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[Page 132]
      Parke, Daniel, Sr., was descended from the Parke family of Essex, England, some account of which, tracing it back to 1486, is given in Morant's "History of Essex." The councillor's epitaph states that he was of the county of Essex, and his son, in his will, mentions certain plate bearing the arms of his family, "which is that of the county of Essex." Daniel Parke Sr. was born about 1629 and settled in York county, Virginia, in or before 1651. He was justice of York in 1655, sheriff in 1659, and a burgess from 1660 to 1670. On June 20, 1670, he was sworn as a member of the council and remained a member of that body until his death, nine years later. On Sept. 30, 1678, Gov. Jeffreys appointed him secretary of state and he held for a time the office of treasurer also. He married Rebecca, widow of "Bartholomew Knipe of Virginia, gentleman," as may be seen from a deed to his stepson, Christopher Knipe, dated 1658. This widow Knipe was a daughter of George Evelyn of Maryland and formerly of Godstone, Surrey, England. He left a son Daniel Parke Jr., who was also a member of the council.

[Pages 132-133]
      Bacon, Nathaniel, known as "the Rebel," came to Virginia in 1673 and was made a member of the council in 1675. He was a cousin of Lord Francis Bacon and a cousin once removed of Nathaniel Bacon Sr., president of the council and acting governor (q. v..) His father was Thomas Bacon, a merchant of London, and he was born in England, January 2, 1647. In 1663 he went abroad with Sir Philip Skippon and others. He owned lands in England of the yearly value of £150 sterling, but on his marriage with Elizabeth Duke, daughter of Sir Edward Duke, of Benhill Lodge, near Saxmundham, he sold his lands to Sir Robert Jason for £1,200 and removed to Virginia. He purchased a plantation at "Curls," in Henrico county, called "Longfield," and had a quarter at the falls of the river where Richmond now stands. The colony was in a state of unrest, owing to high taxes and many corruptions in the public offices; and a sudden irruption on the frontiers of the Indians, which Governor Berkeley was slow in repressing, fanned the smouldering embers into flames. Urged by his neighbors, Bacon asked Berkeley for a commission to go out against the Indians, which he refused, and Bacon went out without one. Berkeley then proclaimed him a rebel, and out of this arose a civil war in which Bacon supported by the great majority of the people possessed himself of the main authority and drove Berkeley to seek refuge at "Arlington" on the eastern shore with Major-General John Custis. Jamestown was burned, and many estates were pillaged by both factions.
      At length Bacon, through his exposures, contracted a dysentery, and the rebellion virtually came to an end through his death in Gloucester county at Major Pate's place, on Poropotank Creek, October 26, 1676. He left two daughters, one of whom Elizabeth, born April 12, 1674, married Hugh Chamberlain, physician to the King. Bacon's widow, Elizabeth Duke, married (second) Thomas Jarvis, a ship captain, who had 200 acres at Hampton, and after his death she married Edward Mole. In 1698 William Randolph patented "Longfield" and the slashes adjoining which had escheated to the King from Bacon because of his rebellion, and these lands descended to William Randolph's son, Richard Randolph, who was known as Richard Randolph of "Curls." Bacon's rebellion is the most spectacular episode in all colonial history, and its leader will always be an interesting historical figure. He had good looks, a commanding manner, and remarkable eloquence, which made him the idol of his followers.

[Page 133]
      Bowler, Thomas, of Rappahannock county, was a merchant and appears in the records of Rappahannock county in 1663, and on Sept. 29, of the year following, "Mr. Thomas Bowler" was appointed a justice of Rappahannock county and took the usual oath. He was sworn a member of the council, Oct. 9, 1675 and died in 1679. He left many descendants in Virginia.

