Colonial governor; born in
Sussex, England, in 1693; was educated for the law; came to
Boston in 1734, where he practised his profession.
At the time he was appointed governor (1741) he was a commissioner for the settlement of the boundary between
Massachusetts and
Rhode Island.
As governor he was superior to his contemporaries in the same office in
America.
He planned the expedition against
Louisburg in 1745; and was appointed one of the commissioners at
Paris (1750) for settling the limits of
Acadia, or
Nova Scotia, and other controverted rights of the
English and French in
America.
In 1754 he made a treaty with the
Eastern Indians and explored the
Kennebec, erecting some forts upon its banks.
In 1755 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the
British forces in
North America.
The expedition against
Fort Niagara was planned by him, and led as far as
Oswego.
In 1759 he was commissioned a lieutenant-general.
He was governor of one of the
Bahama Islands afterwards, but returned to
Massachusetts in 1770 and built a spacious mansion at
Roxbury, which he never occupied, dying the next year after his arrival there, March 24, 1771.
