William Leyborne Leyborne: Difference between revisions
m fixed internal link |
|||
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
==Career== |
==Career== |
||
Brigadier-General Leybourne was appointed on 2 March 1771 Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of his Majesty’s islands of Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Vincent and Tobago by [George III of the United Kingdom|King George III], taking over the position from [[Robert Melvill]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Town and Country Magazine, Volume 3|year=1771|page=164}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=London Gazette - Promotions|year=1771}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Annual Register for 1771 Volume 14|year=1772}}</ref> |
Brigadier-General Leybourne was appointed on 2 March 1771 Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of his Majesty’s islands of Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Vincent and Tobago by [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]], taking over the position from [[Robert Melvill]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Town and Country Magazine, Volume 3|year=1771|page=164}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=London Gazette - Promotions|year=1771}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Annual Register for 1771 Volume 14|year=1772}}</ref> |
||
As Governor of Grenada he was granted expenses from 1 Nov 1771 to 16 Apr 1775. |
As Governor of Grenada he was granted expenses from 1 Nov 1771 to 16 Apr 1775. |
||
Revision as of 19:58, 4 March 2020
William Leybourne Leybourne | |
|---|---|
| Governor of the Windward Islands | |
| In office 2 March 1771 – 16 Apr 1775 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1744 England |
| Died | 16 April 1775 |
| Parent |
|
| Nickname | William Leybourne |
William Leybourne Leybourne (1744 — 16 April 1775) was Governor of the Windward Islands 1771–1775.
Early life
Leybourne was born in 1744 the son of Anthony Leybourne.[1]
On 8 May 1763, General William Leybourne, married Ann Popham daughter of Edward Popham, Esq., of Littlecote Wiltshire.[2]
When his maternal uncle, Francis Popham, died childless in 1786, he legally assumed the name Laybourne-Popham and the couple had a son Edward William who became General Popham (1764 – 1881) of Littlecott and later High Sheriff of Wiltshire.[3]
Career
Brigadier-General Leybourne was appointed on 2 March 1771 Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of his Majesty’s islands of Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Vincent and Tobago by King George III, taking over the position from Robert Melvill.[4][5][6]
As Governor of Grenada he was granted expenses from 1 Nov 1771 to 16 Apr 1775. [7][8]
Just ten years previously, the year Laybourne got married, the British had gained control of the Grenadines (south of St. Vincent) and placed them also under the charge of Grenada when raiding privateers began presenting a continuing threat and forcing the new Governor-in-Chief to protest to London that St. Vincent should have a separate governor and appointed gentleman planter Valentine Morris. Dominica planters also pushed for a separate government in this case because of its distance from Grenada retarding its economic progress.
This was a time when the Windward Islands were in the mist of British absenteeism in which any developing legislatures would be composed of people without any major landed investment in the islands, yet consisted of a large French Catholics community who themselves (though having freely signed a petition of allegiance to the King) owned several major estates, and whose own loyalty to the Crown was considered questionable by its British residents. Making the job of finding proper persons to make a Council an impossible problem to solve for Governor Leybourne.[9][10]
Shortly after, and just four years before the French recaptured Grenada, Leybourne died on 16 April 1775 in St. Vincent, aged 31 years, and Lt. William Young, Governor of Tobago, was appointed to act as Governor.[11]
Amongst the many men who held important offices in the island of St Vincent, in the cemetery surrounding the cathedral of St. George, situated in Kingstown, there was a monument (which was by 1912 much affected by the rains and heat as to almost obliterate the inscription) stood prominently to the memory of the late Excellency William Leybourne.[12]
References
- ^ British Archaeological Association (1891). Journal of the British Archaeological Association. p. 145.
- ^ Baldwin, R. (1763). The London Magazine, Volume 32. p. 280.
- ^ Bernard Burke (1852). A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain. p. 1058.
- ^ The Town and Country Magazine, Volume 3. 1771. p. 164.
- ^ London Gazette - Promotions. 1771.
- ^ The Annual Register for 1771 Volume 14. 1772.
- ^ Great Britain Parliament (1782). The Parliamentary Register. p. 569.
- ^ Parliamentary Papers - Volume 10. 1820. p. 240.
- ^ Grenada, original correspondence, William Leybourne Leybourne to Lord Hillsborough, 11-20 November 1771. CO101/5(39-45: Public Records Office, United Kingdom. 1771.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ The William Leybourne Papers (Windward lslands). New York Public Library: Government of Great Britain. 1771.
- ^ The Scots Magazine, Volume 37. 1775. p. 342.
- ^ Parliamentary Papers, Volume 59. 1912. p. 67.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