[Page 133]
      Cole, William, of "Bolthorpe," Warwick county, Virginia, was born in 1638. His first appearance in public life, so far as the records show, was on March 1, 1674-75, when he was appointed a member of the council, an office he held until his death. He was one of the persons denounced by Bacon in 1676, as one of Berkeley's evil advisers, and, of course, the commissioners sent to suppress Bacon's rebellion described him s "a very honest gentleman" and a member of the council who was all along constant to the governor and with him in all his troubles. In Oct., 1689, the president and council of Virginia wrote to England that on the death of the secretary, Spencer, in September, they had had appointed Col. William Cole to be secretary of the state of Virginia, and begged royal confirmation. This was given by commission, dated Jan. 17, 1690, and in it Cole is spoken of as a person of known integrity and ability to execute the office." ON Aug. 1, 1690, he wrote to Lord Nottingham, thanking him for the appointment. He did not hold the office long, however, for on April 15, 1692, he stated in a petition to Gov. Nicholson, that he had been one of the council of Virginia for about seventeen years, and had been appointed secretary of state; that lately he had become much "decayed" in body and strength, and by reason of a deep melancholy that had seized him, he found himself daily growing worse, and that he was "desirous to live a retired life and to serve God Almighty the small remainder of the time he had to live," and so prayed that a secretary might be appointed, and that he, the petitioner, might obtain his majesty's discharge. The request was granted. Councillor Cole died, March 4, 1694. His tomb, with his arms and an epitaph remains at his former seat, Bolthorpe, Warwick county. He is represented by many descendants in Virginia.

[Pages 133-134]
      Place, Rowland, was living in Virginia as early as 1671, when he owned land in Charles City and near the falls of James river in Henrico county. It was on Oct. 9,1675, that he was first sworn to the council and he continued to serve for several years. He was present as a member in March, 1678, but soon afterwards went to England, evidently with the intention of only making a visit there, though he afterwards seems to have changed his mind, for he never after returned to Virginia. William Sherwood, writing to Secretary Williamson, July 1, 1678, says that his letter will be carried by "Col. Rowland Place, a member of the council," who can give "an ample account of matters in Virginia," and, on July 10, 1678, Gov. Lord Culpeper wrote a letter which he stated he would confide to Col Place, who had been an eye witness of many of the events of chief interest which had lately occurred in the colony. On Dec. 13, 1678, Francis Moryson wrote to William Blathwayt the he had "advice" that Col. Place had lately arrived in England from Virginia, and that the colonel was "one of the Council and a very honest gentleman." On March 14, 1678-79, the King directed that Place should be continued in the council, but on May 20 Capt. Rudge, of the ship "'Hopewell' just come from Virginia," appeared before the committee of trade and plantations, and stated, among other things, that the Indians had recently killed several people and totally ruined the plantation of Col. Place, who was in England. Perhaps it was this news that caused Place to linger abroad. He was included in the commission of councillors under Lord Culpeper, read on May 10, 1680, but still did not return to Virginia, and on Dec. 12, 1681, Gov. Culpeper wrote that he had appointed a councillor "in the room of Col. Rowland Place," who was "living in England." He was the son of Francis Place, the celebrated painter of York, and Ann Williamson, his wife. He married Priscilla, daughter of Sir John Brookes, of Norton, county York, baronet. He was born 1642 and died 1713 (see "Familiæ Minorum Gentium," p. 921).

