also 6th Baron Cameron. He was the lord proprietor of much of Northern Virginia during the colonial period, which he inherited through his mother's line, the Culpepers. In 1763, the parish boundaries were adjusted to include all of Loudoun County, as it was then configured. In 1770, Shelburne Parish was created out of the western part of Cameron Parish. Thus, Cameron Parish's boundaries included the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Datas ...

on the north, Bull Run on the south, Goose Creek to the west, and the Fairfax County line in the east.

Places of worship

The oldest chapel built in what would become Cameron Parish was originally a "Chapel of Ease for the comfort of the people above the Goose Creek," built in 1733 by the vestry of Truro Parish. It was a log structure near the Big Spring about two miles north of present-day Leesburg. Other churches built were all also wooden structures and included Rocky Run Chapel, Broad Run Church, and Mountain Chapel. In 1773, the Sugarland Run Church, a brick structure, was built on a site in present-day

Sterling Sterling may refer to: Common meanings * Sterling silver, a grade of silver * Sterling (currency), the currency of the United Kingdom ** Pound sterling, the primary unit of that currency Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city w ...

Clergy

* Rev. John Andrews (1758–67) * Rev. Archibald Avens (1767–71) * Rev. Spence Monroe Grayson (1773–76)

References

{{Reflist, 2 Episcopal Church in Virginia Colonial United States (British) Anglican organizations established in the 18th century Colony of Virginia

The parish in colonial Virginia

Formation of the parish

Places of worship

Clergy

See also

References