Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/183

 COI.OXIAI. COl-XCJLLORS OF STATE


 * i I rived in .March, 1714-15. in which hi.^ nrunc

v.as again included and he seems after this U: have h.'cn a regular attenchmt until his ('tatli in ijiS, at hi> residence ••liarn I'hns" in Middlesex coimty. lie married Lucy, daughter of Maj. Lewis Thirwell and his wife Abigail Smith descended from the illustrious house of the T.acons in Engiand.

Byrd, William, ui Westover. a son of Coun- cilor William Byrd. of the same place, was born March 2S. 1674. He may truly be said to have been born under a lucky star, for hi> father had already made the name of T.yrd distinguished in \irginia. and beriuealhed' to iT.e son. besides worldly wealth and position. many admirable gifts of character and mind. fJe was sent to England ;is a mere lad for hi- education and placed under the direction of Sir Robert Southwell. Later he read law in the Afiddle Tempk. and. in recognition of his gifts and scholarship, was made a fellow of the Royal Society of (ireat Britain. A tri]) to the continent and a visit to the court of France served as t^ni>hing touches to this edu- cation before his return to \irginia. Soon after reaching the colony, he was made a bur- gess and. in (Jet., 1696. was sent as the official agent of fh;,t body to England, where he re- I'lained at least as late as 1702. though the cate of Ins visit's termination is not defmitely known. I'pon his return, he entered eagerly into the atunrs of the colony and soon came t'. be Icjoked upon as the leading man of hi^ fme. In Sept., 1705. (]ov. Xott, upon the advice of the C(juncil, appointed him receiver general of \'irginia to f^Il the vacancy occa- sioned by the death of his father, and ni De- cuiiber. of the same year, he succeeded to his father's place in the council. In the conflict that arose between the assembly and Cov. Spotswood. G,l. Byrd took part with the for-

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iner. and the governor's displeasure was fur- ther increased by a long visit I'.yrd made in l-.ngland. lie consequently wrote to England advising the authorities there to remove Byrd council. In the case of llyrd there was a long wood b.came cor- dial friends afler th.e latter's retirement from I liblic life. In 1727, IJyrd was appointed by <«>\'. (.ooch. one of the commission to confer with North Carolina njjon the boundary line between the two colonies. The \irginia' com- mission consisted of Col. Byrd, Richard Fitz- william and William Dandridge. These gen- tlemen not only succeeded in fixing the posi- tion of the line but accompanied the engineers that drew it on their difficult and painful sur- vey through the wilderness. Col. Byrd kept a diary of the expedition which has been l.reserved for us. and which, along with other >innlar writings by him. afford a vivid picture of colonial life in that ])erio(l. Col. Byrd built the famous brick mansion which stands to this day at W'estover. and collected the largest library of tlie day in America. This library boasted 3.625 volumes, among which was the -Records of the London Company," wh.ich the h:arl of Southampton caused to be made, and which Byrd's father had purchased in London. Col. I'.yrd's (!eath occurred Aug. 26, 1744, and he was buried in the garden at W'estover.
 * nid a number of his other enemies from the

It was fit that a man of his eminent char- acter should have been founder of the city of Richmond, the present capital of \irginia.

Forteus, Robert, of -Xew Bottle," (Glou- cester county, was born in i6y<j. His father uas Edward Porteus of the same county, who, in 1693, was recommended by the governor as