It was he, indeed, who almost single-handedly recruited the colonists and formulated the society and culture of colonial Virginia. In the short run, however, Sir William became exceedingly prosperous and influential. In the long run, Berkeley’s attempts to diversify Virginia’s tobacco-bound agrarian economy failed. Within five years, he was exporting rice, liquor, silk, fruit, potash, and flax, as well as the principal Virginia commodity-tobacco. In addition to building the first Anglo-American stately mansion there, Berkeley determined to make his plantation a showplace of the agricultural industry and economic diversity. By 1643 Berkeley had acquired the property of Green Spring, some three miles upriver from Jamestown. Berkeley immediately became one the colony’s planting elite, arriving with easy access to land and a sizable contingent of servants and laborers.
When he landed in Jamestown, Virginia was a small and marginal community of only 8,000 English settlers. Using the influence of his relations and court connections, Sir William purchased the office of governor of Virginia and, commissioned by King Charles in August 1641, set sail for Jamestown to seek his fortune.īerkeley wasted no time putting his personal imprint on his new colony. He was knighted for serving the king in the Bishops’ Wars of 1639-40, but saw also that the king’s policies were edging the country toward civil war. After being schooled at Oxford and taking the Grand Tour, William secured an appointment at court and established something of a minor reputation writing plays. His father, Sir Maurice, was of the Somerset Berkeley, and William grew up in their home at Bruton Abbey. Sir William Berkeley came from a cadet branch of the family.
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