See Also: Claiborne, William(encyclopedia)
Liz Claiborne(finance)
Claiborne, Craig(dictionary)
William IV(encyclopedia)
Lee, William(encyclopedia)
William I(dictionary)
William III(dictionary)
Tell, William(dictionary)
Tell, William(encyclopedia)
Pym, Sir William(medicine)

Claiborne, William (sh)




born งใ 1587, Westmorland County, Eng.
died งใ 1677, Virginia

American colonial trader and public official.

Emigrating to Virginia in 1621, he was appointed secretary of state of the colony and a member of the governor's royal council. He traded with the Indians of Chesapeake Bay and in 1631 established a successful trading post on Kent Island. Denied his claim to the island, he incited a revolt (1644) that ousted the Maryland governor and left Claiborne in charge of the colony until 1646. From 1652 to 1657 he was a member of the commission that governed Maryland.