Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameGov. Edward Digges
Birth29 Mar 1621, Chilham Castle, County Kent, England
Death15 Mar 1675, Bellefield, York Co., Virginia
FatherSir Dudley Digges (1583-1639)
MotherMary Kempe (1583-~1622)
Misc. Notes
Edward Digges entered Gray's Inn, May 1637; The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court which admit students wishing to become barristers and is situated on Grays Inn Road, London.
Edward emigrated to Virginia in 1650. His Plantation, "Bellefield", near Yorktown was where "E.D." tobacco was raised, which never failed to bring in England one shilling when other tobacco would not bring three pence. He was the first promoter of silk culture in America. The ancient mulberry of Williamsburg were planted at his order for silk culture. He was elected Governor by the Assembly of Virginia in March 1655 and served as Governor until March 1658. He was sent to England in 1659 as the Colony's Agent to secure the rights of the Colony. He helped in settling a long-standing controversy between the Colony of Virginia and Lord Baltimore in Maryland, and was Auditor General of Virginia from 1670 to 1675.

The grave of Edward Digges is located near the site of his home at Bellefield and bears this inscription:
To the memory of
Edward Digges Esq.
Sonne of Dudley Digges of Chilham in Kent Kn t & Bar t Master of the Rolls in the rain of K. Charles the First. He departed this life 15th of March 1674 in the LIII d year of his age, one of his Mag ty Councill for this his colony of Virginia. A gentlemen of most commendable parts and ingenuity, the only introducer and promoter of the silk manufacture in this colony. And in everything else a pattern worthy of all Pious Imitation. He had issue 6 sons and 7 daughters by the body of Elizabeth his wife who of her conjugal affection hath dedicated to him this Memorial.
(Governor of Va. March 30, 1655 - March 13, 1658, succeeding Richard Bennet)

Because of his well established genealogy, his direct descendants are eligible to join many of the historical and patriotic societies, among them:

The Society of Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede--ancestor, Edward Digges.
The Society of Colonial Governors--ancestor, Edward Digges.
The Society of Daughters of the Crown--ancestor, Edward Digges to Alfred the Great.
The Society of Founders and Patriots--ancestors, Edward Digges.
The Society of Scions and Cavaliers--ancestor, Edward Digges, son of Sir Dudley Digges.
The Society of The First Families of Virginia--ancestor, Sir Dudley Digges, father of Edward Digges, whose daughter, Catherine, married William Herndon.

Reference of the above is found--Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 9, pp. 318, 319; William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 87, 88, 140, 141; and in Herndon, Hunt and Allied Families, p. 55, by Nesbit and Wood.
Spouses
Birthabt 1625, Hampton, Elizabeth City, Virginia
Death24 Sep 1691, Bellefield, York, Virginia
FatherFrancis Page (1593-1678)
MotherIsabel (1603-)
Marriage1650, York, Virginia
ChildrenWilliam (1652-1697)
 Catherine (1654-1729)
 Mary (~1655-1690)
 Ann (1657-1688)
 Dudley (1665-1710)
Last Modified 7 Jun 2005Created 12 Oct 2023 using Reunion for Macintosh
Created Thursday, October 12, 2023 by Mike Perry

using Reunion for Macintosh