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Pennsylvania had William Penn and Virginia had the great William Byrd.
Colonel
William Byrd II (1674-1744), to give him his full title, was born on his
father's
plantation in Virginia but brought up in Essex and remained in England for
most of
his early life. Aged thirty when his father died in 1704, William returned to
Virginia to manage the family's 26,000 acre estate and later built a fine
house there
which stands today. He became President of the Colonial Council, on which he
sat
as a Member for 35 years, and in 1733 established two towns, Richmond on the
James river - now the capital - and Petersburg on the Appomattuck. He was
truly
one of the founding fathers of the modern State of Virginia whose southern
boundary he personally established.
William was hardy and energetic and, like most Virginians of his time, often
in the
saddle. A great traveller, he was no ordinary pioneer: this was a man of
culture,
wide accomplishments and considerable charm, a genial host who had powerful
friends on both sides of the Atlantic. He crossed that ocean ten times and
"Golden
Rose", the ship in which he often sailed, is in the background to Hans
Hyssing's
portrait of him.
While William was growing up in Essex he lived with his uncle, Daniel
Horsmanden, the Rector of Purleigh near Chelmsford where he met his maternal
grandfather, the formidable Colonel Warham Horsmanden, who for twenty years
had been a member of the ruling council in Virginia. William attended Felsted
Grammar School near Braintree for nine years when Christopher Glasscock was
its
headmaster and then studied law at the Middle Temple. He was called to the
Bar in
1695, served a short apprenticeship in Holland and visited the Court of Louis
XIV.
In London William was becoming known as a satirical writer and wit, and in
1696,
through the good offices of his mentor Sir Robert Southwell, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society. His influence grew and he was appointed
Virginia's
colonial agent in London and was thus at the heart of the conflict between
Crown
and Colony that was eventually to spark into Revolution. No man had a better
preparation for representing the old world in the new and vice versa.
The story of the great house that William Byrd built on his Westover estate
reflects
the early history not only of the Byrd family but also of the State of
Virginia. The
house was completed in about 1736 - a grand brick mansion admirably situated
on
the north bank of the James river 35 miles downstream from Richmond. Today
it is
said to be "one of the best examples of Georgian architecture in America".
William
spared no expense in materials and workmanship, importing many items from
Europe and adding his own personal embellishments. At each approach to the
property are elegant wrought-iron gates incorporating the Byrd family Arms.
The
main gates have WB woven into their classical design, while large eagles of
lead
stand on the stone columns on which they swing. Beneath the house is a
labyrinth
of cellars where the claret and madeira were stored. There are two secret
rooms
reached through a dry well, and a subterranean passage leading to the river -
a
reminder of the danger that once existed of attack by Indians and other
raiders.
William's nickname was the Black Swan, which is perhaps an allusion to birds
that
he introduced at Westover. He was a lover of books and gathered together in
his
new home one of the largest libraries in the colonies - over 3600 volumes - of
which he was inordinately proud. It contained Bibles in Dutch, Hebrew, Greek
and
Latin all of which he could read - a mark of his scholarship. The east wing
in
which it was housed was burnt down during the American Civil War but
subsequently rebuilt. He also brought over from England many portraits of his
family, his friends and men who he admired.
One portrait by Charles Bridges was of the sad romantic figure of Evelyn Byrd,
William's eldest child by his first wife, Lucy Parke. In England Evelyn was
much
admired for her beauty, wit and gentle disposition. When she was presented at
Court, King George I remarked, "I have heard much of Virginia, but no one told
me of its beautiful Byrds!" While there Evelyn formed an attachment to a
Catholic
gentleman - Charles Mordaunt, grandson of the Earl of Peterborough. The Byrds
were ardent Protestants and her father broke off the match and brought her
home to
Westover. There the wistful Evelyn died a few years later still pining for
her lost
love. It is said that "the tap, tap of Evelyn's high-heeled slippers
continues to be
heard in the corridors of the home from which, long ago, she faded
broken-hearted
to the grave".
William was a hardy traveller. He led the surveyors who first traversed the
Great
Dismal Swamp while establishing the boundary line, 240 miles long, with North
Carolina; and rode through the forests to Germanna to confront Governor
Alexander Spotswood on behalf of the planters of the colony. He left witty
satirical
accounts of these and other expeditions - from which it seems he acquired a
healthy
respect for snakes and a distaste of fresh venison and bear.
His manuscripts are among the few early colonial literary works in existence.
Best
known is his 'History of the Dividing Line' (1728). Other manuscripts such
as 'A
Progress to the Mines' (1732) and 'A Journey to the Land of Eden' (1733) were
not
published until 1841, nearly a century after his death, which is a good
indication of
their enduring quality. His cheerful entertaining discourse on Virginian
life can be
read in his diaries and copious correspondence much of which has survived.
Among them are three less literary but more revealing "secret" diaries
written in
shorthand and discovered only sixty years ago. Together they cover nine years
in
the period 1709-41 and in America have been described as "one of the most
complete, entertaining and informative cultural documents about 18th century
life in
the Old and New Worlds that we have in the English language". The middle
diary
has even been compared with Pepys' famous journal.
William's generous spirit caused him considerable distress in the last twenty
years
of his life. On the death of his father-in-law Colonel Daniel Parke, then
Governor
of the Leeward Islands, during a riot there (the result it is said of his own
maladministration), William rashly stepped in to guarantee his debts. The
amount
proved to have been seriously underestimated and became a persistent burden.
He
had to dispose of much of his land, including in 1737 his Richmond property,
and
was almost forced to sell Westover itself and its fine tobacco plantation on
which he
had lavished so much attention. In the end the debt prevented him returning
to
England to spend his declining years among his friends as he had wanted. It
was
only the year before his death when he was seventy years old that William
finally
succeeded in satisfying his father-in-law's creditors in London.
William was buried in the garden at Westover and succeeded by his elder son,
William Byrd III (1728-77) who became a soldier - an appropriate profession
for
those troubled times. A fire in 1749 damaged parts of Westover, but it was
during
the American Revolution that it suffered most. Twice it was ravaged by that
renegade Benedict Arnold, and once in 1781 by Cornwallis on his way to defeat
at
Yorktown.
War returned again a century later when Westover was used as a headquarters
during the American Civil War by General Pope and other Federal officers, and
subsequently by McClellan on his retreat from Richmond. But by then the
estate
had passed out of the hands of the Byrd family who sold it in 1814. Westover
today is still privately owned although the grounds are open to the public.
Thus
visitors can now enjoy something of the beauty of this famous old house with
its
riverside setting, and of the history of nearly three centuries that have
passed since
the Black Swan with all his energy, scholarship and wit flew in from England.
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