Augustine Washington was born on November 12, 1694, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the son of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner Washington. His father died when Augustine was a small child, and his mother remarried George Gale and moved with the children to England. After Mildred’s death, Augustine returned to Virginia under the care of relatives. He inherited land and interests in the Washington family’s plantations but had to manage a complicated estate divided among siblings and guardians. His education was practical rather than collegiate, preparing him to oversee tobacco crops, accounts, land transactions, and enslaved labor. He also became involved in iron production, an ambitious colonial enterprise requiring capital, skilled workers, transport, and British commercial partners. In 1715 Augustine married Jane Butler, with whom he had several children, including Lawrence and Augustine Jr. Jane died in 1729. Two years later he married Mary Ball, a younger woman from another Northern Neck family. Their children included George, Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred. The family moved among Pope’s Creek, Little Hunting Creek, and Ferry Farm as Augustine developed property and business interests. His household’s prosperity depended upon enslaved people working plantations and domestic spaces. Augustine also served in county offices and the Anglican parish, responsibilities expected of a substantial planter. Before becoming remembered chiefly as George Washington’s father, Augustine had been shaped by childhood orphanhood, transatlantic movement, inheritance disputes, plantation management, widowhood, remarriage, entrepreneurship, and a large blended family. His death in 1743 left Mary Washington with young children and property held under complex inheritance arrangements. The instability and responsibilities created by that loss profoundly influenced George Washington’s own early life.