|
Colonel William Byrd II (March 28, 1674 – August 26, 1744) was a planter, slave owner and author from Charles City County in colonial Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia. Byrd's life showed aspects of both British colonial gentry and an emerging American identity. His education included the classics, apprenticeship with London global business agents, and legal studies. He was admitted to the bar and served for years as Virginia Colony's official agent in London where he opposed increasing the power of royal governors. A member of the Royal Society, he was an early advocate of smallpox inoculation.〔Encyclopedia Virginia, (Byrd (1674–1744) ). Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Charlottesville, Virginia. Colonial History editor, John Kolp, instructor of U.S. History at Augustana College, Illinois, and former professor of history, U.S. Naval Academy. Viewed April 6, 2012.〕 Upon his return to Virginia, Byrd expanded his plantation holdings, was elected to the House of Burgesses, and served on Virginia Governor's Council, also known as Virginia's Council of State (the Upper House of the colonial legislature), from 1709 until his death in 1744. He commanded county militias and led surveying expeditions along the Virginia-Carolina border and the Northern Neck. His enterprises included promoting Swiss settlement in mountainous southwest Virginia and iron mining ventures in Germanna and Fredericksburg.〔Encyclopedia Virginia, “William Byrd (1674–1744)”. Viewed April 6, 2012.〕 ==Biography== William Byrd II was born in Henrico County, Colony of Virginia, and educated at Felsted School, England, for the law. He was a member of the King's Counsel for 37 years. He returned to the Colony following his schooling and lived in lordly estate on Westover Plantation. Byrd gathered the most valuable library in the Virginia Colony, numbering some 4,000 books. He was the founder of Richmond and provided the land where the city was laid out in 1737. His father, Colonel William Byrd I, came from England to settle in Virginia. William Byrd II was a Fellow of the Royal Society (from 1696, at age 22). He was the author of the ''Westover Manuscripts'' and most prominently, ''The Secret Diaries of William Byrd of Westover''. His writings have been published in later editions. Byrd's son, William Byrd III, inherited the family land but chose to fight in the French and Indian War rather than spend much time in Richmond. After he squandered the Byrd fortune, William Byrd III parceled up the family estate and sold lots of , in 1768. Byrd Park in Richmond and the William Byrd Community House were both named for William Byrd II. William Byrd High School in Vinton, Virginia, was also named after William Byrd II. Byrd surveyed parts of the Roanoke Valley, and the school's mascot is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It is said that Byrd owned two of these dogs. Byrd had notable descendants in the 20th century. Those are naval officer, pioneering aviator and explorer Richard Evelyn Byrd, for whom Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field (the original name for Richmond International Airport) was named. There is also Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr., also of Virginia. William Byrd II died on August 26, 1744, and was buried at Westover Plantation in Charles City County.〔(William Byrd II )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Byrd II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|