Mary Willing Byrd

Mary Willing Byrd
Portrait by John Wollaston, in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond[1]
Born	Mary Willing September 10, 1740
Died	March 1814 (aged 73) Westover Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Westover Church, Charles City County, Virginia
Spouse	William Byrd III (m. January 29, 1761, d. 1777)
Children	10, including Charles Willing Byrd
Parent(s)	Charles Willing Anne Shippen
Relatives	Thomas Willing (brother) Elizabeth Willing Powel (sister) Edward Shippen (great-grandfather)

Mary Willing Byrd (September 10, 1740 – March 1814) was an American planter. At twenty years of age, she became the step-mother of five children and managed the family and household at Westover Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia beginning her second year of marriage. Together Byrd and her husband, William Byrd III, had ten more children before he committed suicide in 1777. She determined what property to hold on to and what to sell of what she inherited so that she could pay off debts, preserve Westover Plantation, and retain some land for the Byrd children.

During the American Revolutionary War, British forces seized some of her property and when she tried to regain it, the State of Virginia accused her with dealing with the enemy. After she explained the situation in letters, the case was dropped and did not go to trial.