Colonel Thomas Lygon III (also spelled Ligon, Liggon and Liggin; 11 January 1623 – 16 March 1675) was a Colonial Virginian statesman, militia officer, and landowner. Born into a

genteel Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

family in England, Lygon emigrated to the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for t ...

in the early 1640s. He served in the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

, representing

Henrico County Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico Coun ...

, and was a justice of the peace for

Charles City County Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River. The a ...

. Lygon owned large parcels of land along the

Appomattox River The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia, named for the ...

, and worked as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

until his death in 1675. He was the patriarch of the American branch of the Lygon family.

Early life and family

Lygon was born in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England on 11 January 1623 to Sir Thomas Framer Lygon II of

Madresfield Court Madresfield Court is a country house in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The home of the Lygon family for nearly six centuries, it has never been sold and has passed only by inheritance since the 12th century; a line of unbroken family ownersh ...

and Elizabeth Pratt. He was baptized in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Walsgrave on Sowe Walsgrave on Sowe, or simply Walsgrave, is a suburban district situated approximately north-east of central Coventry, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, central England. Although it now experiences very little floodin ...

. Lygon was a member of an

aristocratic family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

that were part of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

. He was a cousin of Sir William Berkeley and

John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton (1602 – 26 August 1678) of Berkeley House in Westminster and of Twickenham Park in Middlesex, was an English royalist soldier, politician and diplomat, of the Bruton branch of the Berkeley f ...

. The home of Lygon's grandparents, Thomas Lygon of

Elkstone Elkstone is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, the parish had a population of 203, increasing to 248 at the 2011 census. Approximately south of its post town, Cheltenham, an ...

and Frances

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is some ...

, was searched by

priest hunter A priest hunter was a person who, acting on behalf of the English and later British government, spied on or captured Catholic priests during Penal Times. Priest hunters were effectively bounty hunters. Some were volunteers, experienced soldiers ...

s in 1581 and, in 1592, his grandmother was fined as a

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

for refusing to attend Anglican services. He was a great-great-grandson of Sir William Denys, who served as

High Sheriff of Gloucestershire This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire, who should not be confused with the Sheriffs of the City of Gloucester. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (in England and Wales the office previously kn ...

and as Esquire of the Body to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, and Anne de

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, being designated by English ...

Life in the colonies

Following his cousin, Sir William Berkely, who was appointed by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

as the

Royal Governor of Virginia Some of those who held the lead role as governor of Virginia never visited the New World and governed through deputies resident in the colony. Others, such as Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, held the lead role for many years but were in Virgini ...

, Lygon emigrated to the

in the early 1640s, at the age of sixteen, arriving in Jamestown in 1641. On 18 April 1644, while Lygon was living at the home of John and Sarah Woodson, their settlement was attacked by Native Americans. During the battle, Lygon shot and killed seven people. The gun he used is now owned by the

Virginia Historical Society The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, ...

. Lygon

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

several large parcels of land north of the

in The Cowpens, then part of

. In 1668, three hundred acres of land on the south side of the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

were granted to Lygon and Major William Farrar. On 7 April 1671, Lygon was granted 387 acres of land on the north side of the Appomattox. On 20 September 1672, he was granted 1,468 acres along the James River. He married Mary Harris, daughter of the planter Captain Thomas Harris, and had at least five children with her. Lygon was active in government in the colony, and was appointed to represent his cousin on various occasions. He served in the

, representing Henrico County, and was a member of the Committee for Private Causes. His brother-in-law, Major William Harris, held the other Henrico County seat. Lygon was active in the county militia, serving as a lieutenant colonel and later as a colonel. On 1 August 1657, he was appointed as a justice of the peace for

Charles City County, Virginia Charles City County is a county (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and west of Jamestown, Virginia, Jamestown. It is ...

. He worked as a

until his death in 1675. He died in Henrico County on 16 March 1675.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lygon, Thomas 1623 births 1675 deaths 17th-century American landowners American militia officers American surveyors Colonial American justices of the peace House of Burgesses members Emigrants from the Kingdom of England to the Thirteen Colonies

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Military personnel from Warwickshire Politicians from Worcestershire