[Pages 134-135]
      Lee, Richard, Jr., was the second son of Richard Lee, the immigrant, and Anna, his wife, and the eldest son to leave male descendants in Virginia. He was born in 1647, probably at "Paradise," in Gloucester county, but afterwards went to Westmoreland and made his home at "Mount Pleasant," on the Potomac river. He was sent to England to be educated and became a student at Oxford. One of his grandsons wrote of him that "he was so clever that some great men offered to promote him to the highest dignities in the Church if his father would let him stay in England; but this offer was refused, as the old Gentleman was determined to fix all his children in Virginia. * * * Richard spent almost his whole life in study, and usually wrote his notes in Greek, Hebrew or Latin * * * so that he neither diminished nor improved his paternal estate. * * * He was of the Council in Virginia and also other offices of honor and profit, though they yielded little to him." In the proclamation made by "Nat Bacon," the rebel, concerning the grievances of "ye Commonality" against the royalist, Gov. Berkeley, Richard Lee is mentioned as one of the governor's "wicked and pernicious councell" who were commanded to surrender or be seized as "Trayters to ye King and Country." The official report to the English government regarding those who had suffered by Bacon's rebellion, made in March, 1677-78, described "Major Richard Lee" as "a Loyall, Discreet Person worthy of the Place to which hee was lately advanced of being one of his Majesties Council in Virginia." The second Richard Lee was a burgess in 1677 and perhaps earlier. He was a councillor in 1676, 1680-83, 1688, 1692-98 and possibly later. In 1691, out of a scruple of conscience arising from his attachment to the Stuarts and refusal to acknowledge the claim of William and Mary to the crown, Richard Lee, together with Isaac Allerton and John Armistead, refused to take the oaths, and he was therefore dropped from the council. In the following year, however, his name again appears on the records as a member of that body. According to a list of colonial officers, dated June 8, 1699, "Richard Lee, Esqr.," had been appointed by "Sir Edm.: Andros, Governor, &c., to be naval Officer and Receiver of Virginia Dutys for the River Potomac, in which is included Westmoreland, Northumberland and Stafford Counties." In 1680 he was spoken of as "Coll. Richard Lee, of the horse in ye counties of Westmoreland, Northumberland and Stafford." It was probably sometime in the year 1674 that Col. Lee married Laetitia, eldest daughter of Henry and Alice (Eltonhead) Corbin. She was buried beside him in the family burying ground at "Mt. Pleasant," beneath a white marble tombstone bearing an elaborate Latin inscription. Col. Lee died on March 12, 1714.

[Page 135]
      Warner, Augustine, Jr., of Warner Hall, Gloucester county, son of Col. Augustine Warner, of the same place, and member of the council, was born, according to his epitaph, on July 3, 1642, but, according to the register of Merchant Taylor's School, London, on Oct. 20, 1643. His name appears on the books of that school as "eldest son of Augustine Warner of Virginia, gentleman." Warner was the speaker of the house of burgesses at the sessions of March, 1675-76,and Feb., 1776-77, and soon after the latter date must have been appointed to the council, for his name appears in a list of members presented to the lords of trade and plantations late in 1677, and was endorsed by them with the word "stet." On March 14, 1678-79, the King directed that he be continued a member of the council, and in a new commission, read May 10, 1680, his name appears as "Col. Augustine Warner." In this year he commanded the militia of Gloucester county. Col. Warner suffered great loss during Bacon's rebellion. The commissioners sent to suppress the uprising declared that "Col. Augustine Warner, Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the late Assembly, and now sworn as one of his Majesty's Council in Virginia," was "an honest, worthy person, and most loyal sufferer by the late rebels," that he was "plundered as much as any, and yet speaks as little of his losses, though they were very great." But the colonel did speak, and spoke with effect in regard to his losses. On June 27, 1678, he presented a petition to Thomas Ludwell, the president of the council, praying for a judgment against Capt. William Byrd, against whom he had brought his action in the general court for £1,000 sterling and costs of suit, for "forcibly entering his dwelling house in Abbington Parish, Gloucester, and taking goods and merchandise to the value of 845.2." Col. Augustine Warner Jr. married, about 1665, Mildred, daughter of Col. George Reade, of Gloucester, himself a councillor, and formerly deputy secretary of state. He died June 19, 1681, and his tomb may still be seen at "Warner Hall."

[Page 135]
      Leigh, Francis, as "Major Francis Leigh," was included under the great seal for a court of oyer and terminer in Virginia on Nov. 16, 1676,and on March 14, 1678-79, the King directed that he be continued in the council. Upon May 10, 1680, he was included in the commission of councillors under Culpeper. Nothing further is known of him, but he was doubtless ancestor of the family of Leigh in King and Queen county.

