Nathaniel Bacon (1647-1676)

Born at Friston Hall, Suffolk. He was educated at the University of Cambridge and Grey's Inn before making a Grand Tour of Europe. Returning to England, he married without having sought permission and then rumors began to circulate that he had swindled another man out of his inheritance. This was all too much for his father who exiled his only son away to the Colony of Virginia with £1,800 (a considerable sum of money). There, Nathaniel bought a plantation, but lived in Jamestown itself. Disgruntled by the Governor's apparent disinterest in protecting his plantation from Indians, in 1676 he led the rebellion that now bears his name, "Bacon's Rebellion". Many were killed in the ensuing violence and Jamestown was burnt to a cinder. Bacon died shortly afterwards of dysentery, thereby escaping punishment. N.B., His image is frequently confused with his elder cousin, the painter Sir Nathaniel Bacon (1585-1627).