18 Facts About William Fairfax

William Fairfax was a political appointee of the British Crown in several colonies as well as a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia.

William Fairfax commissioned the construction of his plantation called Belvoir in what became William Fairfax County to honor his family.

William Fairfax served as governor of the Bahamas after Rogers' departure.

William Fairfax arranged for William Fairfax to be transferred from Massachusetts to Virginia, to be assigned as that colony's customs collector for the Potomac River and to act as his land agent.

William Fairfax then started to build his legacy, albeit not as boldly as had King Carter.

William Fairfax granted an adjacent 5,560 acres to John Colville, who in turn granted that land to William Fairfax.

William Fairfax picked out a site for a home overlooking the river adjacent to the Washington family's estate, which was later known as Mount Vernon.

William Fairfax commissioned a two-story brick home, which was completed in 1741 and named Belvoir Manor.

William Fairfax then moved to the Shenandoah Valley and established an estate at Greenway Court.

In 1741, William Fairfax was elected a member of the House of Burgesses representing then-vast Prince William County, and traveled to Williamsburg early in the new year.

William Fairfax introduced the bill that created Fairfax County as a separate political jurisdiction in 1742.

William Fairfax subsequently served as presiding Justice of the County Court, and as County Lieutenant, the county's chief law-enforcement officer.

In 1747, Thomas, Lord William Fairfax was one of the area's largest slaveholders, with 30 slaves, or about the same number as Daniel French Jr.

William Fairfax became George Washington's patron and surrogate father, and Washington spent a month in 1748 with a team surveying William Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property.

William Fairfax resigned his position as Burgess when he was appointed to the Governor's Council, the upper chamber of the Virginia General Assembly.

William Fairfax rose to become President of the Governor's Council in Williamsburg, a position equivalent to today's Lieutenant Governor.

William Fairfax left his plantation Towlston Grange, with 5,500 acres, to his youngest son Bryan Fairfax; he left land in Culpeper County of 3,250 acres and 1,100 acres to his daughter Hannah.

George William Fairfax wrote his good friend and neighbor George Washington to look after the estate and put it up for rent.