William Berkeley: Long-serving Governor of Colonial Virginia

William Berkeley

During his early term as governor, he placed great emphasis on cooperation with the colonial assembly, but after his restoration, his rule gradually became autocratic, deepening conflicts with colonists over Native American policies and political privileges. Ultimately, his governance provoked Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion and led to severe turmoil, including the burning of Jamestown.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	William Berkeley
1605	Birth of William Berkeley (Period: 1605 (exact date unknown), Location: Hanworth (present-day around the London Borough of Hounslow)) Birth at Hanworth Manor (Period: 1605, Location: Hanworth Manor, Middlesex, England)
1623	Education at Oxford University (Age: 18 years old, Period: Around 1623–1629, Location: Oxford, England)
1632	Entry into the Court of Charles I (Age: 27 years old, Period: 1632, Location: London, England)
1638	Performance of "The Lost Lady" (Age: 33 years old, Period: 1638, Location: London, England)
1639	First and Second Bishops’ Wars (Age: 34 years old, Period: 1639–1640, Location: Scottish Borders Region, England and Scotland) Knighthood (Age: 34 years old, Period: July 12, 1639, Location: Berwick-upon-Tweed, England)
1640	Agricultural Diversification Policy (Age: 35 years old, Period: 1640s–1660s, Location: Green Spring, Virginia Colony)
1641	Assumption of First Term as Governor of Virginia (William Berkeley, Age: 36 years old, Period: 1641–1642, Location: Virginia Colony, Jamestown) Appointment as Governor of Virginia (Age: 36 years old, Period: August 9, 1641, Location: Royal Court Around London, England)
1642	First English Civil War (Age: 37 years old, Period: 1642–1646, Location: Various Places in England, Especially York, Western England, etc.) Arrival in Virginia and Start of First Term as Governor (Age: 37 years old, Period: 1642, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony)
1643	Acquisition of Green Spring Plantation (William Berkeley, Age: 38 years old, Period: Around 1643, Location: Green Spring, West of Jamestown, Virginia Colony)
1644	Virginia Colony Wars Against Native Americans (Age: 39 years old, Period: 1644–1646, Location: Virginia Colony, James River Basin, etc.) Response to Virginia Colony Wars Against Native Americans (Age: 39 years old, Period: 1644–1646, Location: Virginia Colony)
1649	Reception of Royalist Exiles After the English Civil War (Age: 44 years old, Period: Around 1649, Location: Virginia Colony)
1650	Marriage (William Berkeley, First Marriage Name Unknown, Age: 45 years old, Period: Around 1650, Location: Believed to be England, Details Unknown)
1652	Resignation from the Virginia Governorship (William Berkeley, Age: 47 years old, Period: 1652, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony)
1660	Return to the Governorship (Age: 55 years old, Period: 1660–1661, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony) Start of Second Term as Governor (Age: 55 years old, Period: 1660–1661, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony)
1663	Becoming a Proprietor of Carolina (William Berkeley, Age: 58 years old, Period: 1663, Location: England and Carolina Colony) Publication of "Discourse and View of Virginia" (Age: 58 years old, Period: 1663, Location: London, England)
1665	Second Anglo-Dutch War (Age: 60 years old, Period: 1665–1667, Location: England, North Sea, Around the Netherlands, etc.)
1670	Marriage to Frances Culpeper (Age: 65 years old, Period: 1670, Location: Virginia Colony) Remarriage to Frances Culpeper Stephens (Age: 65 years old, Period: Between May 19 and June 21, 1670, Location: Virginia Colony) Marriage (William Berkeley and Frances Culpeper Stephens, Age: 65 years old, Period: Between May 19 and June 21, 1670, Location: Believed to be Around Green Spring, Virginia Colony)
1672	Third Anglo-Dutch War (Age: 67 years old, Period: 1672–1674, Location: Europe, Atlantic Ocean, North American Colonies, etc.)
1675	Susquehannock War (Age: 70 years old, Period: 1675–1676, Location: Potomac River Basin, Southern Maryland, Virginia Colony Frontier) Frontier Conflict Triggered by Clashes with the Doeg (Age: 70 years old, Period: July 1675, Location: Potomac River Basin, Around Stafford County)
1676	Bacon’s Rebellion (Age: 71 years old, Period: 1676–1677, Location: Virginia Colony, Jamestown, Northern Neck, Westmoreland County, etc.) Response to Bacon’s Rebellion (Age: 71 years old, Period: 1676–1677, Location: Virginia Colony) Nathaniel Bacon’s Expulsion from the Governor’s Council (Age: 71 years old, Period: May 1676, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony) Direct Confrontation Between Berkeley and Bacon (Age: 71 years old, Period: June–July 1676, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony) Bacon’s Pardon (Age: 71 years old, Period: June 6, 1676, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony) Abandonment and Burning of Jamestown (Age: 71 years old, Period: September 18–19, 1676, Location: Jamestown, Virginia Colony) Bacon’s Death and Suppression of the Rebellion (Age: 71 years old, Period: October 1676–Early 1677, Location: Virginia Colony)
1677	Removal from Governorship and Return to England (William Berkeley, Age: 72 years old, Period: May–July 1677, Location: Virginia Colony to England) Death of William Berkeley (Age: 72 years old, Period: July 9, 1677) Death of Berkeley (Age: 72 years old, Period: July 9, 1677, Location: Berkeley House, Mayfair, London)

Map

Category
Element

United States World

Group	List
Colonial settlement	John Smith Christopher Newport George Percy Edward Maria Wingfield Thomas Gates Samuel Argall William Strachey
Bacon's Rebellion	Nathaniel Bacon William Berkeley William Drummond Richard Lawrence Thomas Hansford Joseph Ingram
The Washington family	Augustine Warner Jr. Lawrence Washington Augustine Washington Sr. George Washington John Washington
North Carolina Early Settlers	John Lawson Thomas Cary Edward Hyde John Jenkins John Culpeper
Virginia politician	George Washington Patrick Henry Thomas Jefferson Richard Henry Lee Francis Lightfoot Lee Peyton Randolph George Mason IV

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William Berkeley: Long-serving Governor of Colonial Virginia

William Berkeley

Timeline

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