COLONIAL PRESIDEXTS AND GO\'ERXORS
69
steady support of the American war endeared
liim to the King, who made him in 177(1 Lord
Amherst, in 1778 a general, and in 1780 colonel
of the 2nd Horse Grenadiers. After various
other honors he was raised in ijv)() to the rank
of field marshal. He did not long survive this
last honor, and died at Montreal, his seat in
Kent. August 3. 1797.
Berkeley, Norborne, Baron de Botetourt. govcrniir-in-chief of Virginia (1768- 1770). was born in England, in 1718. He was the only son of John Symes Berkeley, Esq.. of Stoke GifTord. county Gloucester, England, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Walter Xorborne of Caline. county Wilts. Of this branch of the distinguished and ennobled family of Berkeley an extended pedigree ap- pears in the \'isitation of Gloucester of 1623. In 1764 Botetourt was raised to the peerage of England as Xorborne, Baron de Botetourt. Previous to this he had been colonel of the Xorth Gloucestershire militia and a member of parliament, and afterwards in 1767 became constable of the Tower of London. Xo gov- ernor-in-chief had resided in the colony of \'irginia for three-quarters of a century, and. to appease the growing discontent there over the revenue law. the home authorities sent Botetourt over with the full title and dignity of "His Majesty's Lieutenant. Governor-Gen- eral and Commander-in-Chief." He was ap- pointed in July. 1768. and arrived in the colony October 28. 1769. His reception was enthu- siastic, and his afifable deportment made him immediately very popular, which was increased by his concurring shortly after his arrival with his council in declaring writs of assistance illegal. The quarrel over the revenue act had come to a crisis at this time. Parliament had sent an order over for the arrest of the patriot
leaders in Xew England, who were to be trans-
ported to England for trial, and \"irginia was
the first colony to take action. When Bote-
tourt convened the assembly, that body on
May 26. 1769, passed stirring resolutions con-
demning parliament. Botetourt dissolved the
assembly, and the members, with the speaker,
Peyton Randolph, at their head, met immedi-
ately at the Raleigh tavern and adopted an ex-
tensive system of non-importation. They ral-
lied all the other colonies to do the same, and
parliament, yielding to the pressure, abolished
all the taxes complained of except a small tax
on tea. Botetourt had cherished the hope that
all the taxes would be repealed, and relying
upon the assurances of the English secretary
of state had called an assembly in November
following the May session in 1769 to convey
to them the joyous information of this purpose
of the British ministry. He was. therefore,
greatly disappointed when only a partial repeal
was made. It is said that he contemplated a
resignation of his office and was only prevented
from sending it on by his sickness and death,
which occurred October 15. 1770. There are
various contemporary notices of his social
acts, his dinner companies at the palace, the
distinction of his manner, and the urbanity of
his address. Through his munificence two
gold medals were established in the College of
William and Mary, to be given annually one
for excellence in classical learning, and the
other for excellence in philosophy. Eight of
these prizes were bestowed, and they are said
to be the earliest of their kind in the United
States. Lord Botetourt was honored by the
■ people with a splendid funeral, and he was
buried in a vault underneath the floor of the
chapel of William and Mary, and subsequently
a statue was erected to his memory. Close by
his vault lie the ♦-emains of Peyton Randolph,
