furnishing the exhibition sites at the foundation. right now, we are at the governor's palace. ofwould have been the symbol power and authority for the british crown and it would have represented power to the colonists of virginia. it was the home of seven royal governors including alexander spotswood, the first governor in 1710. it would also have been the home to our first state governors, patrick henry and thomas jefferson. the house was an important part of that is them design of the town of williamsburg. it had a very orderly design. the house would have been part of that design. it was the third largest building in town. it consisted of not only the building we are standing in, but gardens, a canal.

there was a scullery, a laundry, and even a seller. one governor had almost 6000 bottles of wine stored in his cellar. the house today is a reconstructed building on an original architectural site. it was finished and opened to the public in 1934. since that time it has undergone , refurbishing and interpretations. today, we furnish the building as if governor dunmore was living here with his family. his wife and six of their children arrived in virginia in 1774. at the end of that year, lady dunmore gave birth to a daughter. they named her virginia. unfortunately, things went sour in the relationship with the governor and the virginians, and in 1775, the governor and his family fled in darkness, never

to return again. today, the curators furnished the building as accurately as we can. we used primary documents such as inventory taken when the governor's diet. also, a floor plan drawn by thomas jefferson when he was living here as governor. of remodeling it andrew a detailed floor plan with staircases and dimensions. the capital moved to richmond, virginia. thomas jefferson never had the opportunity to do that remodeling. notgovernor's palace is only a symbol of power and authority, it also was a fashion statement. it was here that the columnists -- colonists could come to discover the latest fashions from england. what we're going to do now is

give you a tour of the palace with one of our costumed interpreters. >> welcome, welcome. i imagine you are impressed. most everyone is. that is what this century hall is for, to impress anyone coming to see the governor, and to impress them with virginia, the best of these colonies. we do not want to forget that anytime soon. the weapons. i know that you are looking at them. all of the men do. these are -- i suppose, a tradition for our governors here. you go to those big castles over in england, i am told there are weapons on the wall. but these are not the governor's

personal weapons. these are all part of virginia's store. they are maintained by our militia. that way when the empire is at work, they can come here, take these down, and use them in virginia's defense, and they have, several times. actually our governor, lord dunmore, took the weapons off the wall just last year when he went out west. he went to the ohio territories, part of virginia. he fought the shawnee indians and even returned to his house with a few, young shawnee warriors. who are living here, awaiting their peace treaty, which might get very interesting, seeing as, well, i'm not sure you have heard the news yet. it would seem that our royal

dunmore, ran out the back door in the middle of the night last night. interesting times. you would think he would feel safe here in this house, but apparently not. normally he would attend to his business right here at the palace, a good bit in the parlor over here. you might notice there is a desk here in the parlor. that is for his secretary. although apparently he and his wife left last night as well. i think he has taken some of the servants with him as well. mrs. scott, the professional english housekeeper. she never would have left the pantry door open like that. all of the valuable things in that pantry.

well, of course, the governor would be coming back. why would they leave all of these things behind in here? especially, all of these, 540 weapons in the display. and they are virginia's weapons. i just mean -- i do not think the governor wants you having them right now. considering we do not have an official militia at the moment. our governor dissolved the government here before the new militia bill was signed. but now we have something different. our representatives decided to meet any way without the governor's approval. apparently mr. patrick henry made quite the speech in richmond, something about liberty and death?

but now, now, we have independent companies. because of that speech, virginia has a group of armed men in every county in virginia all angry at england. well, that may have something to do with the governor leaving town last night. but seeing as they are not here, what do you say we go upstairs and see the private chambers of the family? right this way. here we are. it's quite a few stairs. i suppose that is the trouble with high ceilings. so many stairs.

