William Drummond (colonial governor)

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William Drummond (died 1677) was the first colonial governor of Albemarle Sound settlement in the Province of Carolina and a participant in Bacon's Rebellion.

Drummond was born in Scotland and came to Virginia in 1637 as an indentured servant. He rose to the positions of Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of James City County. He discovered a large, circular lake in the center of the Great Dismal Swamp in 1655, now named Lake Drummond.

In 1664, Drummond was chosen to be governor of the Albemarle County colony (which would eventually become North Carolina) by Virginia Governor William Berkeley at the request of Berkeley's fellow Lords Proprietor of the colony. Drummond summoned the first legislative assembly in Carolina in 1665. Samuel Stephens succeeded him as governor.

Drummond returned to Virginia in 1667 and later supported Nathaniel Bacon during the latter's rebellion. For this, Gov. Berkeley had Drummond executed in 1677.

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