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He was son of William Byrd II and Maria Taylor Byrd, and the grandson of William Byrd I. Byrd inherited his family's estate of approximately 179,000 acres of land in Virginia and continued their tradition of serving as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He chose to fight in the French and Indian War rather than spend much time in ...
In 1758, William Byrd III built his country house Belvidere on this hill, with views of the James River as well as Church Hill (Richmond, Virginia) and Shockoe Hill.Fire destroyed the house and gardens about a century later, by which time the neighborhood had transformed from an agricultural to industrial one.
Maria Taylor Byrd (November 10, 1698 – August 28, 1771) was a prominent colonial woman who managed her and her husband William Byrd II's Westover Plantation during his periods of absence. During their lifetimes, William Byrd III and Maria Taylor Byrd's holdings increased to 179,423 acres of land and hundreds of enslaved people.
William Byrd III, a wealthy planter, politician and military officer, was facing financial problems and divided his estate in Richmond known as the Belvidere into several plots 100-acres in size for sale. The Harvie family bought several of these lots which became known as "Harvie's Woods."
Modern day Gambles Hill was first occupied by William Byrd III in 1760, where he built his estate atop what is now Gambles Hill. Nine acres of his estate was donated to Gambles Hill Park, which became one of the first public parks in Richmond. In 1800, John Harvie commissioned the construction of a house atop a hill overlooking the James River.
Byrd died August 26, 1744. By that time, the "Land of Eden" began to be surrounded by small farms held by a wave of poor Scotch-Irish immigrants, whom Byrd had compared to the "Goths and Vandals." [citation needed] [8] "Eden" was inherited by William Byrd III, who shared none of his father's dreams of colonization.
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The first documented owner was William Byrd III (1728–1777), son of William Byrd II (1674–1744), founder of the city of Richmond. Like his father, the younger Byrd owned extensive properties in Richmond along the James (James River (Virginia)), and in 1768 he sought to repay his extensive gambling debts by auctioning off 100 of his lots in a public auction.