William Farrar (settler)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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William Farrar (April 1583 – Template:Circa) was a landowner and politician in colonial Virginia. He was a subscriber to the third charter of the Virginia Company who emigrated to the colony from England in 1618. After surviving the Jamestown massacre of 1622, he moved to Jordan's Journey. In the following year, Farrar became involved in North America's first breach of promise suit when he proposed to Cecily Jordan.
In 1626, Farrar was appointed to the Council of Virginia where he served as an advisor to the royal governor, a judge of the highest court in the colony, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly of Colonial Jamestown. He was also appointed magistrate of the upper James River community. In both these roles, he served as a voice of the early planters' interest as the colony transitioned from being managed by the Virginia Company and becoming a royal colony under Charles I of England.
Farrar was also on the Council when it arrested Governor John Harvey for misgovernance and forced his temporary return to England. By the time of his death around 1637, Farrar had sold off his remaining assets in England and established rights to a 2000 acre patent on Farrar's Island, located on a curl of the James River.
