George Brent’s home “Woodstock” (not the Woodstock Farm in upstate New York) it is located near the Brent Cemetery near the Richmond Highway and the modern Catholic church in Stafford. Now it is an archaeological site that includes the fireplace hearth. Due its location close to a marsh and mosquitoes, George Brent and his family rebuilt/relocated “Woodstock” on the hill located in today’s Aquia Harbour. About 2 miles from our house.
George Brent was a prominent Catholic who served as acting attorney general of Virginia. By 1670 he had settled near relatives in Stafford County, Virginia, where he became a successful attorney, businessman, tobacco planter, and land speculator. In 1688 he was elected to the House of Burgesses. With the anti-Catholic sentiments in the colonies, Brent’s public career came to an end. During the 1690s he served as an agent for the Northern Neck proprietors until the time of his death in 1700.
The autonomy and the excellent natural resources allowed rich planters to arise who established tobacco plantations in the Northern Neck. During the Colonial period, some considered the Northern Neck as the "Athens of the New World" because it had many wealthy landowners who were dedicated to learning, gentlemanly society, and civic duty.[The Northern Neck comprised about 5 million acres of land between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivered. . At the time, George Brent owned more than 15,000 acres in northern Virginia.
See you soon.
