James City County, Virginia in the context of "Williamsburg, Virginia"

Sir William Berkeley (/ˈbɑːrkliː/; 1605 – 9 July 1677) was an English colonial administrator who served as the governor of Virginia from 1660 to 1677. One of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina, as governor of Virginia he implemented policies that bred dissent among the colonists and sparked Bacon's Rebellion. A favourite of King Charles I, the king first granted him the governorship in 1642. Berkeley was unseated following the execution of Charles I, but his governorship was restored by King Charles II in 1660.

Charles II also named Berkeley one of the eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina, in recognition of his loyalty to the Stuarts during the English Civil War. As governor, Berkeley oversaw the implementation of a policy known as partus sequitur ventrem, which mandated that all babies born to enslaved parents take the legal status of their mother. As proprietor of Green Spring Plantation in James City County, he experimented with activities such as growing silkworms as part of his efforts to expand the tobacco-based economy. He also authored Discourse and View of Virginia, where he argued for diversifying the colony's tobacco economy.

Green Spring Plantation in James City County about five miles (8.0 km) west of Williamsburg, was the 17th century plantation of one of the most unpopular governors of Colonial Virginia in North America, Sir William Berkeley, and his wife, Frances Culpeper Berkeley.

Sir William Berkeley, who served several terms, is perhaps the best-known of Virginia's colonial governors. Contrary to popular belief the well-known Berkeley Plantation in nearby Charles City County was not named in his honor.

Hannah Harrison Ludwell Lee (December 5, 1701 – January 25, 1750) was an American colonial heiress and the wife of Colonel Thomas Lee. A granddaughter of Philip Ludwell and Benjamin Harrison II, she was a prominent figure within the American gentry. She grew up at Green Spring Plantation, her family's home in James City County. Upon her marriage, she became a member of the Lee family, bringing a large dowry and social prestige to the family. With her dowry, she and her husband built Stratford Hall, the family seat of the Lees.