Digges, Edward, governor of Virginia from March 31, 1655, to March 13, 1658, son of Sir Dudley Digges, of Chilham, county Kent, England, who was knight and baronet, and master of the rolls in the reign of Charles I., was born about 1620 and came to Virginia before 1650, when he purchased an estate on York river from Captain John West, subsequently known as Bellfield. On November 22, 1654, he was made a member of the council, and was elected March 30, 1655, to succeed Governor Bennett. He was therefore the second governor under the "Commonwealth of England." He served as governor till March 13, 1658, when he was sent to England to coöperate with Bennett and Mathews against the rival claims of Lord Baltimore. The articles of surrender in 1652 guaranteed to Virginia her ancient boundaries, and the effort of the assembly was to get the Maryland charter annulled, in which, however, they were not successful. After the restoration of Charles II., Digges served as a member of the council, and was greatly interested in the culture of silk and tobacco at his plantation on York river. In the silk culture he employed three Armenians, and the tobacco which he grew on his plantation became known as the E. D. Tobacco. More than a century after his death the tobacco grown at Bellfield had such a reputation that it brought one shilling per pound in the London market, when other tobaccos brought only three pence. Digges was auditor general from 1670 to 1675. He died March 15, 1675, and his tombstone is still standing at Bellfield, his old home place on York river.
His eldest son, Col. William Digges, settled in Maryland and was a founder of a well known family in that state. His younger son, Colonel Dudley Digges, was a member of the council of Virginia. Cole Digges, a grandson, was also a councillor; and Dudley Digges, a great-grandson, was a member of the Virginia committee of safety, which in 1776 had really the executive power in its hands.
