WILLIAM TRYON
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'William Tryon' (January 27, 1729–1788) was colonial governor of the Province of North Carolina (1765-1771) and the Province of New York (1771-1780), though he did not retain much power in New York beyond 1771.
Tryon was born at Norbury Park, Surrey, England. In 1757, when he was a captain in the First Foot Guards, he married Margaret Wake, a London heiress with a dowry of 30,000 pounds. Her father had been the Honourable East India Company's Governor in Bombay from 1742 to 1750, and had died in Cape Town on the voyage home.
In 1764, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. When Governor Arthur Dobbs died the following year, William Tryon succeeded him. He is most noted for putting down the Regulator movement in western North Carolina during 1768 to 1771.
From 1771 to 1780 Tryon was Governor of the colony of New York. While he was on a visit to England in 1775, the American Revolutionary War began. On October 19, 1775, several months after his return, Tryon was compelled to seek refuge on the British sloop-of-war ''Halifax'' in New York Harbor. He was restored to power when the British took possession of New York in September 1776. After 1777, British administration ended, but an unofficial loyalist underground movement was led by James Robertson and Andrew Elliot.
During the spring and summer of 1776, Tryon and New York City's mayor, David Matthews, were conspirators in a miserably bungled plot to kidnap General George Washington and to assassinate his chief officers. One of Washington's bodyguards, Thomas Hickey, was involved in the plot. Hickey, while in prison for passing counterfeit money, bragged to his cellmate Isaac Ketcham about the kidnapping plot. Ketcham revealed it to authorities in an effort to gain his own freedom. Hickey was court-martialed, and was hanged for mutiny on June 28, 1776.
In 1777, Tryon was given the rank of major-general and a command position in the British Army. He was ordered to invade Connecticut and march on the city of Danbury to destroy an arsenal there. In 1779, he commanded a series of raids on the Connecticut coast, attacking New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, burning most of Fairfield and Norwalk. According to tradition, Tryon sat on a rocking chair on a hill in Norwalk, watching the town burn, a "puny imitator of Nero". He later boasted of his "extreme clemency" in leaving a single house standing. British General Henry Clinton never again trusted Tryon with an independent command.
In 1780, Tryon returned to England, and in 1782 was promoted to lieutenant-general and to the colonelcy of the 29th Regiment of Foot. He died in London just five years after the treaty ending the American Revolution.
Like many pre-Revolutionary War officials in America, Tryon has generally been pictured by Americans as a tyrant (e.g., nicknamed "The Wolf" by the citizens of North Carolina). In reality, he seems to have been tactful and a good administrator, who improved the colonial postal service, but became unpopular chiefly because he obeyed the instructions of his superiors and enforced the orders of the British government. By refusing to allow meetings of the Assembly from May 18, 1765 to November 3, 1766, he prevented North Carolina from sending representatives to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. To lighten the burden of the stamp tax, he offered to pay the dues on all stamped paper on which he was entitled to fees.
Tryon suppressed the North Carolina Regulator uprising, caused partly by the taxation imposed to pay for a new governor's mansion (now called Tryon Palace) at New Bern (which Tryon made the provincial capital), and executed six of the Regulator leaders. He tried the men for violating the Riot Act, a crime temporarily made a capital offense by the General Assembly. The Riot Act made such acts punishable as treason. The condemned men included Captain Benjamin Merrell, James Pugh, Robert Matear, Captain Messer, and two others. All were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered on June 19, 1771. Six other Regulators -- Forrester Mercer, James Stewart, James Emmerson, Herman Cox, William Brown, and James Copeland -- were pardoned by King George III and released by Tryon.
Tryon County, New York and Tryon County, North Carolina were both named for him (though later renamed). His name is still preserved at Fort Tryon Park in Manhattan in New York City, which was held by the British throughout most of the American Revolution, and by the town of Tryon, North Carolina. One of the two streets that intersect in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina is named Tryon Street. There is also a Tryon Road in Raleigh, North Carolina, which happens to be in Wake County, named after Tryon's wife Margaret Wake.
★ Haywood, Marshal D. ''Governor William Tryon and his Administration in the Province of North Carolina''. Raleigh, 1903.
