William Berkeley

Overview

William Berkeley (1605–1677) was an English politician and agriculturalist who served two lengthy terms as the Governor of Virginia in the 17th Century. As Governor, Berkeley promoted agriculture, self-governance, and free trade but faced conflicts with settlers, Native American Indians, and English officials. Although he supported the monarchy, he used his authority to manipulate economic and political systems, including the Fur Trade, for his own benefit. His policies led to a backlash that escalated into Bacon’s Rebellion, the first armed uprising against English officials in the American Colonies. Although Berkeley eventually restored order and maintained control of Virginia, he was removed from power and recalled to England.

Personal Facts

• Born: Circa 1605, Middlesex, England.
• Parents: Maurice Berkeley and Elizabeth Killigrew.
• Died: July 9, 1677, Mayfair, England.
• Buried: St. Mary’s Church, Middlesex, England.

Biography

William Berkeley was born in England near the end of December 1605. Some accounts list his date of birth as January 1, 1606, based on the new style calendar. His parents, Sir Maurice Berkeley and Elizabeth Killigrew, were aristocrats and closely associated with King James I.

• His family invested in the Virginia Company, which established Jamestown (1607).
• Berkeley was educated at St. Edmund Hall and earned a Master of Arts degree from Merton College, Oxford.
• He wrote and performed plays and read literary works at court, which caught the attention of King Charles I, who succeeded James in 1626.
• King Charles I knighted Berkeley on July 27, 1639.
• Berkeley served as the Commissioner of Canadian Affairs for a brief time but carried out his duties while living in England.

Berkeley, with the help of friends and relatives who were investors in Virginia, purchased the governorship of the colony from Sir Francis Wyatt. King Charles I approved the arrangement.

Governor of Virginia (1642–1652) 

Berkeley sailed to Jamestown and arrived in 1642. Soon after, he established a plantation near Jamestown, which he called “Green Spring.” He built a brick mansion there and encouraged others to follow his lead. From here, he was involved in agricultural and botanical experiments aimed at helping the colony expand its economy beyond tobacco.

• Berkeley experimented with products like flax and rice.
• With help from his enslaved Africans, he was able to become a successful rice planter.
• Berkeley experimented with silk production and sent some to the King as a gift.

As Governor, he encouraged policies that were intended to improve the colony’s economy and his own wealth — but also circumvented the Navigation Acts. To do this, he created alliances with members of the elite Planter Class and the House of Burgesses, who also benefitted.

The House of Burgesses was the first elected representative assembly in Colonial America. It was established in 1619 by the Virginia Company and consisted of elected representatives from the towns and plantations in Virginia. Its purpose was to work with the Governor and the Governor’s Council to pass laws and make decisions for the colony. 

• Virginia’s government was a unicameral legislative body until 1643, when Berkeley allowed the Burgesses to meet separately, creating a bicameral legislative system. 
• Berkeley also gave the Burgesses authority over the General Court by allowing them to serve as the final court of appeal. In doing this, Berkeley subjected himself to the authority of the Burgesses because he presided over the General Court.

Berkeley’s curiosity extended beyond agriculture, and he supported expeditions to search for routes over the mountains and to explore the vast wilderness.

During the Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–1646), he used his connections in London contacts to acquire weapons for Virginia. He also led Virginia troops against the Indians. This war ended when Opechancanough, the elderly leader of the Powhatans, was captured and subsequently murdered while he was being held prisoner in Jamestown. 

Peace was restored in Virginia in October 1646 when the Powhatans signed a treaty with Berkeley that confined them to reservations and required them to pay an annual fee of 20 fur pelts. This helped Berkeley and his supporters control the Fur Trade in Virginia.

Tensions between King Charles I and Parliament led to the English Civil War (1642–1649). The conflict was fought between the Royalists, who supported Charles, and the Parliamentarians, who were led by Oliver Cromwell. In 1649, Charles was convicted of treason and executed for his crimes. Afterward, the Parliamentarians established the Commonwealth of England. 

Berkeley was outraged and openly supported the monarchy:

• He influenced the House of Burgesses to condemn the actions of Parliament.
• Berkeley openly encouraged the Royalists, also known as “Cavaliers,” to take refuge in Virginia, along with clergymen from the Church of England.

In 1652, Parliament sent a fleet to Virginia to confront Berkeley. He surrendered control and was allowed to retire to his plantation instead of returning to England.

• Relations between royalists and Cromwell’s supporters remained amicable.
• Around this same time, Berkeley married, but his wife’s name is unknown.
• Berkeley retired to Green Spring from 1652 to 1660 during the Commonwealth.
• After Cromwell died, the threat of civil war returned as factions fought for control of England.
• To ease tensions, Parliament decided to place Charles Stuart, the son of Charles I, on the throne.
• The coronation of Charles II completed the “Stuart Restoration.”

