William Beverley

William Beverley (1696–1756) was an 18th-century legislator, civil servant, planter and landowner in the Colony of Virginia. Born in Virginia, Beverley—the son of planter and historian Robert Beverley, Jr. (c. 1667–1722) and his wife, Ursula Byrd Beverley (1681–1698)—was the scion of two prominent Virginia families. He was the nephew of Peter Beverley (1668–1728), Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and the grandson of wealthy Virginia planter William Byrd I (1652–1704) of Westover Plantation. Beverley's mother died shortly before her 17th birthday (when he was a toddler), and he was sent to England.

After his education in England he began a career in public service as the Clerk of Court for Essex County (1716–1745) and in the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Orange (1736–1738) and Essex Counties (1742–1749). Beverley also served on the Virginia Governor's Council in 1750.

He inherited a large estate after his father's death in 1722, amassing significant landholdings throughout Virginia from which he received revenue from tobacco production and rent from 119 tenants. His development of the 118,941-acre (481.34 km²) Beverley Manor tract in present-day Augusta County encouraged further settlement west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Beverley was commissioned by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, for an expedition with Peter Jefferson to establish the Fairfax Line of the Northern Neck Proprietary.