William Claiborne

Nearby, William Claiborne (1600-1677) built a warehouse about 1631 to support his trading post on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay. When Maryland seized the island in 1632, Claiborne fought an unsuccessful "naval war." Born in Kent County, England, he had arrived in Virginia in 1621 as the colony's surveyor. He served on the governor's Council (1625-1638), as secretary of state (1626-1637, 1652-1660) and treasurer (1642-1677), as commander of military forces (1644-1645), and, during the Commonwealth period, as a parliamentary commissioner (1652) to secure the surrenders of Virginia and Maryland. In 1680, an act of assembly established Hampton on land he originally owned.