From the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
A Representative and a Senator from Virginia; born near Amelia Court House, Amelia County, Va., August 12, 1762; pursued classical studies and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1781; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in Petersburg, Va., 1784-1789.
He was elected to the First Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Theodorick Bland; reelected to the Second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from December 7, 1790, to October 2, 1798, when he resigned.
A member, State house of delegates 1798-1800; elected as a Republican to the Seventh Congress (March 4, 1801-March 3, 1803); appointed to the United States Senate as a Republican to fill the vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1803, caused by the resignation of Abraham B. Venable; while holding the office of Senator-designate was elected on December 4, 1804, to fill the vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1799, caused by the resignation of Wilson C. Nicholas. He was reelected in 1804 and 1811 and served from August 11, 1804, to March 3, 1815, when he resigned; member, State house of delegates 1816-1817, 1826-1827; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1825; Governor of Virginia 1827-1830; was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1829 and 1830; again elected Governor in 1830, but declined; died on his estate, ‘Wigwam,’ near Amelia Court House, Amelia County, Va., December 4, 1830; interment in a private cemetery on his estate.
Bibliography
American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Anderson, Dice. William Branch Giles: A Study in the Politics of Virginia and the Nation from 1790 to 1831. Gloucester, Mass.: P. Smith, 1965; Giunta, Mary A. ‘The Public Life of William Branch Giles, Republican, 1790-1815.’ Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University, 1980.
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From the Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volume II
II--Governors of the State--1776-1861
Son of William Giles and Anne Branch, his wife, was born in Amelia county, Virginia, August 12, 1762. He studied at Hampden-Sidney and Princeton colleges; and from Princeton he went to William and Mary to study law under the great law professor, George Wythe.
He began practice in Petersburg, Virginia, where he remained for a number of years. In 1791 he was elected to Congress, and served excepting one session until March, 1803. He was, first, a Federalist, but the proposition to create the United States Bank led to his joining the Republicans. While Alexander Hamilton was secretary of the treasury, Mr. Giles attacked him in the house, accusing him of corruption and peculation, and moved resoiutions censuring Hamilton for arbitrary assumption of authority.
Giles was opposed to John Jay's treaty with Great Britain, and took active part in opposition to that instrument. He was equally against the proposed war with France. In 1798 Giles was a member of the Virginia legislature, where he strongly supported the Virginia resolutions. In 1801 was a presidential elector.
In 1804 he succeeded Wilson Cary Nicholas in the United States senate; and, being re-elected, served until March 3, 1815, when he resigned. His position in the senate was prominent, being that of a Republican leader, but he was particularly noticeable for his opposition to the Madison administration. Mr. Giles was in private life from 1811 until 1825, when he was a candidate for the United States senatorship, but was defeated by John Randolph.
The next year he was elected to the legislature, and on March 4, 1827, became governor, which office he held until March 4, 1830. In his messages at this time he took strong grounds for resistance against the tariff. Mr. Giles was one of the ablest parliamentarians of his time, an accomplished debater, and was generally compared with Charles James Fox.
Mr. Giles published a number of writings, among which were "A Speech on the Embargo Laws" (1808); "Political Letters to the People of Virginia" (1813); a seies of letters signed "A Constituent," in the "Richmond Inquirer," in opposition to a plan for general public education (1818). He published in 1824 a letter antagonizing President James Monroe and Henry Clay on account of their interest in the South American cause and that of the Greek revolution, as also the question of the tariff. Mr. Giles died in Albemarle county, Virginia, December 4, 1830.