William Carver

William Carver (before 1640 before September 7, 1676), a British merchant, mariner, planter and politician who represented Lower Norfolk County in the House of Burgesses from 1665 through 1669, is best known for his participation in Bacon's Rebellion, which led to his execution in 1676. Early and family life Probably born in Bristol, England. By the mid-1650s Carver owned a ship that engaged in trade between Bristol and London in England, and its colonies. He married a woman named Elizabeth and had a 10-year-old son in 1659. His wife had died by 1667 since property was transferred to that now 18 year old young man without her signature. Carver probably remarried, to a woman whose name was unrecorded, but supposedly died of grief after hearing of his execution, as described below. Career On June 15, 1659, Carver patented 500 acres of land on the South Branch of the Elizabeth River in Lower Norfolk County in the Hampton Roads area. In 1663 he renewed that patent (which also required some development of the acreage) and acquired an additional 890 acres nearby based on the people whose immigration he funded. In 1667 Carver named his 18-year-old son as manager of that property.