Harold Bledsoe Gill, Jr. of Williamsburg, Virginia, departed this life on April 7, 2024. Harold was born in Orange, Virginia, on January 16, 1933. He attended Harvard University and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the College of William and Mary.
He began his professional career at the Virginia State Archives, where in 1957 he met his future wife. He joined the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1961, serving first as a historian in the Research Department then, after a brief tenure as Director of the Georgia Historical Society, as a special consultant to the Historic Trades Department and consulting editor of the Colonial Williamsburg Journal. He published over 60 magazine articles and wrote or co-authored six published books. He founded and co-edited “The Journal of Historic Trades.” As a scholar of 18th century Virginia history, he had few peers. He concentrated on giving voice to the inarticulate by studying account books, wills, and inventories of tradesmen and merchants. He pioneered the use of computer-assisted historical statistical analysis with “The York County Project,” which is informing interpretations of 18-century Williamsburg and Yorktown to this day. His generosity influenced the course of many careers, and he was noted for his humility and kindness as much as his erudition.
He is survived by his wife of over 64 years, Margaret Anne Snell Gill; his daughter, Melissa Gill Thompson (Joe) of Williamsburg; his son, Harold Bledsoe Gill III (Lynn) of Washington DC; his sister, Wilma Ann Gill Larsen of Charlottesville, VA; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. His parents, Harold Bledsoe Gill, Sr. and Katherine Elizabeth Jayne Gill, and sister Jayne Elizabeth Gill Grossman preceded him in death.
A service for Harold will be held Friday, April 12, 2024 at 1:00 PM at Williamsburg United Methodist Church, 500 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg, Virginia.
Memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.NelsenWilliamsburg.com.
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