this is the largest bedchamber in the house. it belongs to lady catherine and lady augusta. they are the oldest of the children. they are 15 and 14. think they left in a hurry last night. you see, these young ladies have the large bedchamber because they also take their lessons here in the house. that bed over there is for their governess. she is a french governess. we may not like the french, but we do like their style. very important these young ladies speak french. they will be presented to the royal court. their father has a seat in parliament. but now the governor has taken his entire family off to his ship.y's

they are sailing up the york river at the moment. which means they are sharing cabins on the ship. seven children. and the governess, and the nursemaid and the servants. , oh, my. i'm sure they are wishing they had this much room again. lord and lady dunmore's chambers are over this way. we will pass through a guest room on our way. i know. i knew you would like it.

oh, lord and lady dunmore share the bedchamber right over here. if you want to take a look, it's not like they will know the difference. oh, yes, they do share. it's not unheard of, you know. but they actually share this entire suite of rooms. lord dunmore has his own dressing room through the door, where you see the chamber stool -- the chair with the hole. [clears throat] right. here we have lady dunmore's dressing room, much bigger, of course. and i am told the latest fashion is to have the curtains match the walls, match the furniture. mask -- soilk the

damask. the covers are on the chairs right now because of the summertime. it is to protect the furniture from the dust, from the insects, from her children. goodness, poor lady dunmore, she only arrived here last year, she arrived here to join her husband from england, brought six of her children with her. she arrived here in february of 74, and then 10 months later, a new member of the family, their new baby daughter, their name to them -- they have named lady virginia. yes, after the colony. she has just turned six months old. imagine that trip last night with a six-month-old.

actually this room here used to , be the governor's office. it's a nice, big, private room for an office. well, his desk is now in the dining room downstairs. so, we will see that dining room on our way to the ballroom. exquisite, isn't it? our last governor paid out of his own pocket to update these rooms in the latest style. he was a bachelor, you know. he loved to throw balls. warminghad these machines put into the room back here, very ornate. coal burning, you know. not many about here burning coal, except for lord dunmore. but lord dunmore owns his own coal mines.

that does help. but you see, it is expected of our governors here that they hold large celebrations these , balls, in honor that there ir majesties, king george iii and queen charlotte. our last ball was in january for the queen's birth night. i doubt we will be having a ball in the king's on her anytime soon. you know what i mean. it is just that everyone is so angry at the governor these days. you know what happened back in april? a group of british sailors went over to our magazine and made off in the middle of the night with the colony's gunpowder.

well, everyone here was certainly outraged. the governor has not given back that powder yet. apparently, he has ran out in fear of his life. they ran out of the house at 2:00 in the morning through the back door, which is right through here in the supper room. much better than that dining room you saw. this is much better suited to the grand occasions. you can only seek a dozen people are so in that dining room. of course, dinner is the largest meal of the day. it is usually served about 2:00, 3:00. so your largest meal is in the

afternoon and you have a light supper in the evening. the ballsve supper in on the china. oh, that china even has the dunmore crest on it. it seems he has left a lot behind in this house. and i don't just mean furniture. the governor has a very large staff on this property. over 20 paid servants, a dozen indentured servants, and slaves 57 on the property. the hired servants have gone off with the family, but the rest of those servants and slaves -- they are still here. i do not know about you, but if i were one of the governor's slaves right now and did not know if he were ever coming back, well, i might just take the opportunity of the

governor being out of town. well, if the governor does not come back to this house, what are they going to do with the place? all of this fine furniture? hmm. you might want to remember your favorite pieces in the house here, just in case. and of course, there are the gardens here as well. i hope you enjoyed seeing the governor's palace. >> today our visitors see a mixture of reproduction objects and antiques in the governor's palace. these objects and furnishings are based on the latest research our curators can provide. the governor's palace is just one of the exhibition buildings available for the modern day visitor to colonial

williamsburg. >> all persons having business before the honorable supreme court of the united states are admonished to draw near and give their attention. >> monday, we will look at the 62 dispute over the drawing of election districts. chief justice warren called it the most important case of my tenure on the court. here is a portion of the actual oral argument. >> these 11 tennessee voters live in five of the largest cities in tennessee. they are the intended and actual scheme of a statutory which the values -- devalues, reduces the right to vote to vout 1/20 of the value of