• General Notes

  Having recently received nine shillings by the terms of his mother's will, George Reade came to Virginia from England in 1637 as a member Sir John Harvey's party. Harvey was returning to Virginia to assume the office of governor of the colony. Reade was appointed secretary of state, pro tem of the colony in 1640 and served as acting governor in the absence of Governor Harvey. He was a member of the House of Burgesses and a member of the Colonial Council until his death. His will was filed November 21, 1671. He married Elizabeth Martiau, daughter of Nicolas Martiau ("father of Yorktown"). The son of Robert Reade of London and his wife Mildred Windebank, Geo R was one of about 100 colonists, who emigrated to the colonies from England and Wales before the end of the 17th century, known —here we go again— to have legitimate descent from a Plantagenet king (the other thousands had it also but were unaware). He was a member of the Colonial Council, secretary of the colony, and served as an acting governor.
  
  George Reade's immediate relatives occupied prominent positions in the English government of the day. In addition to the services of his grandfather, already mentioned, we may note those of his uncle and older brother; for at the time of George Reade's emigration to Virginia his older brother Robert Reade was secretary to their uncle Sir Frances Windebank, Colonial Secretary of State in London. George Reade's parents were married on July 31, 1600; and he was born in 1608, the youngest of his father's children. In 1637 he came to Virginia, accompanying Governor Harvey on the latter's return to the colony. George Reade appears to have been attached to Harvey's service in a secretarial capacity, and his letters to his brother show that he resided at the governor's mansion for some time after his arrival in Virginia. The same letters show that he received the kindest treatment from the Secretary of State of the colony, Richard Kemp; and he shortly became acting Secretary during Kemp's absence in England. It is plain that Harvey and Kemp were very anxious to please and honor this young man with relatives so prominently placed in the office of the Colonial Secretary in London—particularly as Harvey's own standing in Virginia was so dubiously established.
  
  Within the three or four years immediately following George Reade's arrival in Virginia, opposition to Harvey's government again made it imperative for the Governor to sail for England; and this second time he was not again to return to Virginia, as he formerly had. Kemp also made at least one trip to London during this period, and was absent there at the time of Harvey's departure. During Kemp's absence at various times between 1637 and 1641 George Reade acted as Secretary of the Virginia colony; and, as such, he is believed to have been acting Governor during Harvey's absence also. The supposed dates of this acting governorship are 1638 and 1639, though there is no actual record of Reade's filling the office; Harvey ceased to be Governor in the latter year, in November of which Sir Francis Wyatt was appointed in his place, and it is entirely possible that Reade acted as governor during the interregnum. There is no doubt of his acting as Secretary, for the proceedings of a General Court (composed of the Governor and Council) held at James City on February 4, 1640 (which may, of course, mean 1641), are signed by "George Reade, Present Secretary" [Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 40, p. 240] ; and on August 27, 1640 a letter from the King to the Governor and Council [ibid Vol. 17, p. 15] commands them to "admit George Reade to the place of Secretary in the absence of Richard Kemp who has lately arrived in England; with power to enjoy all fees and perquisites belonging to the office". Kemp remained in England for a period of two years and returned to Virginia in 1642 with the new Governor, Sir William Berkeley, resuming his old post [William and Mary Quarterly, Old Series, Vol. 10, p. 171].
  
  In 1641 George Reade was married to Elizabeth Martiau, oldest daughter of Capt. Nicolas and Jane Martiau. The Reades settled first in a plantation home on the site of Williamsburg, and it was there that their daughter Mildred was born; but in later years they lived largely in York and Gloucester Counties (Gloucester was carved from York about 1651). However, George Reade acquired considerable land in other parts of Virginia. His earliest grant of record was for 2,000 acres at "Pyankatank"; but our only record of this grant comes from an order of the General Assembly in 1667, when it was decreed [Journals of the House of Burgesses 1659/60-1693, p. 51] that "after the Voluntary departure of the Chiskiack Indians (from) a Parcel of land of 2,000 Acres formerly granted by patent to Colo. George Read in Anno Dom. 1648 Lying at Pyankatank, That the said Colo. Read have a Continuance and priority of Right to the same Land according to the Original patent for the same and the immediate possession thereof". Later grants to him include one of 600 acres in Lancaster County [County Deed Book No. 2, p. 344] in 1651, one for 500 acres in Northumberland County [Deed Book No. 2, p. 19] in 1653, and another for 2,000 acres in Westmoreland County [Deed Book No. 4, p. 371] in 1657. These last three grants also fix for us the dates of George Reade's progressive promotion in the Virginia militia; for in them he is respectively referred to as Captain, Major and Colonel.
  
