William Berkeley (Governor of Virginia)

Type Figure Region Virginia Time 1605–1677 Also known as Sir William Berkeley、William Berkeley

William Berkeley (1605–1677), one of Virginia's longest-serving governors, ruled over thirty years across two terms;…

Timeline

1641–1652Jamestown · Virginia colonyBerkeley came from the English gentry and was appointed Governor of Virginia by Charles I in 1641. He encouraged tobacco exports, established defenses against raids by tribes descended from the Powhatan Confederacy, and during the English Civil War had Virginia declare support for the king.
1652–1660England · EnglandIn 1652 the Protectorate regime forced Berkeley from office, and he returned to England for the Protectorate period. After the Restoration in 1660, Charles II reappointed him Governor of Virginia, beginning his second term.
1660–1677Greenspring · Virginia colonyAfter the Restoration Berkeley ruled for a long period, fostering a large-planter oligarchy, restricting the franchise in the assembly, and responding slowly to wars with frontier Indians. Between 1661 and 1670 he consolidated aristocratic rule and promoted trade monopolies, with conflicts against frontier settlers growing ever sharper, ultimately triggering Bacon's Rebellion in 1676; though the uprising was suppressed, he died the following year.

Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sir William Berkeley https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Berkeley-British-colonial-governor
Encyclopedia Virginia: Sir William Berkeley (1605–1677) https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/berkeley-sir-william-1605-1677/