Perhaps best known for his series of diaries written in the early 1700s and what they reveal about life in colonial Virginia, notably the appalling treatment of enslaved people, of whom he owned many, Virginia-born William Byrd II lived much of his life in England, giving him insights into both colonial and English society that most of his contemporaries lacked. It was with this understanding of both worlds that he sent an angry letter to London in 1699 expressing his dismay with the state of governance in the proprietary colonies, which included the Carolinas, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Citing a number of factors, Byrd recommended that King William III reassert his control over colonies where, in Byrd's estimation, the appointed royal governors appeared to be incapable of executing their responsibilities effectively.