The family also included a daughter, Mary Fairfax, who married this brother's friend William Philip Warder in 1730.

[3] Sailing to the English colonies in the Caribbean, Fairfax served as the Customs agent in Barbados and as Chief Justice of the Bahamas under Woodes Rogers.

Residing in England in Leeds Castle, Lord Fairfax used a succession of land agents to manage his vast Virginia property.

As discussed below, upon reading the 1732 obituary of his last resident agent, Robert "King" Carter, and learning of the vast personal wealth Carter had amassed, Lord Fairfax decided to place a trusted member of the family in charge of his 5-million-acre (20,000 km2) Northern Neck proprietary.

He arranged for William Fairfax to be transferred from Massachusetts to Virginia, to be assigned as that colony's customs collector for the Potomac River and to act as his land agent.

In the spring of 1743, the young Anne disclosed to her parents that she had been sexually molested by Charles Green, the Anglican priest of Truro Parish.

[5] Surviving court documents suggest Lawrence Washington may have been staying with the Fairfax family at Belvoir before the marriage, awaiting the completion of his new home at nearby Little Hunting Creek.

William Fairfax's first two sons by his second wife both died in combat while serving the Crown: Thomas (1726–1746) was killed in action on 25 June 1746 (Old Style) against the French Navy off the coast of India, aged about 20, while serving as a newly enrolled midshipman in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Harwich (50 guns).

Lieutenant William Henry "Billy" Fairfax died of wounds received during the British Army's capture of Quebec in fall 1759 during the Seven Years' War.

He picked out a site for a home overlooking the river adjacent to the Washington family's estate, which was later known as Mount Vernon.

He commissioned master carpenter Richard Blackburn to construct parts of Belvoir and other projects, and his friend may have also served in the long session of the House of Burgesses discussed below.

Historic documents and archeological artifacts found at Belvoir Manor attest to the elegant lifestyle enjoyed by the Fairfax family.

Despite the grandeur of their surroundings and the refinement of their furnishings, planters such as the Fairfaxes, Masons, McCartys, and Washingtons did not lead indolent lives.

Conscious of their civic duty and of the elite class, they were the political, social, economic, and religious leaders of their immediate neighborhood and of the colony at large.

[11] In 1747, Thomas, Lord Fairfax was one of the area's largest slaveholders, with 30 slaves, or about the same number as Daniel French Jr., Catesby Cocke, Gedney Clark (a clerk in Barbadoes who was this man's brother-in-law), or Henry Fitzhug Jr.

[13] Fairfax resigned his position as Burgess when he was appointed to the Governor's Council, the upper chamber of the Virginia General Assembly.

New York and Virginia officials worked to gain agreement with the Iroquois to allow passage and settlement of colonists in the Shenandoah Valley, which had been an area of their warring with southern Indians.

[15] George William Fairfax and his wife Sally Cary, both members of became known as the First Families of Virginia, lived at Belvoir.