George Hume

George Hume, also spelled Home, was a Scottish-born American surveyor and colonial official, known for his extensive land surveys in Virginia, particularly in the region that would become Culpeper County. A Jacobite exile following the 1715 rebellion, he immigrated to Virginia in 1721 and became a prominent surveyor for Orange, Frederick, Spotsylvania, and Culpeper counties. Hume mentored a young George Washington in surveying from 1748 to 1749, shaping his early career. A cousin of Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood, Hume's precise mapping facilitated Virginia's colonial expansion and settlement.

Early life and background George Hume was born in 1698 at Wedderburn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland, into a noble family, the feudal barons of Wedderburn, with deep roots in Scottish history.

Hume's grandfather, George Home (1641), presumably succeeded as 2nd Baronet of Wedderburn. This title had been created circa 1638 by King Charles I for Hume's second great-grandfather, Sir David Home of Wedderburn ( at the Battle of Dunbar), in recognition of his loyalty during the Covenanting struggle. After George Home's death circa 1716, the baronetcy or right to the title devolved on Hume's father, but was forfeited through attainder following his conviction for high treason in the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, resulting in the loss of the family's title and estates. (George Home (1641) is listed as the 2nd Baronet in Complete Baronetage, but he does not appear to have assumed the title; some family genealogies, such as Hume (1930), claim Hume's father as the 3rd Baronet.)

His cousin, Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont, was Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1696 to 1702. The Humes were royalists with a history of military and political service to the Stuart monarchy.

Coat of arms

George Hume's heritage was symbolized by his coat of arms.

His seal, from a 1739 deed in the Orange County Circuit Clerk's Office, bears the arms of the Humes of Wedderburn: quarterly, 1st and 4th: vert, a lion rampant argent, armed and langued gules, for Hume; 2nd: argent, three papingoes vert, beaked and membered gules, for Pepdie of Dunglass; 3rd: argent, a cross engrailed azure, for Sinclair of Herdmanston and Polwarth. The crest features a unicorn's head and neck, couped argent, maned and horned or, collared with an open crown. The mottoes are "Remember" above the crest and "True to the End" below the arms. On October 16, 1727, Hume married Elizabeth Proctor, a daughter of tobacco plantation owner, George Proctor.

Spotswood, who had served as the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1710 to 1722, enrolled Hume in the College of William and Mary from 1722 to 1723, where he became a licensed surveyor. In 1727–1728, he was responsible for laying out the present-day city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was surveyor for Spotsylvania County. A year later, he served as a lieutenant in the Spotsylvania County militia under Captain William Bledsoe, producing his commission in open court and taking the oath on September 2, 1729.

Spotswood secured Hume a position as a deputy surveyor for the Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast land grant in Virginia owned by the Fairfax family; later he was promoted to surveyor for Lord Fairfax from 1743 to 1750.

Surveyor Hume quickly proved his worth in surveying and became the surveyor for Orange, Frederick, Spotsylvania, and Culpeper counties. His work was essential in the orderly settlement and development of large tracts of land in Virginia. He was responsible for surveying significant portions of the Northern Neck, as well as other frontier areas that were being opened to European settlement.

In particular, Hume's work in St. Mark's Parish, coterminous with the future Culpeper County, was notable. It was here that his expertise as a surveyor had a lasting impact, not only in the physical development of the land but also in the training and mentorship of future surveyors, including George Washington.

In 1748, Hume began mentoring George Washington, then 16, who served as his deputy in the region that became Culpeper County. In 1749, Washington, now 17, was appointed the county's surveyor, a role shaped by Hume's guidance as one of Virginia's most experienced surveyors. Washington's early Fairfax land surveys directly reflected this training.

From July 19–21, 1736, Hume, now residing in St. Mark's Parish, Orange County, conveyed in the great fork of the Rappahannock River to James Pollard for £17 current money. The land was located along the road from Germanna to the Mountain Run bridge, and was part of a patent originally granted to Charles Steuart, later transferred to Hume on June 4, 1734. This tract, originally patented to Charles Stuart on August 21, 1734, was part of a larger parcel that Hume had purchased in March 1741 through William Beverley, Gent. The land was initially patented by Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood. The transaction was overseen by Robert McClanahan.

On December 11–12, 1757, Hume of Culpeper County leased and released to Henry Field of the same county for £30 current money. The land, originally patented to Charles Stewart on August 1, 1735, was acknowledged by Stewart to Hume through deeds of lease and release on September 13, 1735, in the Orange County Court. The tract was located on the north side of Meander Run, at the mouth of a branch corner to Field, extending to the fork of a branch, and included lines bordering Robert Spotswood's line and Colonel Alexander Spotswood's line, as well as the corner of a patent formerly granted to Francis Kirtley. The transaction was witnessed by Will Stanton, George Hume Jr., and Francis Hume. Henry Field was a member of the House of Burgesses.

Hume continued his work as a surveyor and colonial official until his death in 1760. His surveys supported Virginia's development, including areas of Culpeper County where his family settled southeast of present-day Brightwood, now in Madison County (formed 1792). His work ensured lands were ready for ownership and governance.

Family Hume and his wife Elizabeth had several children. Their eldest son, George Jr. (1729–1802), served as a private and later sergeant in Captain William Payne Jr.'s company of the 1st Virginia State Regiment during the American Revolutionary War from September 1777 to March 1778. Their second son, Francis (1730–1813), served in the Culpeper County militia under Captain John Field during the French and Indian War before becoming a captain in the Virginia Line during the Revolutionary War. He was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati.