.gif)
William Burnet (administrator)
Encyclopedia
William Burnet was a British civil servant and colonial administrator who served as governor of New York and New Jersey
(1720–1728) and Massachusetts
(1728).
, the Bishop of Salisbury
, and Mary Scott. He was born at the Hague
in the Netherlands in March 1688. He was the godson of William, Prince of Orange (later William III of England
) and his wife Mary
. He was an excellent but undisciplined scholar who entered Oxford at the age of 13, but was dismissed for disciplinary reasons. His later education came from private tutoring (including Isaac Newton
as a tutor), and he was ultimately admitted to the bar.
His curiosity for intellect led him to write An Essay on Scripture Prophecy, Wherein it is Endeavoured to Explain the three periods Contain'd in the Xii Chapter of the Prophet Daniel
With some Arguments to make it Probable that the FIRST of the PERIODS did Expire in the Year 1715, published anonymously in 1724.
With friends in the government, he was appointed the Comptroller
of Customs in England before his terms as a colonial governor. He was married twice. His first wife was the daughter of Dean Stanhope and she died in 1717. He married again in New York to Anna Maria Van Horne, the daughter of Abraham and Mary Van Horne, in 1722. They had three children.
through strong Whig
connections. As governor, he followed the advice of Lewis Morris
and James Alexander
, two advisors of Hunter.
Antiproprietary men in the New Jersey Assembly did not openly criticise Burnet, but attempted to remove Morris from his position and failed. As a result, in 1722 Burnet created a second assembly, which would later pass the Loan Act in 1723.
In 1720, following a depression caused by the fluctuating currencies of New York and Pennsylvania
, James Alexander and the many of the assemblymen called for a new paper currency. In 1726, Burnet took a census of New Jersey, totalling 32,442 people.
Burnet was a capable administrator and better than the average colonial governor, although his tenure was not without disputes. He was appointed governor of New York and New Jersey in the spring of 1720, and arrived in New York City on 16 September 1720. His most important accomplishment as governor was to strengthen the colony's position on the frontier.
Governor Burnet encourage direct trade with Indian tribes to reduce the influence of French traders. Along with this initiative, he strengthened outposts like Fort Oswego
. This was an effective strategy. Many of the goods bartered with the Indians for furs were produced locally, while the French imported theirs. Because of this British colonists could undercut French prices. He convened a meeting at Albany
in 1722 of representatives from several colonies, that resulted in peace with Indian tribes for several years in New York, although the northern New England provinces were engulfed in Dummer's War
.
But the costs of his actions earned opposition from establishment forces, like the DeLancey family. (It also interfered with their profits from selling goods to French fur traders). He also established the Courts of Chancery in 1727 and was censured by the assembly. The crown replaced him in 1728, not for this dispute but to make room for John Montgomerie
who was favored by King George II
He was reassigned as governor of Massachusetts
and New Hampshire
and left New York on 15 April 1728, when his replacement arrived.
Like other governors appointed to Massachusetts, Burnet was instructed to secure a salary. He chose to take an extremely hard line: he refused to conduct any other business, or to dissolve the legislature, until the salary was decided. The legislature in turn refused to enact a salary bill. Burnet, in order to make life as difficult as possible for the legislators, relocated the assembly from Boston first to Salem
and then Cambridge
, increasing the costs of the legislators and forcing many of them from the comforts of their Boston-area properties. The legislators responded by sending Francis Wilks and Jonathan Belcher
as agents to London to argue the province's case before the Board of Trade.
The dispute was ongoing when Burnet died in Boston from a stroke on 7 September 1729. Burnet was succeeded in office by Belcher.
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
(1720–1728) and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
(1728).
Early life
Burnet was the son of Gilbert BurnetGilbert Burnet
Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian...
, the Bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
, and Mary Scott. He was born at the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in the Netherlands in March 1688. He was the godson of William, Prince of Orange (later William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
) and his wife Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
. He was an excellent but undisciplined scholar who entered Oxford at the age of 13, but was dismissed for disciplinary reasons. His later education came from private tutoring (including Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
as a tutor), and he was ultimately admitted to the bar.
His curiosity for intellect led him to write An Essay on Scripture Prophecy, Wherein it is Endeavoured to Explain the three periods Contain'd in the Xii Chapter of the Prophet Daniel
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
With some Arguments to make it Probable that the FIRST of the PERIODS did Expire in the Year 1715, published anonymously in 1724.