  As was so generally the case in early Virginia, this increase in rank in the colonial militia was also an index to the increasing political importance of the individual; for George Reade did not long remain out of politics after his retirement in 1642 as the Secretary of the Colony. He was a Burgess for James City County in the General Assembly which met October 10, 1649 [Journals of the House of Burgesses 1619-1658/9] ; and he represented York County in the General Assembly of 1655/56-1656 [ibid p. xxii; Hening, Vol. 1, p. 421]. The latter Assembly met in three sessions between March 1654/5 and December 1, 1656; and at the first session "Leift. Collo. Reade" was one of those appointed to the Committee for Private Causes [Journals of the House of Burgesses 1619-1658/9, p. 95]. It was customary for the General Assembly to repeal and reenact (sometimes in altered form) the Acts of previous Assemblies from time to time; and at the third session of this same Assembly, begun Dec. 1, 1656, "Coll. Geo. Reade" was one of four members appointed to a Committee "for Review of the Acts" of previous Assemblies [ibid pp. 99-100].
  
  Col. George Reade was appointed a member of the Council of Virginia, thus receiving that promotion which came only to the most prominent Virginians of the colonial period; this appointment was usually made only after the new Councillor had gained considerable experience in the House of Burgesses, and in practise was limited to the more wealthy and influential citizens of the colony. Appointments were for life, though in rare cases a Councillor was removed for cause. George Reade's name appears in the list of the "Governor and Council of Virginia" submitted to the Grand Assembly of March, 1657/8 [ibid p. 129] and he was one of the twelve Councillors who joined with the Governor in the order dissolving the Assembly on the first of the following month [ibid p. 109]—April 1, 1658. An Act of the Assembly on April 3rd names "Coll. George Reade" as one of the Councillors appointed by the Governor and approved by the Burgesses [ibid p. 113] ; from this Act it might appear that the appointment of Councillors was not subject to approval in London during the Cromwellian era, as such appointment was at all other colonial periods; but as seen in the case of Col. Francis Eppes [see Chap. 33, Eppes Family], appointed a Councillor in 1652, such appointments were previously approved by the home government, and it is to be presumed that that of Col. George Reade also received this sanction. As a matter of fact, no Assembly was held between that which met from March 1654/5 to 1656 (in which George Reade was originally a Burgess) and the Assembly to which his name was submitted as one of the list of Councillors. It is probable that he was actually a Councillor even before the meeting of this latter Assembly, for on August 25, 1656 he was a member of the General Court (composed of the Governor and Council) sitting for York County [William and Mary Quarterly, Old Series, Vol. 12, p. 175] ; and he was probably appointed to the Council shortly before this date of August 25, 1656, notwithstanding his sitting as a Burgess on December 1st of that year.
  
  Having attained the highest political office to which a Virginian of prominence could aspire—for the governorship was always filled by an appointee from England—Col. George Reade was to hold the office of Councillor for eighteen years before his death in 1674. During the latter part of their lives he and his wife resided at Yorktown, probably on land which had been inherited by Elizabeth (Martiau) Reade from her father Nicolas Martiau. No records of their life in Yorktown at this period are available, but we can be sure that they filled a very important place in the political and social life of Yorktown and the vicinity as well as that of the Virginia colony in general. It was at Yorktown that Col. George Reade died, leaving his widow and several children; Elizabeth (Martian) Reade survived her husband by several years, dying in 1686, and her will was proved in York County Court on January 24, 1686/7.
  
  Children of Colonel George Reade and Elizabeth Martiau
      * Mildred Reade d. c 1694
      * George Reade d. b 1685
      * Robert Reade
      * Thomas Reade
      * Francis Reade d. c 1694
      * Benjamin Reade
      * Elizabeth Reade
  
  

Details of George's family with Elizabeth Martiau