Benjamin Harrison, III

Benjamin Harrison of "Berkeley," was the oldest son of Colonel Benjamin Harrison, of the council of state. He was born in 1673; was attorney-general, 1699, and burgess in 1705-1706, during which session he was speaker; treasurer of the colony. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Major Lewis Burwell. He died April 10, 1710, leaving issue--Benjamin (q. v.) and Elizabeth. 

Eminent lawyer and assisted in the revision of the laws of the Colony, 1700; served as Treasurer, Attorney General and Speaker of the House of Burgesses. He was a local supporter of the Established Church. The public erected a monument to his memory in the Old Westover Churchyard 

He became the owner of Berkeley, following the death of Giles Bland, son of John Bland, the previous owner, when he was hanged by Governor Sir William Berkeley in 1676, after participating in the Rebellion under Bacon. Although he was only three years old at the time, it is probable that his father, purchased it for him while he was still young. 

Berkeley Hundred was comprised of about eight thousand acres on the James River in Virginia, and was a land grant of the London Company, in 1618, to Sir William Throckmorton, Sir George Yeardley and Richard Berkeley and John Smith of Nibley. It was named for Richard Berkeley. In 1619, the "good ship Margaret" of Bristol sailed for Virginia and brought thirty-five settlers to the new Town and Hundred of Berkeley. In 1622, a terrible massacre took place and nine people were brutally slain at Berkeley. For several years, thereafter, the plantation lay abandoned, until William Tucker and others got possession of it in 1636, and it became the property of John Bland, a merchant of London. 

He died at age thirty-seven in 1710, and his tomb may be seen today at the site of Old Westover Church, on the river near Westover. The inscription on the tomb is in Latin and Greek. His wife, Elizabeth Burwell, is buried beside him and her tomb bears the Family Coat of Arms. 

He apparently suffered from gout, and may have had a heart attack following a game of cricket he played in March from which he never fully recovered. 

Benjamin III left only one male heir - Benjamin IV. 

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Harrison_III
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_family_of_Virginia
• http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~marshall/esmd42.htm
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7656559