The Governors of Virginia after Berkeley was removed were:

• Richard Bennett, Esquire (1652–1655)
• Edward Digges (1665–1668)
• Samuel Mathews (1657–1660)

Governor of Virginia (1660–1677)

After Governor Mathews died in 1660, Berkeley resumed control of Virginia. He was determined to implement his economic system for the colony, which included trading with partners outside the English Mercantile System. In 1661, he traveled to London and met with King Charles II, but he was told he needed to comply with the Navigation Acts. He returned to Virginia in 1662, where he faced various issues:

• There was an increase in the number of ‘Freemen’ moving into the Chesapeake Region, including Quakers and Puritans. These people did not own land and struggled to make a living.
• Elite planters faced economic struggles due to a downturn in the tobacco market and the enforcement of the Navigation Acts.
• The influx of new settlers pushed into Indian lands on the frontier, threatening to disrupt Berkeley’s control of the Fur Trade.
• Wars between England and the Netherlands affected Virginia merchants.

The increasing number of poor Freemen in Virginia troubled Berkeley, who wrote, “How miserable that man is that governs a people where six parts of seven at least are poor, endebted, discontented, and armed.”

Perhaps the most controversial of Berkeley’s policies was his manipulation of the Fur Trade. Because he needed to maintain peaceful relations with the Indians, he was slow to take action against raiding parties that harassed settlements and plantations on the frontier.

Carolina

Some of the settlers moving into the region settled outside the boundaries of Virginia and purchased their land directly from the Indians. 

• Some established plantations in the Albemarle region of present-day North Carolina. 
• In 1662, Berkeley notified them that they also needed to obtain a grant from Virginia for the same land.
• This created conflicts between settlers regarding land ownership.

In 1663, King Charles II rewarded some of his most loyal followers with a charter for a new colony, Carolina, which included Albemarle. The eight recipients of the charter are known as the “Lords Proprietors of Carolina,” and Berkeley was one of them. 

Although Berkeley remained focused on Virginia, he helped organize the government of the Albemarle District in northern Carolina and appointed William Drummond as the Governor.

Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)

In 1665, a second war erupted between England and the Dutch Republic over control of maritime trade routes and shipping. King Charles II instructed Berkeley to prepare Virginia’s defenses in case of a Dutch attack.

• Berkeley asked the King to send cannons and gunpowder.
• He strengthened defensive fortifications at Jamestown and other locations.
• A 32-gun frigate, Elizabeth, carried cannons and other military supplies to Virginia.

Outside of defending the colony, Berkeley was focused on protecting the fleet of ships that were preparing to carry the colony’s annual tobacco shipment to England. While these ships were gathering at Hampton Roads, a small fleet of Dutch warships was sailing toward the Chesapeake Bay.

• The Dutch arrived on June 5, 1667, and attacked the Elizabeth and the tobacco ships.
• The Elizabeth surrendered, while nearly 20 tobacco ships were captured.
• The Dutch landed expeditions to gather fresh water for their ships but were driven off by the Virginia Militia.

Berkeley responded by organizing an expedition to retaliate against the Dutch fleet. This included arming a dozen ships, including a handful that had escaped the first Dutch attack, and gathering roughly 900 men. However, delays slowed the expedition, and the Dutch sailed away on June 11.

The loss of the tobacco ships hurt Virginia’s economy, which suffered more when a hurricane struck the colony on August 27.

The war ended with the Treaty of Breda, which included the Dutch ceding New Amsterdam to England. This paved the way for the establishment of the Province of New York.

Marriage to Frances Culpeper

Berkeley married Frances Culpeper in 1670. She was the daughter of Thomas Culpeper, the former Governor of Virginia, and the brother of John Culpeper, who led Culpeper’s Rebellion (1677). Following this marriage, accounts indicate Berkeley took a more active role in controlling the colony’s direction to increase his personal wealth. 

• Berkeley refused to hold elections for the House of Burgesses, ensuring his political allies remained in power.
• He passed the Franchise Act (1670), which restricted voting rights. Only property owners and people who owned houses were allowed to vote.

Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)

England went to war with the Dutch again in 1672. Despite the earlier attack, Berkeley failed to maintain Virginia’s defenses, and the annual tobacco fleet was endangered again. London sent two warships to help Berkeley defend the colony. The situation intensified as rumors of a potential slave uprising spread. 

• A Dutch fleet of eight ships arrived on July 11, 1673.
• Berkeley armed merchant ships to go along with the two English warships.

