William Byrd III was born on September 6, 1728, at Westover plantation in Charles City County, Virginia. He was the son of William Byrd II and Maria Taylor Byrd and heir to one of the colony’s richest and most politically influential families. His father was a planter, councilor, author, and founder of Richmond whose library, social ambitions, and extensive landholdings made Westover a center of Virginia gentry life. The estate’s wealth depended upon tobacco production and the labor of hundreds of enslaved people. Byrd’s mother died when he was young, and his father died in 1744, leaving the teenage William a vast inheritance and heavy expectations. He was educated in England, as his father had been, and absorbed the manners, tastes, and expensive habits of British aristocratic society. His education included classical subjects and preparation for the public and military roles expected of a gentleman, but his years abroad also encouraged a lifelong enthusiasm for gambling, horse racing, display, and elite sociability. Returning to Virginia, Byrd inherited Westover, enormous western claims, and responsibility for complex family finances. He married Elizabeth Hill Carter, daughter of the wealthy planter John Carter of Shirley, thereby joining two leading dynasties. Their marriage produced several children before Elizabeth’s death. Byrd later married Mary Willing of Philadelphia, connecting himself to another prominent mercantile family. Military service during the French and Indian War gave Byrd his first major public role. He commanded the 2nd Virginia Regiment and dealt with recruitment, frontier defense, and cooperation with British regular officers. Yet inherited wealth could not keep pace with his expenditures and losses. Gambling debts, falling tobacco returns, and the cost of maintaining Westover steadily weakened his position.