[Pages 135-136]
      Custis, John, a son of John and Jeane Custis, of Accomac, Va., and formerly of Rotterdam, Holland, was born in 1630. He was sheriff of Accomac in 1664,and in 1676 he was appointed major-general of Virginia militia, and played an active part in the support of Gov. Berkeley during Bacon's rebellion. The commissioners, sent from England to suppress the rebellion, spoke in terms of the highest commendation of him. He was a member of the house of burgesses in 1677, but appears to have been immediately afterwards appointed to the council, as he was present at meetings of that body from 1677 to 1683. At this later date his health became very bad and he was unable to attend for sometime. His illness, indeed, was so serious and long continued that in England he was reported dead and his name left out of the commission to the councillors of 1685. He therefore prepared a petition setting forth his various services to the colony and praying to be restored to the council, which was forthwith done. He continued active up to 1690, but, his health again failing, be prepared, two years later, another petition asking to be relieved of all his public offices. This was also granted and the few remaining years of his life he spent in retirement at "Arlington," his house in the present Northampton county. He died on the 9th of Jan., 1696, according to the inscription on his tomb at "Arlington."

[Page 136]
      Meese, Henry, as "Colonel Henry Meese," received a grant of 2,000 acres of land in Stafford county on June 7, 1666, and, as "Lieut. Col. Henry Meese," he was, in the year following, a member of the Northern Neck committee. On March 14, 1678-79, the King ordered that Meese be added to the council. and his commission was dated May 10, 1680,but on Dec. 12, 1681, Lord Culpeper wrote that he had appointed a councillor in the place of Col. Henry Meese, who was living in England, It appears from the letters of William Fitzhugh that his wife survived him and made England her home. There is some reason to believe that he left a daughter Grace, who married Charles Ashton, of Northumberland county, Virginia, ancestor of the well-known family of that name.

[Page 136]
      Page, John, the progenitor of the Page family of Virginia, was a member of the English house of that name, a branch of "the Pages of Harrow on the Hill" of Middlesex, England. He was born in 1627 and came to Virginia about 1650. Of the earlier years of his life in Virginia, save that he acquired a considerable tract of land given in reward for services in transporting persons into the colony, very little is known, but 1657 he represented York county in the house of burgesses. The commissioners to suppress Bacon's rebellion reported that "Major John Page was a great loser in his estate by the rebellion." On Dec. 12, 1681, Lord Culpeper wrote to the authorities in England that he had appointed "Colonel John Page of the Assembly to be councillor." He was present at meetings of the council as late as 1689. In 1686 he was appointed, together with Nicholas Spencer and Philip Ludwell to revise and annotate the laws of the colony. On Oct. 15, 1691, the privy council in England ordered that Col. John Page, who had been thought to be dead, and for that reason omitted from the last nomination of members of the council, should be "restored to his place and presidency in the said Council of Virginia." Col. Page was a man of pious life and took a great interest in the welfare of his parish. It as he who gave the land and twenty pounds in money towards building the old Williamsburg church, which is still in a good state of preservation. A fine collection of portraits, representing member of this family, including Col. John Page, is to be seen in the library of William and Mary College.

