sentences:  It was named for the county of Surrey in England, birthplace of William Tryon, Governor of North Carolina from 1765 to 1771.In 1777 parts of Surry County and Washington District (now Washington County, Tennessee) were combined to form Wilkes County.The first permanent courthouse was established at Richmond in 1779, what is now the modern-day Old Richmond Township in Forsyth County near Donnaha.