George William Fairfax
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George William Fairfax | |
|---|---|
 Fairfax c. 1816 | |
| Member of the House of Burgesses from Fairfax County | |
| In office 1756–1758 Serving with John West | |
| Preceded by | Gerrard Alexander |
| Succeeded by | George Johnson |
| Member of the House of Burgesses from Frederick County | |
| In office 1752–1755 Serving with Gabriel Jones | |
| Preceded by | George Fairfax |
| Succeeded by | Hugh West |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 2, 1724 |
| Died | April 3, 1787 (aged 63) |
| Spouse | Sally Fairfax |
George William Fairfax (January 2, 1724 – April 3, 1787) was a planter in colonial Virginia who represented then-vast Frederick County and later Fairfax County in the House of Burgesses before the American Revolutionary War, by which time he had returned to England (where he was a Loyalist). A mentor and good friend of George Washington, Fairfax made opportunities for the younger Washington through his powerful British family, and Washington assisted him afterward by arranging for the sale of his Virginia property after he returned to Britain.
Fairfax was born in 1724 on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas.[1] He was the son of Sarah (née Walker), and her husband Sir William Fairfax, a British colonel who had served as an English Customs agent in Barbados, as well as a justice and Governor of the Bahamas. At his son's birth, William was working as the Customs Collector in Marblehead. Sarah's father Thomas Walker was Chief Justice of the Bahamas. In addition to George, the Fairfaxes had two daughters, Anne and Sarah. The father William was first cousin to Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. George William's mother Sarah died January 21, 1731, when he was only seven years old.[2]
At Lord Fairfax's request, the widower William Fairfax was reassigned to the colony of Virginia as customs agent. There he became a lieutenant of the County of Fairfax, and member and president of the council in Virginia (equivalent to lieutenant governor). William Fairfax also assisted his cousin as his land agent, managing his extensive holdings in northern Virginia known as the Northern Neck Proprietary.
Genealogists disagree about whether George William Fairfax's mother, Sarah Walker, might have possibly been of mixed race. In a letter to his mother, William Fairfax appeared to have worried about the reception of the boy by the London Fairfax family when he sent him to England.
Col. Gale has indeed kindly offered to take the care of safe conducting my eldest son George, upwards of seven years old but I judged it too forward to send him before I had your's or some one of his Uncles' or Aunts' invitation, altho' I have no reason to doubt any of their indulgences to a poor West India boy especially as he has the marks in his visage that will always testify his parentage.[2]
"West India" was a term used synonymously with Creole, which denoted native-born as much as it did mixed race in the period.
After William Fairfax moved his family to Virginia, George William became a friend of George Washington, who was eight years younger. Fairfax's older sister Anne married George Washington's older half-brother Lawrence in 1743, when George Washington was eleven years old.
Fairfax remained Washington's friend until his death in 1787. Meanwhile, he arranged for the younger Washington to help him to survey the Virginia lands of his cousin, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.[3] This gave Washington a working introduction into Virginia society.
Marriage and family
In 1748, George William married Sally Cary, who came from one of Virginia's oldest and wealthiest families. Sally was apparently one of the most attractive women in Virginia.[4]
