About Washington and Dinwiddie
Robert Dinwiddie served as lieutenant-governor of Virginia from November 1751 to January 1758. In colonial Virginia, the lieutenant-governor was the defacto governor, as he was the highest-ranking British official to actually reside in the colony. Governor Dinwiddie lived in Virginia at a very critical time—the beginning of the French and Indian War, or the Seven Years' War, as it was called in Europe. George WashingtonDinwiddie was also important for another reason. He served as mentor and father-figure to a young George Washington. Although Washington had been born into a life of privilege, his father's death in 1743 greatly changed his circumstances. The eleven-year-old was the oldest son of Augustine Washington's second marriage and most of his father's estate was left to his half-brothers. Unlike them, Washington was unable to travel to England to be educated, a fact that would bother him for the rest of his life. In early 1759, George Washington would marry Martha Custis, one of the wealthiest widows in Virginia. Two-years later, with the death of Anne Fairfax Washington (his half-brother's widow), he would inherit Mount Vernon, his brother's estate in Fairfax County. These events would cement Washington's status as one of Virginia's leading planters and wealthiest men. However, the George Washington revealed in this collection was a young man anxious to prove himself and find his way in an uncertain world. His letters reveal an intense ambition and a desire for recognition tempered by the mores of the time—which required deference and reticence from young men such as Washington.   428 North Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23220 | Mail: P.O. Box 7311, Richmond, VA 23221-0311 | Phone: 804.358.4901Hours | Directions | Contact us | Site map | Blog |  Share
   
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