Francis Fauquier

Francis Fauquier (1703 – 3 March 1768) was a British colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768. Born to in England to a Huguenot family, he emigrated to the British colony of Virginia to take up of the office of lieutenant governor. A teacher and close friend of Thomas Jefferson, Fauquier frequently hosted lavish parties for the American gentry as governor. Fauquier County, Virginia is named in his honor. Due to Fauquier's connections to several prominent students and faculty of the College of William & Mary, a campus building and The Fauquier Society, a university secret society are also named for him. Background Fauquier was born in England. His father, Dr. John Francis Fauquier, was a French Huguenot from Clairac, Lot-et-Garonne who relocated to Great Britain where he worked as a financial agent and deputy master of the mint under Isaac Newton. Later in life Dr. Fauquier became director of the Bank of England and left his son a sizeable fortune. Around 1729, he married Catherine Dalston. They had two sons. Like his father, Fauquier was brought up to be a renaissance man with expertise in both science and industry, with interests in the arts and charity. He became director of the South Sea Company in 1751. In that same year he also became one of the governors of the charitable Foundling Hospital for abandoned children. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753. He came to the colony of Virginia as lieutenant governor in 1758, succeeding Robert Dinwiddie, and remained in that position until his death. He published several financial essays, among them the idea Raising Money for Support of the War, which was published in 1756, and served as an audition for the replacement of his Virginian predecessor.