★ Tryon Palace, North Carolina
★ Captain Benjamin Merrell & The Regulators of Colonial North Carolina
★ Regulator Movement of North Carolina
Governor William Tryon, 1767
| Contents |
| Early Life and career |
| American Revolution |
| Legacy |
| References |
| External links |
Early Life and career
Tryon was born at Norbury Park, Surrey, England. In 1757, when he was a captain in the First Foot Guards, he married Margaret Wake, a London heiress with a dowry of 30,000 pounds. Her father had been the Honourable East India Company's Governor in Bombay from 1742 to 1750, and had died in Cape Town on the voyage home.
In 1764, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. When Governor Arthur Dobbs died the following year, William Tryon succeeded him. He is most noted for putting down the Regulator movement in western North Carolina during 1768 to 1771.
American Revolution
From 1771 to 1780 Tryon was Governor of the colony of New York. While he was on a visit to England in 1775, the American Revolutionary War began. On October 19, 1775, several months after his return, Tryon was compelled to seek refuge on the British sloop-of-war ''Halifax'' in New York Harbor. He was restored to power when the British took possession of New York in September 1776. After 1777, British administration ended, but an unofficial loyalist underground movement was led by James Robertson and Andrew Elliot.
During the spring and summer of 1776, Tryon and New York City's mayor, David Matthews, were conspirators in a miserably bungled plot to kidnap General George Washington and to assassinate his chief officers. One of Washington's bodyguards, Thomas Hickey, was involved in the plot. Hickey, while in prison for passing counterfeit money, bragged to his cellmate Isaac Ketcham about the kidnapping plot. Ketcham revealed it to authorities in an effort to gain his own freedom. Hickey was court-martialed, and was hanged for mutiny on June 28, 1776.
In 1777, Tryon was given the rank of major-general and a command position in the British Army. He was ordered to invade Connecticut and march on the city of Danbury to destroy an arsenal there. In 1779, he commanded a series of raids on the Connecticut coast, attacking New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, burning most of Fairfield and Norwalk. According to tradition, Tryon sat on a rocking chair on a hill in Norwalk, watching the town burn, a "puny imitator of Nero". He later boasted of his "extreme clemency" in leaving a single house standing. British General Henry Clinton never again trusted Tryon with an independent command.
In 1780, Tryon returned to England, and in 1782 was promoted to lieutenant-general and to the colonelcy of the 29th Regiment of Foot. He died in London just five years after the treaty ending the American Revolution.
Legacy
Like many pre-Revolutionary War officials in America, Tryon has generally been pictured by Americans as a tyrant (e.g., nicknamed "The Wolf" by the citizens of North Carolina). In reality, he seems to have been tactful and a good administrator, who improved the colonial postal service, but became unpopular chiefly because he obeyed the instructions of his superiors and enforced the orders of the British government. By refusing to allow meetings of the Assembly from May 18, 1765 to November 3, 1766, he prevented North Carolina from sending representatives to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. To lighten the burden of the stamp tax, he offered to pay the dues on all stamped paper on which he was entitled to fees.
Tryon suppressed the North Carolina Regulator uprising, caused partly by the taxation imposed to pay for a new governor's mansion (now called Tryon Palace) at New Bern (which Tryon made the provincial capital), and executed six of the Regulator leaders. He tried the men for violating the Riot Act, a crime temporarily made a capital offense by the General Assembly. The Riot Act made such acts punishable as treason. The condemned men included Captain Benjamin Merrell, James Pugh, Robert Matear, Captain Messer, and two others. All were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered on June 19, 1771. Six other Regulators -- Forrester Mercer, James Stewart, James Emmerson, Herman Cox, William Brown, and James Copeland -- were pardoned by King George III and released by Tryon.
Tryon County, New York and Tryon County, North Carolina were both named for him (though later renamed). His name is still preserved at Fort Tryon Park in Manhattan in New York City, which was held by the British throughout most of the American Revolution, and by the town of Tryon, North Carolina. One of the two streets that intersect in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina is named Tryon Street. There is also a Tryon Road in Raleigh, North Carolina, which happens to be in Wake County, named after Tryon's wife Margaret Wake.
References
★ Haywood, Marshal D. ''Governor William Tryon and his Administration in the Province of North Carolina''. Raleigh, 1903.
External links
★ Tryon Palace, North Carolina
★ Captain Benjamin Merrell & The Regulators of Colonial North Carolina
★ Regulator Movement of North Carolina
| 'Preceded by': Arthur Dobbs | Governor of the Royal Colony of North Carolina 1765-1771 | 'Succeeded by': James Hasell |
| 'Preceded by': Lord Dunmore | Governor of the Province of New York 1771-1780 | 'Succeeded by': George Clinton ''Governor of New York State after 1777 |
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