[Pages 136-138]
      Beverley, Robert, was a descendant of an old English family of Yorkshire, which had been staunch in its support of the King during the civil war, Robert Beverley himself growing up with strong royalist proclivities. He was probably a native of the town of Beverley and, coming to Virginia about 1663, settled in Middlesex county, of which he was a justice in 1673. He rapidly attained great prominence in colonial affairs and was one of the most popular men of his period with the rank and file of the colonists. The situation at the time was a peculiar one. In 1670 Beverley had been elected clerk of the house of burgesses and soon became the leader of the majority of that body, and it was they who, at the outbreak of Bacon's rebellion, were, with the Ludwells and Thomas Ballard in the council, the strongest supporters of Gov. Berkeley in his efforts to suppress the uprising. It seems surprising that the popular house with their chosen leader should have been so strong in support of the governor and that the only effective aid which the rebels received should have come from members of the aristocratic council. Beverley himself was very active in the field against Bacon's followers, and, in 1676, Berkeley appointed him commander of all his forces, and finally a member of the council. Upon the arrival of the commissioners, sent from England to suppress the rebellion, there was introduced another element into the dispute. Gov. Berkeley, resenting the intrusion of these strangers to the colony, was not disposed to yield any of his authority or prerogatives to them or to aid them in their task, and in this he was again strongly supported by the house of burgesses under Beverley's leadership, who, with the governor, were disposed to regard the commissioners as interlopers. Beverley thus incurred the enmity of those who were later to possess the authority in the colony, and especially of Jeffreys, soon to be the governor. Beverley was accused to the commissioners of plundering during his activities against Bacon, but Berkeley was able to save him from punishment for the time. During the governorship of Chicheley, however, Beverley was accused of inciting the rioting tobacco planters and was imprisoned on shipboard. He escaped a number of times, but was recommitted, while other charges were trumped up against him by his powerful enemies and carried to England. Gov. Culpeper, being at that time in England, the King directed him, upon returning to Virginia, to put Beverley out of all his public offices. He was finally released from prison upon his humbly asking pardon for his past offences and giving security for his future good behavior. His popularity had not waned in the meantime and the house of burgesses immediately elected him their clerk. But with Beverley's sturdy independence of spirit, position could only be the prelude of misfortune. The creatures of King James were now securely intrenched in their hold on the colony, and the only power with the inclination to resist them was the house of burgesses. The opportunity soon came, for at the session next following Beverley's reëlection the governor and council made the illegal request of the assembly to be empowered to levy a tax upon the colony. This the house at once and firmly refused, and, according to Gov. Effingham, even disputed the right of the King himself to use the veto. Beverley seems to have been a leader in this action and thus incurred the anger of the throne, which ordered him to be disabled from holding any public office and prosecuted to the full extent of the law as Effingham should deem advisable. It is illustrative of the fact that the political questions of that time were by no means simple, that the same man should have been at once a royalist and a champion of the people, and, furthermore, that the democratic Beverley should have so strongly opposed the popular uprising, and the loyal Beverley stood against the unjust usurpation of the King. It is also a high tribute to his courage and uprightness of purpose. He did not long survive his final political downfall, but died about March 16, 1687, leaving several sons of position and distinction, Robert Beverley, who wrote the history of Virginia, being one.

[Page 138]
      Kemp, Matthew, was a son of Edmund Kemp, of Lancaster county, a fact set forth in a grant to him of 1100 acres of land on Pianketank. He lived at first in Lancaster, then including Middlesex, and was justice and sheriff of that county in 1659. On Nov. 15, 1660, a certificate was granted by Lancaster county court to Matthew Kemp for the importation of certain head-rights, among whom were himself twice mentioned and his wife Dorothy. Later in life Col. Matthew Kemp removed to Gloucester county, which he represented in the house of burgesses. In 1676 Bacon, in his proclamation, included him among Gov. 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 recently been appointed by the governor a member of the council while still a burgess. He was county lieutenant of Gloucester, and on May 8, 1682, Gov. Chicheley wrote to the King that he had dispatched Col. Kemp, with orders, to raise horse and foot and suppress riotous "plant cutters." This he soon succeeded in doing, making a number of arrests. He died in 1683. There is hardly any doubt that Edmund Kemp was a grandson of Robert Kemp, of Gissing county, Norfolk, England, and nephew of Sir Robert Kemp, baronet.