On July 12, a fleet of eight tobacco ships from Maryland approached Virginia, where the Dutch fleet awaited. The English fleet responded by sailing out to engage and distract the Dutch. A sea battle ensued, and the Maryland ships escaped with minimal damage, although one ship was lost. The Virginia tobacco ships also escaped and moved up the James River, anchoring near Jamestown.

• Minor skirmishes continued for the next few days, but the English were able to maintain their defenses, keeping the Dutch from seizing the tobacco fleet.
• The Dutch decided to end the attack on Virginia. They sailed to New York and recaptured it from the English in August.

While the Dutch were engaged in New York, the Chesapeake tobacco ships sailed to England, escorted by English warships. Afterward, Berkeley planned to rebuild fortifications at various locations.

The war was resolved by the Treaty of Westminster (1674), which restored English control of the Province of New York.

Unrest in Virginia

A series of events occurred in 1674 and 1675 that altered the direction of the colony.

First, Frances Culpeper’s cousin, Nathaniel Bacon, arrived in Virginia with his wife, Elizabeth, and their two daughters. Bacon also brought a reputation for being a troublemaker and a swindler. However, the Berkeley’s took the Bacon’s in at Green Spring. After Bacon bought his own plantation, Curles Neck, Berkeley appointed him to a seat on the Governor’s Council and gave him a license to trade with the Indians.

Second, hostilities between Indians and Virginia settlers escalated after a band of Doeg raided Thomas Mathew’s plantation. In September 1676, Colonel John Washington pursued the Doeg into Maryland, where they took refuge in a fortified Susquehannock village on Piscataway Creek, known as Fort Piscataway. After failed negotiations led to the murder of five Susquehannock chiefs, the Susquehannock broke the siege and escaped. They retaliated by attacking Virginia settlements along the Fall Line, which marked the western edge of the colony.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676–1677)

The frontier settlers, mostly small farmers, asked Berkeley for military support, but he refused. Many of those farmers were former indentured servants — black and white — who had completed their servitude and been freed. 

Outraged, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They wanted to protect their property and feared the outbreak of a widespread war with the Indians, similar to King Philip’s War in New England. At first, Bacon supported Berkeley — until his plantation was attacked.

In April 1676, the farmers formed their own army and prepared to launch an attack against the Indians. Bacon was at a dinner party when he heard about this army and went to see it for himself. When he arrived, the farmers asked him to lead them. Legend has it that when they saw him, they cried out, “A Bacon! A Bacon! A Bacon!”

Bacon accepted the challenge, and over the next six months, civil war raged in Virginia between Bacon, Berkeley, and their respective armies.

• Bacon’s Army attacked Indians without Berkeley’s permission, which resulted in Berkeley removing Bacon from the Governor’s Council and branding Bacon a rebel.
• Berkeley called for new elections for the House of Burgesses and extended voting rights to all men.
• Berkeley issued a “Declaration and Remonstrance” that justified his actions and vilified Bacon and his men.
• Berkeley’s election plan backfired when Bacon was elected to represent Henrico County in the House of Burgesses.
• Bacon was seized and arrested when he traveled to Jamestown for the House’s meetings.
• While he was in custody, Bacon apologized to Berkeley, who freed him, restored him to the Governor’s Council, and promised to give him a commission to engage the Indians.
• When Berkeley failed to give Bacon the commission, he marched on Jamestown, forcing Berkeley to flee.
• Berkeley went to Arlington Plantation, the home of John Custis, and started gathering his own army while Bacon seized Green Spring and attacked Indians.
• In September, Berkeley marched on Jamestown and arrived while Bacon was away. 
• When Bacon returned, he had his men burn Jamestown to the ground.
• Bacon returned to the wilderness to engage the Indians but died from dysentery on October 26, 2676.
• The fighting continued into January 1677, when two of Bacon’s followers decided to side with Berkeley.

Meanwhile, King Charles II was determined to restore order in Virginia. On October 26, he issued a proclamation to suppress the rebellion in the colony and then sent a small fleet of ships and troops to deal with the insurgents and three commissioners to conduct an investigation. 

While this fleet traveled to Virginia, Berkeley took action against the rebels. He had them arrested, and some were executed. The total number of executions varies based on the account, but it was as few as five and as many as 23. One of the men who was executed was William Drummond, whom Berkeley had made Governor of the Albemarle District in 1663.

When the English commissioners arrived, Berkeley clashed with them but ultimately resigned in May 1677. Colonel Herbert Jeffreys replaced Berkeley as Governor by order of the King.

Death

Berkeley traveled to England in early June to seek reinstatement. He arrived but died on June 9 before he could meet with King Charles II and present his case. Upon hearing of Berkeley’s death, the King is said to have remarked, “The old fool has killed more people in that naked country than I have done for the murder of my father.”