Blair, John, president of the council, and as such acting governor of Virginia from the departure for England of Governor Dinwiddie, January, 1758, till the arrival of Governor Francis Fauquier, June 7, 1758, and from the time of Governor Fauquier's death, March 3, 1768, till the arrival of Lord Botetourt, October, 1768.
He was son of Dr. Archibald Blair, brother of Dr. James Blair, president of the College of William and Mary, and was born in Virginia in 1687. He was educated at William and Mary College, and was a burgess from Williamsburg in 1736-1740, and in 1743 became a member of the council, an office which he held till his death. During his first administration, which happened during the French and Indian war, the assembly augmented the forces in the pay of the colony to 2,000 men and issued £32,000 in treasury notes to defray the expenses of the increased defences of the colony. In the troubles which led to the American Revolution, Blair was always on the popular side. As a judge of the general court in April, 1764, he upheld the Two Penny Act, and as president of the committee of correspondence he voted to condemn the Stamp Act in June, 1764. When he became acting governor the second time he promptly called the general assembly together to consider the new revenue measures passed by parliament. When the assembly convened, March 31, 1768, he concurred with the council and house of burgesses in the bold resolutions unanimously adopted that only the general assembly could make any laws regarding "the internal policy or taxation of the colony." Blair was the source through which they were transmitted to England, and Lord Hillsborough, the secretary of colonial affairs, expressed himself amazed especially at the action of the council and its president, who were appointed by the Crown. When Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, died, October 15, 1770, the government devolved for a third time upon President Blair, but he immediately resigned on account of old age and infirmities and was succeeded by William Nelson.
He died in Williamsburg, November 5, 1771, leaving by his wife Mary Monroe, daughter of Rev. John Monroe, a son John, member of the federal convention of 1787 and one of the first judges of the Supreme Court of the United States.