[Pages 138-139]
      Byrd, William, Sr., the founder of the distinguished Byrd family of "Westover," Virginia, was born about 1649, in London, He was the son of John Byrd, a London goldsmith and a descendant of an old Cheshire family. 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. 27, 1673, 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 opposition, but it seems that he took no part in the actual rebellion and in all probability made his peace with Berkeley. He was accused by Col. Augustine Warner, after the rebellion, of having entered his house at the head of some of Bacon's men and plundered his estate to the value of £1,000 sterling, and Warner actually obtained 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 council was, too, "so far as they durst show it." In the year 1695 Col. Byrd was alluded to as having been a member of the council for fifteen years, but the earliest record of him in this position, appearing in the official records, is in 1681, when he was appointed by Lord Culpeper. On Dec. 4, 1687, James II. ordered that he be sworn to the office of auditor-general of Virginia, in place of Col. Nathaniel Bacon, the elder. There was a dispute between him and one Robert Ayleway, who claimed to have been properly appointed to the place, but Col. Byrd is mentioned as holding the office as late as the year 1703. Col. Byrd was one of the gentlemen appointed by the general assembly to form the first board of trustees of the newly chartered William and Mary College, and he was one of the four councillors sent to England by Gov. Andros against the charges of Commissary Blair. Upon his return from a trip to England he brought with him the copy made for the Earl of Southampton of the minutes of the Virginia Company, which he placed in the famous Westover Library. This library, commenced by him, was added to by his son and grandson, until it became the largest in America at the time. The records of the Virginia Company furnished most of the material for William Smith's "History of Virginia." They are now in the Congressional Library at Washington. In April, 1679, the general assembly passed an act granting to Capt. William Byrd a tract of land extending five miles along the James river on both sides and three miles wide and which included nearly all the ground now occupied by the cities of Richmond and Manchester. The act was later vetoed by the King, but Byrd was still granted a large area, nearly 42,000 acres in all. He carried on an extensive trade with the Indians and at one time petitioned the exclusive right to the Indian trade in Virginia. He was sent on a number of occasions to treat with the Indians and on one of these trips went as far north as New York and Albany. He died at Westover, his residence on James river, Dec. 4, 1701.

[Page 139]
      Wormeley, Christopher, the second of that name to become councillor, was related to the Wormeleys of "Rosegill," Middlesex county, but the exact relationship is unknown. He is first mentioned in an order of court of Lancaster county, then including Middlesex, dated Nov. 9, 1666, which refers to Capt. Christopher Wormeley and his wife, who was the widow of Col. Anthony Elliott. In the next year he was a justice of Lancaster, in 1674 a justice of Middlesex, the colonel of the county militia in 1680, and sheriff of the county in 1681. It was in 1682 that he was appointed to the council, a member of which body he remained during the rest of his life. He held also the offices of collector and naval officer of the lower Potomac district, and deputy escheator. Col. Wormeley had taken the part of Gov. Berkeley in Bacon's rebellion, and was accordingly denounced in the proclamation of the rebel leader and commended by the commissioners appointed to suppress the same. He died in 1701.

[Pages 139-140]
      Lear, John, probably came to Virginia about 1646, as in that year he had a grant of 100 acres of land on the "Oquiah river, in Westmoreland County." He soon removed to Nansemond county, which he represented in the house of burgesses from 1666 to 1676. During Bacon's rebellion, he was a staunch supporter of Gov. Berkeley, and remained with him until the rebellion was suppressed. He was the first to meet the commissioners, sent to suppress the rebellion, and give them an account of the condition of affairs, and by them was reported to have suffered heavily during the trouble. In 1676 a petition was sent the commissioners from some of the people of Nansemond county, complaining of the number of offices held by Col. John Lear and Mr. David Lear, probably his brother, the first of whom was county clerk, escheat master, notary public and surveyor, and the other "Sheriff superior." As relating to Col. Lear, remonstrance seems to have had no effect, for in 1680 he was presiding justice and colonel of militia. On May 23, 1683, Gov. Culpeper appointed him a member of the council, and the nomination was confirmed by the King. He continued in this office until his death. He was also one of the first trustees of William and Mary College in 1693, and, at the time of his death, was collector of the lower districts of James river. His death occurred in Nov. or Dec., 1695.

