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William byrd II
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{{For|other people named William Byrd|William Byrd (disambiguation)}}
'''William Byrd II''' (
28 March 1674 –
26 August 1744) was born at
Westover Plantation in
Charles City County, Virginia, and educated in
England for the law. He was a member of the
King's Counsel for 37 years. He returned to the Colony following his schooling in England, lived in lordly estate on his plantation,
Westover Plantation, and gathered the most valuable library in the
Virginia Colony, numbering some 4000 books. He was the founder of Richmond and provided the land where
Richmond, Virginia 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 of Great Britain. He was the author of the ''
Westover Manuscripts'', published in
1841 under three titles, ''
The History of the Dividing Line, A Journey to the Land of Eden'', and ''
A Progress to the Mines'', and most famously, ''The Secret Diaries of William Byrd of Westover'', all remarkable for their style, wit, keen observation, and intrinsic interest to all. His writings have been published in later editions.
Byrd's Son,
William Byrd III, inherited his 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, Byrd III parceled up the family estate and sold lots of a hundred acres off in a
1768 lottery.
Byrd Park and Byrd Field (the original name for
Richmond International Airport) are named after him. He is related to the explorer
Richard Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd, as well as Virginia
List of Governors of Virginia Governor and
U.S. Senator Harry Flood Byrd and U.S. Senator
Harry Flood Byrd Jr.
William Byrd was buried at Westover Plantation.
Category:First Families of Virginia Byrd, William II
Category:1674 births Byrd, William II
Category:1744 deaths Byrd, William II
see
William Byrd II
