William Nelson (governor)

William Nelson (1711 – November 19, 1772) was an American planter and colonial leader from Yorktown, Virginia. In the interim between the royal governors Norborne Berkeley and Lord Dunmore, he served as governor of colonial Virginia in 1770 and 1771.

In the early stages of the American Revolution he was an active supporter of the colonial cause, and his son Thomas Nelson, Jr., went on to sign the Declaration of Independence.