FITZHUGH, William, lawyer, born in Bedford, England, 9 June 1651 ; died in Stafford County, Virginia, in October 1701. He was a lawyer by profession, settled in that portion of Stafford County now comprised in King George County, and founded the Fitzhugh family of that state. He was also a merchant, planter, and shipper. A manuscript volume of his correspondence, covering the period from 1679 till 1699, has been preserved, and a copy of the letters is in the collections of the Virginia historical society. Mr. Fitzhugh acted as counsel for Major Robert Beverley, father of the historian of Virginia and secretary of the colonial council, who was indicted for "cutting" tobacco plants, and found guilty of that and other "high misdemeanors," including a refusal to deliver up the records of the council. Although he had been an active and efficient partisan of Governor Berkeley in the popular uprising stigmatized as " Bacon's rebellion," he was sternly dealt with, being long imprisoned and disfranchised. He was finally released on asking pardon of the council on his bended knees.