[Page 140]
      Allerton, Isaac, son of Isaac Allerton, one of the Puritan leaders of the "Mayflower" expedition, and his wife Fear, daughter of William Brewster, was born in Plymouth, Mass., in 1630, and graduated at Harvard College in 1650. He is said to have been, for a time, associated with his father in the business of trading between Plymouth, New Haven and New Amsterdam, but it is possible that during most of the time between his graduation and his player's death, in 1659, he was his representative in Virginia. As early as Feb. 6, 1650, there was recorded a dispute between the Indians and a Mr. Allerton, regarding a plantation which the latter had cleared, which reached the governor and council. It is believed that this refers to the elder Isaac Allerton, but it may be that immediately after leaving college the son established a plantation in Virginia. He appears to have made his first permanent residence in Virginia about 1660, and soon became a man of prominence. In 1663 he was sworn a justice of Northumberland. In 1675, with the rank of major, he was second in command to Col. John Washington, of the Virginia troops sent against the Indians. In the campaign which followed they allied themselves with the Maryland forces at the latter's invitation in the siege of an Indian fort, but before the opening of hostilities a horrible murder was committed by the Marylanders in the shooting of five Indian chiefs who had come to negotiate peace. This was done against the earnest opposition of Washington and Allerton, but caused such indignation on the part of the Virginia authorities that an investigation of their conduct was ordered, which, however, cleared them of all responsibility for the crime. Allerton was burgess for Westmoreland in 1676-77, and for Northumberland for a number of years between 1668 and 1677. In 1680 and 1688 he was escheator of Westmoreland with the rank of colonel, and prior to Sept. 25, 1683, he was appointed to the council. his occupation of the position at this time seems to have been only temporary, as in 1686-87 Secretary Spencer, acting governor, wrote, that he had called Col. Isaac Allerton to the council in Col. Ludwell's place. A little later King James wrote that Col. Allerton was to be sworn as a member of the council in Col. Ludwell's place, the royal favor being accounted for on the statement that Allerton was either a Catholic or inclined to that faith. He was present at sessions of the council regularly until 1691, when he refused, as did Armistead and Lee, to take the oath of allegiance to the new sovereigns, William and Mary. He was probably not formally dropped until 1693, when the governor wrote that Col. Allerton, of the council, was very old and had retired. His death occurred sometime in 1702.

[Pages 140-141]
      Armistead, John, a son of William Armistead, of Elizabeth City county, and grandson of Anthony Armistead, of Kirk Deighton, in Yorkshire, England, settled in Gloucester county, of which he was sheriff in 1676, and a justice and lieutenant-colonel of horse in 1680. In 1685 he was a member of the house of burgesses, and on Feb 14, 1687-88, Gov. Effingham wrote to the English government that a vacancy had occurred in the council and that he had nominated Col. John Armistead as in every way qualified for the place. This nomination was confirmed on April 30, 1688, and Col. Armistead was sworn as member on Oct. 18 of the same year. He remained a councillor until 1691, when, feeling that he could not consistently with the allegiance he sworn to James II., take the same oath to William and Mary, he declined and was accordingly removed from the council. It is probable that he later realized the hopelessness of the Stuart cause, and relented in his determination, for in 1693 Gov. Andros wrote that Col. John Armistead had retired from the council. He died soon after. He left two sons and two daughter s and through them was the ancestor of many distinguished Virginians.

[Page 141]
      Hill, Edward, Jr., was the son of Edward Hill Sr., an account of whom appears above. He was probably born at "Shirley," Charles City county, on the banks of the James, in 1637, and upon the death of his father, about 1663, fell heir to that historic estate. Edward Hill Jr. held many offices in his time. He was commander-in-chief of Charles City and Surry counties, commissioned by Gov. Chicheley, Sept. 27, 1679; speaker of the house of burgesses, 1692; treasurer, elected 1691; collector of upper district of James river, 1692, and naval officer of Virginia duties. In 1697 Gov. Andros appointed him judge of the Admiralty for Virginia and North Carolina. It seems that upon the first day of Bacon's uprising there was an attempt made to pursuade Hill to join them, but he met the proposition with a scornful rebuff. He was an intimate friend of Gov. Berkeley and took an active part in quelling the rebellion. It naturally follows that he was cordially hated by the people in his county where the rebellion began. He was disfranchised by Bacon's house of burgesses in 1676, and after Bacon's death, when the counties capitulated to the King's commissioners, he was made a principal subject of their excuse for rebellion, and accused of oppression, misappropriation of public funds and other wrong doing. Col. Hill answered his accusers very effectively in a long and elaborate paper, but in the list of councillors made by the commissioners late in 1677 they recommended that he be left out, and on Feb. 10, 1678-79, the committee of trades and plantations recommended that Col. Hill, of "evil fame and behavior," be put out of all employment and declared unfit to serve his majesty, which recommendation the King saw fit to follow "until his Majesty's pleasure be further known." With the appointment of Lord Culpeper as governor there was, however, a turn in the tide of Virginia affairs, and Col. Hill's star was again in the ascendant. He was fully restored to both royal and popular favor and many of the offices which he held were bestowed upon him after this date. He died Nov. 30, 1700, at "Shirley," which is still owned by his descendants.

