text: william beverley william beverley ( 1696 – 1756 ) was an 18th century legislator , civil servant , planter and landowner in the colony of virginia . born in virginia , beverley — the son of planter and historian robert beverley , jr . ( c . 1667 – 1722 ) and his wife , ursula byrd beverley ( 1681 – 1698 ) — was the scion of two prominent virginia families . he was the nephew of peter beverley ( 1668 – 1728 ) , speaker of the virginia house of burgesses , and the grandson of wealthy virginia planter william byrd i ( 1652 – 1704 ) of westover plantation . beverley 's mother died shortly before her 17th birthday ( when he was a toddler ) , and he was sent to england . after his education in england he began a career in public service as the clerk of court for essex county ( 1716 – 1745 ) and in the virginia house of burgesses , representing orange ( 1736 – 1738 ) and essex counties ( 1742 – 1749 ) . beverley also served on the virginia governor 's council in 1750 . he inherited a large estate after his father 's death in 1722 , amassing significant landholdings throughout virginia from which he received revenue from tobacco production and rent from 119 tenants . his development of the 118 , 941 - acre ( 481 . 34 km2 ) beverley manor tract in present - day augusta county encouraged further settlement west of the blue ridge mountains . beverley was commissioned by thomas fairfax , 6th lord fairfax of cameron , for an expedition with peter jefferson to establish the fairfax line of the northern neck proprietary . early life and education beverley was born in 1696 , the only child of robert beverley , jr . ( c . 1667 – 1722 ) and his wife , ursula byrd beverley ( 1681 – 1698 ) . robert beverley , jr . , of the beverley park plantation in king and queen county , was a wealthy planter who participated in the knights of the golden horseshoe expedition and was the first native - born historian of colonial virginia ; he wrote the history of the present state of virginia in 1705 , the first known history of virginia . william beverley 's uncle , peter ( 1668 – 1728 ) , was speaker of the virginia house of burgesses . his mother , the daughter of william byrd i ( 1652 – 1704 ) and maria byrd of westover plantation , was affectionately known as " little nutty " by her family . she died on october 31 , 1698 , shortly before her 17th birthday , and was buried in jamestown . through his paternal grandmother , margaret boyd beverley , william beverley was a great - grandson of scottish noble james boyd , 9th lord boyd ( died 1654 ) . after his mother 's death beverley was sent to england , where he was educated . political career after his education was completed , beverley returned to virginia and began a career in public service . he was the clerk of court for essex county for 29 years ( 1716 – 1745 ) , when the first essex county courthouse was on beverley 's blandfield estate . beverley was also an essex county judge from 1720 to 1740 . he was a member of the virginia house of burgesses in williamsburg , elected to represent orange ( 1736 – 1738 ) and essex counties ( 1742 – 1749 ) . during his first term as orange county burgess , beverley served with robert green . he represented essex county with james until 1747 , after which he served with william until 1749 . beverley 's appointment as county lieutenant and commander - in - chief of the militias of augusta and orange counties in 1741 was confirmed in the orange county court on november 3 , 1741 . in 1750 he was appointed to the virginia governor 's council , the upper house of virginia 's colonial legislature , replacing john custis iv ( father - in - law of martha dandridge custis ) . beverley 's appointment to the governor 's council fulfilled an ambition which his father was unable to achieve . agricultural pursuits and landholdings beverley inherited a large estate after his father 's death in 1722 , and continued speculating in land . he received income from tobacco production and rent from tenant farmers . although by 1745 beverley 's estate produced 57 hogsheads ( about 26 , 000 kg ) of tobacco , the income from his 119 tenants in caroline , culpeper , orange and king and queen counties was far more lucrative . after his marriage to elizabeth bland about 1725 beverley lived at blandfield , a 3 , 450 - acre ( 14 . 0 km2 ) estate along the rappahannock river in saint anne 's parish of essex county which he named for his wife 's family . blandfield was granted by patent to his grandfather , robert beverley , sr. , in 1683 as part of a 100 , 000 - acre ( 400 km2 ) tract . construction of beverley 's first , georgian - style mansion at blandfield ( which is no longer standing ) probably began around 1750 . blandfield had wharves on the rappahannock from which the plantation 's tobacco was shipped across the atlantic . in addition to agriculture and land tenancy , beverley received additional revenue from land sales in western virginia . the easing of restrictive land laws by the virginia colonial government allowed him to establish his own terms with settlers on his lands , and he initially sold parcels in the shenandoah valley . on september 6 , 1736 , beverley , john and richard randolph and john robinson were deeded a land patent by sir william gooch , 1st baronet on behalf of the crown for a 118 , 941 - acre ( 481 . 