George Durant
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George Durant (b. October 1, 1632, d. February 6, 1692) was an attorney, Attorney General and Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the Province of Carolina. He is sometimes credited as being the "father of North Carolina".
Durant was born in England to William Durant and Alice Pell. He was in Northumberland County, Virginia before July 1658 where he lived for a time and purchased 300 acres (1.2 km²).
He married Ann Marwood on January 4, 1658, and shortly thereafter moved to Nansemond County, Virginia, where he lived for about two years.
Durant was associated with Nathaniel Batts, a fur trader, and Richard Batts, a sea captain. Together they explored the Albemarle Sound area of Virginia.
On August 4, 1661, Durant purchased, in the second oldest recorded deed of the area, land from Cisketando, King of the Yeopim Indian tribe. On March 13, 1662, a second purchase was made from Kilcocanen, also of the Yeopims. By 1662 Durant was living on his property in Virginia on the Albemarle Sound, which became North Carolina in 1665. The Durant Plantation was called Wicocombe and was also used as an inn. Wicocombe was the name of the area before it became known as Durant’s Neck, in Perquimans County, North Carolina. The location of his home is now a mystery.
George Durant was one of the leading inhabitants of the area. A mariner by profession, he was one of the ablest and most influential men in the county. He was a leader of Culpepper's Rebellion, an uprising against the British over the requirement that all colonial goods be transported in British ships. Durant openly opposed Seth Sothel, one of the Lords Proprietors, who arrived to oversee the colony. Durant was arrested and imprisoned.
Seth Sothel confiscated the 2000 acres (8 km²) from Durant. The residents of the Albemarle area rose in defense of Durant and banished Sothel from the area.
The Durant Family Bible is one of the oldest English Bibles in the United States. It is displayed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a locked cabinet. The Bible was printed in London, England in 1599. He brought this Bible with him when he came to the New World.
George Durant died on February 6, 1692 at the age of 59.