With friends in the government, he was appointed the Comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
of Customs in England before his terms as a colonial governor. He was married twice. His first wife was the daughter of Dean Stanhope and she died in 1717. He married again in New York to Anna Maria Van Horne, the daughter of Abraham and Mary Van Horne, in 1722. They had three children.
Governor of New York
Burnet obtained the position of governor of New York by trading his job as comptroller of the customs with Robert HunterRobert Hunter (general)
General Robert Hunter was colonial governor of New York and New Jersey from 1710 to 1720.A Scot, the son of James Hunter and his wife Margaret Spalding, Hunter had been apprenticed to an apothecary before running away to join the British Army. He became an officer and married a woman of high rank...
through strong Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
connections. As governor, he followed the advice of Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
and James Alexander
James Alexander
James Alexander may refer to:*James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon *James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon *James Alexander, 4th Earl of Caledon *James Alexander James Alexander may refer to:*James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon (1730–1802)*James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon (1812–1855)*James...
, two advisors of Hunter.
Antiproprietary men in the New Jersey Assembly did not openly criticise Burnet, but attempted to remove Morris from his position and failed. As a result, in 1722 Burnet created a second assembly, which would later pass the Loan Act in 1723.
In 1720, following a depression caused by the fluctuating currencies of New York and Pennsylvania
Province of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in British America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II...
, James Alexander and the many of the assemblymen called for a new paper currency. In 1726, Burnet took a census of New Jersey, totalling 32,442 people.
Burnet was a capable administrator and better than the average colonial governor, although his tenure was not without disputes. He was appointed governor of New York and New Jersey in the spring of 1720, and arrived in New York City on 16 September 1720. His most important accomplishment as governor was to strengthen the colony's position on the frontier.
Governor Burnet encourage direct trade with Indian tribes to reduce the influence of French traders. Along with this initiative, he strengthened outposts like Fort Oswego
Fort Oswego
Fort Oswego was an important frontier post for British traders in the 18th century. A trading post was established in 1722 with a log palisade, and New York governor William Burnet ordered a fort built at the site in 1727. The log palisade fort established a British presence on the Great Lakes....
. This was an effective strategy. Many of the goods bartered with the Indians for furs were produced locally, while the French imported theirs. Because of this British colonists could undercut French prices. He convened a meeting at Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
in 1722 of representatives from several colonies, that resulted in peace with Indian tribes for several years in New York, although the northern New England provinces were engulfed in Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
.
But the costs of his actions earned opposition from establishment forces, like the DeLancey family. (It also interfered with their profits from selling goods to French fur traders). He also established the Courts of Chancery in 1727 and was censured by the assembly. The crown replaced him in 1728, not for this dispute but to make room for John Montgomerie
John Montgomerie
Colonel John Montgomerie was colonial governor of New York and New Jersey from 1728 to 1731.Montgomerie was born in the parish of Beith in Scotland and served as Member or Parliament for Ayrshire between 1710 and 1722....
who was favored by King George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
He was reassigned as governor of Massachusetts
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
and New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
and left New York on 15 April 1728, when his replacement arrived.
Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Burnet is best known in Massachusetts for his hardnosed attempt to force the provincial assembly to grant crown officials (including the governor) a permanent salary. Since the institution of the royal charter in 1692, the assembly had resisted this, choosing instead to make periodic grants the governor. Local politicians found this an effective mechanism for influencing the governor to promote their policies, since the governor would never know when the next grant would be made, or how large it would be.Like other governors appointed to Massachusetts, Burnet was instructed to secure a salary. He chose to take an extremely hard line: he refused to conduct any other business, or to dissolve the legislature, until the salary was decided. The legislature in turn refused to enact a salary bill. Burnet, in order to make life as difficult as possible for the legislators, relocated the assembly from Boston first to Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
and then Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, increasing the costs of the legislators and forcing many of them from the comforts of their Boston-area properties. The legislators responded by sending Francis Wilks and Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...
as agents to London to argue the province's case before the Board of Trade.
The dispute was ongoing when Burnet died in Boston from a stroke on 7 September 1729. Burnet was succeeded in office by Belcher.
See also
- List of colonial governors of New Jersey
- List of colonial governors of New York
- List of colonial governors of Massachusetts
- List of colonial governors of New Hampshire
External links
- Biography of William Burnet, New Jersey State LibraryNew Jersey State LibraryThe New Jersey State Library, based in Trenton, New Jersey, was established in 1796 to serve the information needs of New Jersey's Governor, Legislature and courts. The State Library is also responsible to assist in the provision of library and information services to all New Jersey...
- Official Massachusetts Governor Biography