John Carlyle (6 February 1720–October 1780) was a Scottish merchant who emigrated to British Colony of Virginia and became a leading landowner and social and political figure in Northern Virginia. He was a founding trustee and the first overseer of Alexandria, Virginia. Early life Born in Carlisle, Cumberland, England, Carlyle was the second surviving son of William Carlyle, an apothecary-surgeon, of a landed Scottish family from Dumfrieshire descended from the Lords Carlyle of Torthorwald and Rachel Murray of Murraythwaite, Dumfriesshire descendent of the Clan Murray, supporters of Robert the Bruce during First War of Scottish Independence. Merchant In 1730's John Carlyle trained as an apprentice to English merchant William Hicks in the port town of Whitehaven. Hicks was a ship owner and traded with British colonies, there Carlyle learned to do business in the Virginia Trade. Hicks sent him as his factor (agent) in America to work in Virginia in 1741. Merchant agents were required to remain single since they had to travel extensively. He stopped working with Hicks and started his own ventures after his marriage with Sarah. Carlyle established himself as a merchant at Belhaven (original name of Alexandria), a settlement that had grown up around a tobacco warehouse on the bluff overlooking the Potomac River. Carlyle quickly met with financial success. The Hicks company did not allow their workers to get married, but that did not stop him, he married Sarah Fairfax in 1747 (she was cousin of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, one of the most influential families in Virginia). He built his house between 1751 and 1753 in Alexandria, now is called Carlyle House. He also owned thousands of acres of land throughout Virginia, including three plantations. His business ventures included trading with England and the West Indies, retail operations in Alexandria, a foundry in the Shenandoah Valley, milling, and operation of a forge. He also undertook a number of civic and religious positions typical of a man of his status. Carlyle was owner of 4 ships, 3 of them capable of crossing the Atlantic to sell his products to France and Great Britain. The city of Belhaven was renamed to Alexandria, Virginia in 1779. French and Indian War On 26 January 1754, George Washington was appointed Colonel by Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie, major and commissary of the Virginia forces in the French and Indian War. He was politically well-connected at the