After William Byrd (the II) married and had a young family, he hoped to settle down to a peaceful life at Westover. When Alexander Spotswood came in 1710 as the new Lt. Gov., Byrd made his acquaintance, and followed with the proposal for developing his (Byrd's) iron mines. But he soon came into a conflict with Spotswood over at least two questions. They disagreed over how quit rents were to be collected. Also Spotswood wanted to set up new courts of oyer and terminer in a way that weakened the power of the Council (of which Byrd was a member). ( oyer and terminer : 1. A hearing or trial. 2. A court of general criminal jurisdiction in some states of the United States. 3.a. A commission empowering a judge in Great Britain to hear and rule on a criminal case at the assizes. b. The court in Great Britain where such a hearing is held. [Middle English, partial translation of Anglo-Norman oyer et terminer, to hear and determine: oyer, to hear + terminer, to determine.] GWD)
In 1715, Byrd went to England, partly on private matters, but also to oppose Spotswood before the Board of Trade and Plantations. [I have reported some of the appearances of Byrd before the Board in earlier notes.] He stayed five years, and the battle between Spotswood and Byrd continued; but, when Byrd went home in 1720, he had clear instructions from the Board to patch things up. They did exactly that and became friends again [and kept their jobs for a while].
Spotswood represented the Crown and the royal prerogative. Byrd represented the interests who put Virginia first and the Crown second. Byrd would have denied that he was against England or against the Crown. It was just that he put Virginia first. The struggle between the Lt. Gov. and the council could be viewed as a Crown vs. Colonial fighting. [It must have hurt Byrd deeply that so many of the laws passed in Virginia were upset in London.]
If Byrd had thought that he could return to peaceful life at Westover when he came home again in 1720, he was mistaken. Virginia appointed him as Colonial Agent, with instructions to go back to England. He stayed there until 1726, which meant that he had spent more than two decades in London. He made friends in England easily and was widely known, but he grew tired of London and very happy to return again to Virginia.
He was quickly caught up in public duties, and was back again on the Council. When the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina had to be settled, he was chosen to head the Virginia Boundary Commission. His racy account of the survey in " History of the Dividing Line " assured his place as a Colonial writer. His work on the survey was so satisfactory that he was chosen for the survey of the Northern Neck in 1736. He quickly became the most distinguished and experienced of Virginia's elder statesmen.
Byrd had a private life also, and sought to recreate at Westover the aristocratic life that he had observed in many homes in England. He rebuilt the home at Westover and equipped it with the finest furnishings that could be seen in Virginia. He even had a portrait gallery, where not only the family portraits were hung, but those of many of his friends in England. To the end of his days he kept up a correspondence with his friends in England, and recounted their past experiences together, along with a description of life at Westover. He even wrote to Sir Robert Walpole, the great Prime Minister, and advised him about running England.
(28 Oct 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.