Portrait of David Meade, Jr. (1744-1830)

At the age of 7, Virginian David Meade, Jr. was sent to England for formal education. He returned to Virginia at 17 and later served in the House of Burgesses. In 1768, he married Williamsburg resident Sarah Waters. Just before the Revolution, the couple moved to Maycox planation in Prince George County, across the James River from William Byrd’s Westover. In 1796, they relocated to Kentucky where Meade spent his remaining years giving full rein to his landscaping talent and honing his reputation for lavish, seemingly spontaneous hospitality.

What’s the Connection?
The talented Thomas Hudson painted young Meade’s portrait while the boy was at school in England. It was likely sent to his parents in faraway Virginia, where it must have been a comfort during the child’s ten-year absence.
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