Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt

Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), courtier, MP, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 to 1770.

Life

Norborne Berkeley was born about 1717. In 1726, Berkeley was admitted to Westminster School. His political career began in 1741 when he was elected MP for Gloucestershire, a seat he held until 1763. Considered a staunch Tory, Berkeley's fortunes were boosted considerably on the accession of George III in 1760. In 1764, he took a seat in the House of Lords as the 4th Baron de Botetourt and in 1768 was appointed governor of Virginia. He died in Williamsburg on 15 October 1770, after an illness lasting several weeks. Botetourt never married and left no direct heirs. Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke, eds., The House of Commons, 1754-1790, vol. 2 (1985), 85-86; G.F. Russell Barker, The Record of Old Westminsters, vol. 1 (1928), 81; J. K. Laughton, "Thompson, Sir Charles, first baronet (c.1740–1799)", rev. Tom Wareham, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004); E. H. Chalus, "Manners , Mary Isabella, duchess of Rutland (1756–1831)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).

Statues

A statue of Lord Botetourt was placed in the Capitol in Williamsburg in 1773. The Capital of Colonial Virginia was located in Williamsburg from 1699 until 1780, but at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson, was moved to Richmond for security reasons during the American......
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