George William Fairfax

In 1741, the Fairfax family moved into the Belvoir estate, described by George Washington as, “of Brick, two Stories high, with four convenient Rooms and a large Passage on the lower Floor, five Rooms and a Passage on the second, and a Servants Hall and Cellars below, convenient Offices, Stables, and Coach House adjoining, as also a large and well furnished Garden, stored with a great Variety of valuable Fruits, in good Order.” The 2,000 acre estate was situated on a peninsula close to the Potomac river, only four miles downstream from Mount Vernon. 

In 1743, Lawrence Washington married Ann Fairfax, which fostered eleven-year old George Washington to become a frequent guest at Belvoir. At this time, George William Fairfax worked surveying land for his cousin, Lord Thomas, and arranged for George Washington to accompany him. In 1748, Fairfax married Sally Cary, a close friend of George Washington. When Sir William Fairfax died in 1757, George William Fairfax inherited the estate, frequently hosting George and Martha Washington, who settled in Mount Vernon in 1759. 

As George William Fairfax’s father was such an influential figure in Fairfax County, George quickly became prominent in the Virginia Society as well. Fairfax first became a Justice of the peace in Fairfax County in 1745, along with Frederick County in 1749. George was also a member of the House of Burgesses in Fairfax County in the assembly of 1756 to 1758. Fairfax would help write bills, sit on committees, and help manage the colony as a member of the assembly. Fairfax also set foot into Truro Parish, serving as a churchwarden from 1763 to 1764 and again in 1770. However, George William Fairfax’s most successful work came from him succeeding his father as land agent for the Fairfax family, managing areas such as the South Potomac District and Northern Neck Proprietary.

George William Fairfax and Washington would work together throughout their lives in Fairfax County, and in 1773 Fairfax trusted Washington with the power of attorney to manage the Belvoir estate. Fairfax and his wife returned to England in 1773 to settle an inheritance lawsuit, and following the collapse of the royal government Fairfax decided to remain in England. Washington rented out Belvoir until 1783, when the estate was burned. 

Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life (New York: The Penguin Press, 2010), 16.

The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, Vol. 10, eds. W.W. Abbott and Dorothy Twohig (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995), 86.

Fields, Mason Faulkner. Belvoir, Mount Vernon. Accessed May 9th 2021. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/belvoir/#note4.

Fields, Mason Faulkner. Fairfax Family, Mount Vernon. Accessed May 9th 2021. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/fairfax-family/.

Mary V. Thompson,"George William Fairfax (1724–1787)," Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia (1998– ), published 2016 (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Fairfax_George_William, accessed May 9th, 2021.