Thomas Colepeper was the son of John, Lord Culpeper and his second wife Judith, the daughter of Sir Thomas Culpeper of Hollingbourn, Kent.
He was the eldest of seven surviving children (two having died before his birth) and inherited his father’s title and the estate of Leeds Castle in Kent.
He was commissioned by the king, July 8, 1675, governor of Virginia for life, to take office however, only on the death or removal of Sir William Berkeley. Berkeley died in 1677, and Culpeper entrusted the administration to his deputies Colonel Herbert Jeffreys and Sir Henry Chicheley.
He evidently did not intend personally to assume the governorship, but was compelled to do so by the king in 1680. The opposition of the colonists to the royal grant of all of Virginia to Lord Arlington and Lord Culpeper had resulted in the revocation of the grant with the exception of the quit-rents and the escheats. Before his arrival in the colony, Culpeper was regarded as an unscrupulous extortioner.
Soon after his arrival, however, in May 1680, he won the confidence of the colonists by the measures which he proposed to the Assembly, and especially by the act for pardoning all the participants in Bacon’s Rebellion who were then living.
This conciliatory spirit so impressed the Assembly that it was influenced to pass an act which it might not otherwise have countenanced. The act specified that the duty of two shillings a hogshead on exported tobacco should be made perpetual and subject to the king’s disposal instead of as formerly subject to the Assembly.
Moreover, Culpeper was granted £500 sterling by the Assembly as a special recognition of his services. There seems to have been no objection on the part of the colonists to his being granted by the king an increase of £1, 000 in his salary (in addition to the already established income of £1, 000), £1, 000 in perquisites, and £150 for house rent.
After remaining in the colony about four months, Culpeper returned to England, leaving Chicheley to serve as his deputy.
In Culpeper’s absence an Assembly was called to consider the low price of tobacco, which was occasioning general discontent. When the Assembly was unable to reach ail}' effectual conclusions, the planters in several counties deliberately destroyed their tobacco plants.
Chicheley, desiring to check any further destruction of tobacco, arrested some of those guilty of the offense and imprisoned them. When the news of the disturbance reached England, Culpeper was deprived of his appointment for life and threatened with removal unless he very soon returned to the colony.
He was also reprimanded for leaving without royal permission and for having accepted the grant from the Assembly. On his return, which was reluctant, as he preferred staying in England, Culpeper’s attitude toward the columnists was changed.
Culpeper’s policy in dealing with the plant-cutters was severe, and some of their leaders were hanged. He followed these dictatorial acts by dissolving the Assembly, maintaining that all laws should be drafted by him with the advice of the Council.
He endeavored to abolish the right of appeal to the Assembly, emphasizing the appeal to the king. He insisted that the House of Burgesses should submit their choice of speaker for his approval.
By imprisonment and disfranchisement he punished Maj. Robert Beverley, clerk of the House of Burgesses, for refusing to surrender the journal of its proceedings.
Then, after having remained in the colony about ten months, he went to England in September 1683, leaving Nicholas Spencer, the president of the Council, in charge of the government. He was, thereupon, removed for having again left the colony without permission.
He died, January 27, 1689, in London.
Culpeper was made administrator of the Isle of Wight which involved little administration but did add to his wealth. He became governor of Virginia in July 1677 but did not leave England until 1679, when he was ordered to by Charles II. He raised, by proclamation, the price of tobacco, with the proviso that his own salary and the royal revenues should not thereby be affected. In Virginia, Culpeper County and its county seat, the town of Culpeper are named for him.
On August 3, 1659, he was married at The Hague to Margaretta, daughter of Jan van Hesse, by whom he had one child who became the wife of Thomas, Lord Fairfax.
His married life was unhappy; Culpeper Lady Culpeper stayed for the most part in Leeds Castle while Culpeper lived in London with his mistress, Susanna Willis.
