Edmund Scarborough
| Edmund Scarborough | |
|---|---|
| 3rd Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses | |
|
In office 1645–1646 |
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| Preceded by | Edward Hill, Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Ambrose Harmer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1617 England |
| Died | 1671 Virginia |
| Resting place | Hedra Cottage, Accomack County, Virginia |
| Residence | Accomack County, Virginia |
| Occupation | Farmer, soldier, surveyor |
Colonel Edmund Scarborough (also spelled Scarburgh) (September 1617 – 1671) was an influential early settler of Virginia and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1642 to 1671.
Scarborough was born in England. His father, Capt. Edmund Scarborough (1584–1635), was a barrister and graduate of Caius College, and an army captain, who emigrated to Virginia about 1621. He settled on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with his family around 1628, and represented the Accomac Shire in the Virginia General Assembly in the 1630s.
A brother, Sir Charles Scarborough, remained in England, became a noted mathematician, studied medicine, and was a founding member of the Royal Society. A Royalist, he served as physician to Kings Charles II and James II after the Restoration.
It is said that Scarborough's eldest son would drown as an adult in the York River on September 21, 1739, though these dates do not line up and there is no name attached to this legend.
Scarborough was one of the most prominent of the early English settlers of the Accomac Shire of the Virginia Colony, now the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
On April 28, 1651, Scarborough led a raid of some fifty men, on the nearby Pocomoke Indian village along the northern boundary of Accomac Shire, after convincing the settlers that the Indians planned to attack. At least one historian doubts the veracity of his story and suggested that he may have invented the story in order to raise enough men for the attack on the village. After the settlers captured some of the villagers and bound two of them in chains, the Indians massed along the border, and it was believed they were about to attack the English. In May all the men involved in the action were called to appear in court, including Ambrose Dixon, to account for their actions. Scarborough was exonerated, however, when the court found that his raid had been justified by the circumstances.
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