[Pages 141-142]
      Whiting, Henry, of Gloucester county, was probably a sone of the James Whiting, who patented 250 acres of land on York river and Timberneck creek, Gloucester, on Aug. 10, 1643. Henry Whiting was a physician and in 1681 was a justice of Gloucester. He seems to have been a sufferer at the hands of Bacon's rebels, but a few years later was treated as a rebel himself and accused before Gov. Culpeper and the council of having said in the assembly that if something were not done to bring about a cessation of tobacco planting the Virginians would have to "all go a plundering." Whiting was suspended from all offices, civil or military, until the King's pleasure were known, and obliged to give bond for his future good behavior. His political sympathies are borne witness to by the fact that in 1682 he was one of Robert Beverley's bondsmen. Dr. Whiting did not remain long in disfavor, however, for something prior to Oct. 9, 1690, he was appointed to the council, and was present at meetings in 1692 and 1693. On July 5 of the same year he was appointed treasurer of Virginia, but did not hold the office more than a few months. His descendants are numerous.

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      Nicholson, Sir Francis, governor of Virginia (q. v.).

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      Robinson, Christopher, son of John Robinson, of Cleasby, Yorkshire, England, and brother of John Robinson, bishop of London, was born in 1645. He came to Virginia about 1666 and settled on an estate in Middlesex county, near Urbann, which was afterwards called "Hewick," and where he built a house which is still standing. Robinson was clerk of Middlesex county from 1675 to 1688, when he resigned. In 1691 he was a burgess, and on June 10 of that year Gov. Nicholson wrote that there were vacancies in the council and recommended "Christopher Robinson, a member of the House of Burgesses," to fill one of them. On Oct. 15, the privy council ordered that he be confirmed as a member of the Virginia council, and on Oct. 26 a letter to the same effect from the King was written. On July 5, 1692, he was furthered by the appointment of secretary of state for Virginia, and on the next day wrote to the lords of trades and plantations informing them that on the petition of Col. William Cole to be discharged from the position of secretary the lieutenant-governor, with the unanimous consent of the council, had given him, Robinson, the place until their majesties' pleasure might be known and he begged their lordships' favorable consideration. On Oct. 25 the King in council granted him the wished for secretaryship. Robinson was appointed one of the first trustees of William and Mary College in 1692. On march 3, 1692-93, Gov. Andros wrote that secretary Robinson had died on the 13th of April preceding.

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      Scarborough, Charles, eldest son of Col. Edmund Scarborough, of Accomac county, is first mentioned in Nov., 1642, when he stated in a deposition that he was twenty-four years old. Col Charles Scarborough seems to have been a man of bold temperament, which several times in his life got him into trouble. He took part in Bacon's rebellion, but was pardoned on the payment of a fine and, notwithstanding the offence, was, in 1680, presiding justice of Accomac and major of the militia. In 1687 he was prosecuted and removed from the court for saying that "King James would wear out the Church of England," for he was "constantly putting in those of another persuasion." In the next year, that of the revolution, such opinions became meritorious, and Maj. Scarborough was reappointed a justice and elected a member of the house of burgesses. On June 10, 1691, Gov. Nicholson wrote that there were vacancies in the council, and recommended as a fit person to fill one of them "Col. Charles Scarborough," a member of the house of burgesses, and Sir Charles Scarborough's nephew. On Oct. 15 of the same year the English privy council confirmed his appointment. He was at that time councillor, commander-in-chief of Accomac and president of the county court, and collector and naval officer of the eastern shore. For some reason, not now known, he was for a time left out of the council, but in 1697, was again sworn as a member. He died in or not long before 1703. The Scarborough family was for many generations one of the leading families in Virginia.