"it has been represented to this present General Assembly, that the Vestries of the parish of Antrim, in the County of Halifax; of the parish of Cameron in the County of Loudoun; of the parish of Bath, in the County of Dinwiddie; and of the parish of Saint-Patrick, in the County of Prince Edward, have been guilty of arbitrary and illegal practices to the great oppression of the inhabitants of said parishes ... and the inhabitants of said parishes have respectively petitioned this Assembly that the said vestries may be dissolved;"[88]
the Legislature thereupon dissolved the vestries named, their future acts were "declared utterly void to all intents and purposes whatsoever" and the freeholders and housekeepers of the respective parishes authorized to meet, on notice, and "elect twelve of the most able & discreet persons of the said parishes respectively to be vestrymen of the same." So far was the Legislature willing to go; but the orthodox rulers of Virginia did not for a moment propose to turn over control of the vestries in the dissatisfied parishes to a dissenting element; there was a further provision that should any vestrymen dissent from the communion of the Church of England and join "themselves to a dissenting congregation, and yet continue to act as vestrymen" they should be displaced.
During the ensuing ten years Loudoun's population grew rapidly and a parish extending from Difficult Run to the Blue Ridge covered so much territory that it made it difficult for a vestry, chosen from different parts of the parish, to assemble frequently for business. The project of dividing Cameron was the subject of a petition to the Legislature in 1769 but because of opposition and disagreement the division was not made until June, 1770, when an act was passed creating a new parish beyond Goose Creek and running to the Blue Ridge.[89] It was given the name of Shelburne in compliment to the British statesman William Petty-FitzMaurice, Lord Shelburne.
This contemplated division of Cameron had repercussions in the relations between that parish and its mother parish Truro. The new Shelburne would take from Cameron many of its tithables or taxpayers and suggested intensive study of its remaining economic resources. In November, 1766, or twenty-eight years after the creation of Cameron, the Legislature passed an act empowering Truro's vestry to sell its parish Glebe and church plate and divide the proceeds between Truro and Cameron; while three years later, in the act creating Shelburne, it was provided that as the Cameron Glebe was then located inconveniently, the latter's vestry was authorized to sell it and use the proceeds "toward purchasing a more convenient glebe, and erecting buildings thereon, for the use and benefit of the minister of the said parish of Cameron, for the time being, forever."[90]
William Petty-FitzMaurice. Earl of Shelburne, 1st Marquis of Lansdowne, for whom Shelburne Parish was named.
The parish well may continue to take satisfaction in having been named worthily. Shelburne came of an historical and noble family, being a direct descendant of the very ancient Lords of Kerry. Born in Dublin on the 20th May, 1737, his childhood is said to have been "spent in the remotest parts of the south of Ireland and according to his own account when he entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1755 he had both everything to learn and everything to unlearn." Perhaps his friendship and conciliatory attitude always shewn toward the American Colonies arose from his naturally amiable and considerate disposition, perhaps from his participation under Wolfe in campaigns against the French. However that may be, he was well-liked and trusted in Virginia. He succeeded his father as Earl of Shelburne in 1761. During the critical years of 1766 and 1767 he was serving, under Pitt, as Secretary of State and sought, as a friend of the Colonies, to avoid the crisis which was surely developing. Unfortunately his efforts toward conciliation were blocked by others of the ministry and the King and in 1768 Shelburne was dismissed. In 1782 he reassumed office under Lord Rockingham, with the express understanding that the independence of the American Colonies should be recognized; an attitude requiring courage and strength to maintain. When Rockingham died, Shelburne succeeded him as Premier but through an alliance of Fox with Shelburne's old enemy North, he was forced to resign that position in 1783. A year later, when Pitt returned to power, he caused Shelburne to be created first Marquis of Landsdowne with which his public career ended. He was succeeded in his titles and estates, upon his death on the 7th May, 1805, by his eldest son.[91]
More fortunate in its fate than the early vestry books of Cameron, which have been destroyed or lost, the first vestry book of Shelburne, covering the period from 1771 to 1805, has been preserved and after being for many years in the library of the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Alexandria was sent to the State Library in Richmond. A photostatic copy has been made and is held in Loudoun.[92]
By way of contrast to the first vestry books of Virginia's older parishes, the earliest entries in that of Shelburne do not yield a great amount of interesting material. Its pages are largely filled with details of the levy of taxes and there is a protracted quarrel over the sites to be chosen for new church buildings which, in the event, prevented action until the Revolution and its aftermath deprived the Vestries of much of their authority. A few entries in the Vestry book have been abstracted:
"30th November 1772 Ordered that the Church Wardens for the Present Year do provide Benches to accomodate the persons who come to attend Divine Service at the Court House in Leesburg."