George Durant (October 1, 1632 – February 6, 1692) was an attorney,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the

Province of Carolina The Province of Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and Sou ...

. He is sometimes called the "father of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Biography

Durant was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to William Durant and Alice Pell. Prior to July 1658 he resided for a time in Northumberland County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, where he had purchased . He married Ann Marwood on January 4, 1658, and shortly thereafter moved to

Nansemond County, Virginia Nansemond is an extinct jurisdiction that was located south of the James River in Virginia Colony and in the Commonwealth of Virginia (after statehood) in the United States, from 1646 until 1974. It was known as Nansemond County until 1972. Fr ...

, where he lived for about two years. Durant was associated with

Nathaniel Batts Nathaniel Batts (–1679) was a fur trader, explorer and Native American interpreter. He became the first recorded European to permanently settle in North Carolina in 1655. He often appears as Captain Nathaniel Batts in the records of Norfolk Co ...

, a

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r, and Richard Batts, a sea captain, and together with them explored the

Albemarle Sound Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan River, Chowan and Roanoke River, Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean b ...

area of Virginia. On August 4, 1661, Durant purchased, in the second oldest recorded deed of the area, land from Cisketando, king of the Yeopim Indian tribe. On March 13, 1662, a second purchase was made from Kilcocanen, another Yeopim. By 1662 Durant was living in Virginia on property adjacent to the Albemarle Sound, which became part of the Carolina colony in 1665. His plantation, called "Wicocombe" (subsequently known as "Durant's Neck"), was located in

Perquimans County, North Carolina Perquimans County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,005. Its county seat is Hertford. The Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity facility is located in Perquimans County. ...

. The exact location of his home is unknown, but the present town of Durant, on the peninsula between the Perquimans River and the Little River, lies on the neck of land five miles east of Edenton, that was sold to George Durant by the two Indian leaders. A mariner turned planter, Durant was one of the ablest and most influential men in the county and a leader of the 1677 Culpeper's Rebellion,Harcourt Social studies, ''North Carolina Geography, History, and Culture'', 2009, page 57 an uprising over the requirement that all colonial goods be transported in British ships. Durant's open opposition to

Seth Sothel Seth Sothel (also spelled Sothell and Southwell, died 1694) was a colonial fraudulent American proprietor and governor of the Province of Carolina. He claimed he ruled the northern portion, Albemarle Sound (future North Carolina), in 1678 and the ...

, one of the

Lords Proprietor A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". Origin In the beginning of the Europe ...

, led to his arrest and imprisonment. But when Sothel confiscated of Durant's property, residents of the Albemarle region rose in defense of Durant and banished Sothel from the area. The Durant family Bible, printed in 1599 and brought by Durant to the New World, is displayed in a locked cabinet at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. Durant died on February 6, 1692, at the age of 59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durant, George British politicians of then-British possessions 1632 births 1692 deaths Members of the North Carolina House of Burgesses