34 km2 ) tract at the headwaters of the south fork shenandoah river in present - day augusta county . on september 16 the and robinson transferred sole ownership of the tract to beverley , who planned to survey and sell it ; the tract , which became known as beverley manor , encouraged further settlement west of the blue ridge mountains . he commissioned james patton , a ship captain from ulster , to recruit irish and scotch - irish immigrants to purchase and settle his augusta county land . on august 8 , 1737 , beverley wrote to patton , " i should be very glad if you could import families enough to take the whole off from our hands at a reasonable price and tho ' the order mentions families from [ sic ] , yet families from ireland will do as well " . in 1738 he authorized john lewis of northern ireland , the father of thomas lewis , to show and sell his land in augusta county and donated a lot in staunton for the construction of the augusta county courthouse ten years later . by 1743 beverley wished to receive a land grant of 20 , 000 acres ( 81 km2 ) in the northern neck proprietary on the shenandoah and the south branch potomac rivers from thomas fairfax , 6th lord fairfax of cameron , planning to raise horses and cattle and divide the northern neck land for tenants . he and others , including john robinson and his father ( also named john ) , purchased 100 , 000 acres ( 400 km2 ) on the greenbrier river in 1745 for speculation and settlement . beverley 's land sales totaled 42 , 119 acres ( 170 . 45 km2 ) by 1744 , and by his death in 1756 he had sold 80 , 455 acres ( 325 . 59 km2 ) and made a profit of £ 2 , 647 . according to his 1756 will , beverley owned land in essex , isle of wight , king and queen and prince william counties ; 14 , 174 acres ( 57 . 36 km2 ) in caroline county , including the and beverley chace properties and land lots in port royal ; a land tract of 4 , 000 acres ( 16 km2 ) , known as , in culpeper county , and lots in the towns of falmouth and fredericksburg . according to historian turk mccleskey , the land grants to beverley from the governor 's council on behalf of the crown " reflected the council 's recognition both of his elite connections and of his demonstrated leadership abilities " . business pursuits beverley owned and operated a tavern at caroline court house in caroline county , and participated in trade with the west indies . he wrote to a barbadian merchant in 1739 , " i am very conveniently situated for the sale of negroes , rum , sugar & [ sic ] " . beverley sold barbadian salt in virginia and shipped virginia maize to barbados . a partial inventory of his estate in 1745 listed 65 slaves on four plantations , cattle , hogs , sheep and horses . in 1763 beverley 's son , robert , reported that his father 's estate earned " about £ 1800 currency , all plantation expenses deducted " . fairfax line expedition in 1746 beverley was commissioned by thomas fairfax , 6th lord fairfax of cameron , to represent him in an expedition with peter jefferson ( father of thomas jefferson ) through western virginia to mark the fairfax line of the northern neck proprietary , supervising the work of jefferson and the other surveyors . the following year , he and the other participants in the fairfax line expedition reconvened at jefferson 's tuckahoe plantation to draft a map ( which became known as the fry - jefferson map ) of the northern neck proprietary . personal life and family beverley married elizabeth bland ( born may 26 , 1706 ) around 1725 . elizabeth was the daughter of richard bland and elizabeth randolph bland of jordan 's point , and the sister of statesman richard bland . beverley and his wife had four children : one son and three daughters — robert beverley ( 1740 – 1800 ) , elizabeth beverley mills , ursula beverley fitzhugh and anna beverley . beverley took an active role in his children 's education , traveling to england in 1750 to enroll his son , his nephew robert munford iii and another young man at wakefield grammar school . three of beverley 's children married into prominent virginia families . robert married maria carter , daughter of landon carter and maria byrd carter of sabine hall , richmond county . elizabeth married james mills , a merchant in hobbs hole , and ursula married william fitzhugh . anna was unmarried at beverley 's death in 1756 . beverley , an anglican , had a close relationship with anglican minister and parson robert rose of saint anne 's parish . blandfield was in the parish , and his family attended anglican ( and later episcopal ) services at a church near the estate . on april 3 , 1750 beverley provided a lot in staunton for the anglican augusta parish church , which was completed in 1763 and succeeded by the present trinity episcopal church . death and legacy after beverley 's death in 1756 , his son robert was his designated heir at law . his wife elizabeth inherited his plantations in essex county , including the blandfield estate and his " slaves , cattle , horses , hogs , and sheep " on the plantations . beverley divided a large part of his fortune among his children and their spouses , bequeathing £ 500 to his daughter elizabeth and leaving her husband , james mills , " money & slaves " valued at £ 1 , 000 . ursula also received £ 500 and her husband , william fitzhugh , £ 1 , 000 . anna was unmarried at the time of beverley 's death ; his will instructed robert to maintain his sister until her marriage or her twenty - first birthday , when she would receive her inheritance . robert inherited the remainder of the plantations and other lands , including the beverley manor tract in augusta county and lots in the town of staunton . beverley manor , an augusta county magisterial district south of staunton , is a namesake of the beverley manor patent . after his mother 's death robert also inherited beverley 's essex county properties , including blandfield ( where he built the present georgian mansion on the site of his father 's residence between 1769 and 1773 ) . blandfield was owned by beverley 's descendants until its 1983 sale .