William Travers (Virginia politician)

Col. William Travers (c. 1630 – 1679) was a lawyer, early settler and politician of Colonial Virginia.^[1][2]

William Travers was born in England around 1630. His brother Raleigh Travers emigrated to Virginia by 1651 or 1652, the first session in which he represented Lancaster County in the House of Burgesses. William Travels became a justice of the peace for Lancaster County by 1657 (the justices jointly administering the county in that era, in addition to judicial duties).^[2]

The first record of William Travers in the Colony dates from 1656, when he signed as witness to a will. He received 500 acres of land on Morattica Creek from Thomas Chetwood in 1661. By 1665, this Travers acquired land on the south side of the Rappahannock River and in 1668 he acquired 2,650 acres on its north bank. Also, in 1679 he patented 780 acres in Stafford County further upstream on the Rappahannock.^[2]

As Captain, with Colonel John Washington, John Lee, William Mosely, and Robert Beverley, Travers was appointed to settle the boundary between Northumberland and Westmoreland counties. In 1675, as Colonel for Lancaster County, the Governor's Council commissioned him to employ Native Americans to defend the Colony.^{[citation needed]}

Fellow burgesses elected William Travers as Speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1676, and limited records cannot confirm which county he represented (Lancaster County being the most likely, as Rappahannock County would not be created upstream for more than a century).^[3] His role in Bacon's Rebellion is unclear, for May 13, 1676 correspondence has survived in which Travers complained that Governor Berkeley was misinformed about the Susquehannock and Portotobaco tribes.^[2] In February 1677, the general assembly paid Travers 2,325 pounds of tobacco, though it is unclear whether it was for military service during Bacon's Rebellion or for his services as lawyer and auditor. Thus, one historian who believes him probably aligned with the previous Speaker, Augustine Warner Jr. (who owned land in many counties but could no longer serve in the lower house representing Gloucester County after his elevation to the Governor's Council), and not attracted to Bacon's cause.^[2]

He married Rebecca (Brookes?), and died when their sons Samuel, William Travers II and Raleigh Travers II were all underage, so when Rebecca remarried, her new husband, merchant John Rice, defended the estate and handled it for the young men.^[1] Their son Samuel married Frances Allerton, the granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Isaac Allerton and great granddaughter of William Brewster.^[4]

Travers died in Lancaster County before April 1679.^[2] His successor as Speaker, Mathew Kemp, represented Gloucester County before his speakership and until his elevation to the Governor's Council.