Nicholas Spencer
Colonel Nicholas Spencer (1633 - 23 September 1689) was an English-born merchant, planter and politician in
colonial Virginia. Born in
Cople,
Bedfordshire, Spencer migrated to the
Westmoreland County, Virginia, where he became a planter and which he twice briefly represented in the
Virginia House of Burgesses. Spencer later served as the colony's Secretary and on the Governor's Council, rising to become its President. On the departure of his cousin
Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper in 1683, he was named
Acting Governor (1683–84), in which capacity Spencer served until the arrival of Governor
Lord Howard of Effingham. Spencer's role as agent for the Colepepers helped him and his cousin Lt. Col.
John Washington, ancestor of
George Washington, secure the patent for their joint land grant of the
Mount Vernon estate.
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