Chatham Manor the Custis slaves as executor after his in-laws' deaths. The plantation included an orchard, mill, and a race track where Fitzhugh's horses vied with those of other planters for prize money. Fizhugh named the mansion after the British parliamentarian William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who championed many of the opinions held by American colonists prior to the Revolutionary War. Flanking the main house were dozens of supporting structures: slave quarters, a dairy, ice house, barns, stables. Down on the river were fish traps. Fitzhugh sold the Chatham plantation to Major Churchill Jones, who had served under Col. William Washington
Earl of Rochford affairs. In 1688 he sailed with the prince on his famous expedition. After the Revolution he was naturalized and served the king in the field, being raised to the English peerage in 1695. He was succeeded by his son William, the second Earl, who was killed at the Battle of Almenar, and then by another son, Frederick, the third Earl. Frederick's son, William Henry, the 4th Earl, was a diplomat and a statesman. Having gained experience as envoy at Turin from 1749 to 1753, he was Ambassador to Madrid from 1763 to 1766 and to Paris from 1766 to 1768.