Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/168

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

strongly opposed the popular uprising, and the loyal Beverley stood against the unjust usurpa- tion of the King. It is also a high tribute to his courage and uj)rightncss of purpose. lie did not long survive his final political down- fall, but died about March i6, 1687, leaving several sons of position and distinction, Rob- ert Beverley, who wrote the history of Vir- ginia, being one.

Kemp, Matthew, was a son of Edmund Kemp, of Lancaster county, a fact set forth in a grant to him of 1 100 acres of land on I'ianketank. He lived at first in Lancaster, then including Middlesex, and was justice and >l.erifi' of that county in 1659. On Nov. 15, if/xD. a certificate was granted by Lancaster county court to Matthew Kemp for the im- portation fjf certain head-rights, among whom were himself twice mintioncd and his wife I)<jrotliy. Later in life Col. Matthew Kemp removed to Gloucester county, which he repre- sented in the house of burgesses. In 1676 liacon, in liis proclamation, included him among (]ov. Berkeley's "wicked and pernicious councillors, aiders and assistants against the Commonality." The commissioners, sent to suppress the rebellion, however, regarding his character from their point of view, speak of him as a gentleman of an honest, loyal family, a very deserving person and a great sufferer at the hands of the rebels. In the years 1678 and 1679 Kemp was speaker of the house of burgesses, and on Dec. 12, 1681. he had re- cently been ap])ointed by the governor a mem- ber of the council while still a burgess. lie was county lieutenant of Glouce.ster, and on May 8, 1682. (iov. Chicheley wrote to the King that he ha 1 dispatched Col. Kemj), with orders, to raise horse and foot and suppress riotous "plant cutters." This he soon suc- ceeded in doing, making a number of arrests.

He died in 1683. fhere is hardly any doubt that Edmund Kemp was a grandson of Robert Kem]), of Gissing county, Norfolk, England, and nephew of Sir Robert Kemp, baronet.

Byrd, William, Sr., the founder of the dis- tn:guished Byrd family of "Westover, ' \ ir- gjnia, was born about 1649, in London. He was the son of John Byrd, a London gold- smith and a descendant of an old Cheshire fi.mily. The date of his coming to Virginia is not known, but it must have been as very young man, as it is recorded that on Oct. 2"], 1C173, he was granted 1200 acres of land lying on the James river and Shokoe creek. He quickly assumed a prominent place in colonial affairs and was implicated in the matter of Bacon's rebellion. He was a near neighbor and adherent of Bacon in the early stages of his oi)position. but it seems that he took no part in the actual rebellion and in all proba- bility made his peace with Berkeley. He was accused by Col. Augustine W arner, after the rebellion, of having entered his house at the head of some of Bacon's men and plundered- his estate to tb.e value of ir.ooo sterling, and Warner actually tjbtained judgment against him for the amount, but the end of the dispute is unknown and Byrd claimed that, at the time of the plundering, he was himself a prisoner in Bacon's hands. In a letter from his wife, written sometime before the rebellion to a friend in England, she speaks of the country as being well pleased) with all that Bacon had done and remarks that she believed the coun- cil was, too, "so far as they durst show it." In the year 1695 ^o'- Byrd was alluded to as having been a member of the council for fif- teen years, but the earliest record of him in tins jwsition, appearing in the official records, i.=-, in 1681, when he was appointed by Lord Culj)eper. On Dec. 4, \(^?>~. James II. ordered