Maria Taylor Byrd

Maria Taylor Byrd
Her portrait was painted by the School of Sir Godfrey Kneller, likely between 1724, when she was married, and 1726. Among the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.[1]
Born	1698
Died	1771  (aged 72–73)
Spouse(s)	William Byrd II
Children	William Byrd III, Jane Byrd Page, Maria Byrd Carter, Anne Byrd Carter

Maria Taylor Byrd (November 10, 1698 – August 28, 1771) was a prominent colonial woman who managed her and her husband William Byrd II's Westover Plantation during his periods of absence. During their lifetimes, William Byrd III and Maria Taylor Byrd's holdings increased to 179,423 acres of land and hundreds of enslaved people. After he died, she was to manage the estate only until her son William Byrd III came of age, but he had married and decided to live with his wife at the family's Belvidere plantation instead. Byrd then continued to manage Westover through her son's first marriage and until her death. She oversaw the plantation's activities, its workers, household duties, and the care and upkeep of the property on the plantation.