Francis Lovelace

Francis Lovelace

Francis Lovelace (* around 1621 in Kent , † December 22, 1675 in Woodstock , Oxfordshire ) was the second English governor of the province of New York from 1668 to 1673 .

Early years

Francis Lovelace was the third son of Sir William Lovelace (1584-1627) and his wife Anne Barne of Lovelace Place. He was the younger brother of the poet Richard Lovelace (1618–1657). He also had three other brothers. During the English Civil War , the five brothers supported King Charles I from the House of Stuart . After the defeat of the royalists, Francis lived for some time in the English colony of Virginia . After this colony had also been placed under the new English administration under Oliver Cromwell in 1652 , Lovelace traveled to France on behalf of the colonial governor of Virginia, William Berkeley , where the son of King Karl, who was executed in 1649, lived in exile. He was to inform the king's son and later King Charles II of the events in Virginia. Some of his brothers who still supported the House of Stuart lived at his exile in France. After Oliver Cromwell's death, he returned to England in 1658. But this return was too premature. Because under Cromwell's son Richard the republican regiment in England initially continued. As a result, Lovelace was arrested for his proximity to the Stuarts and imprisoned in the Tower . Only after the final end of parliamentary rule under the Cromwells and the return of the Stuarts was he released again.

Governor of the Province of New York

In 1664 the Dutch colony of Nieuw Amsterdam was conquered by the English. In 1667 this process was manifested in the peace treaty. King Charles II enfeoffed his brother James, the Duke of York and later King James II , with this colony, which was now called the Province of New York . The first governor was Richard Nicolls , who also played a key role in the conquest of the former Dutch colony. This was very unpopular with many English colonists who were supporters of the Cromwells. Nonetheless, he held the post of colonial governor between 1664 and 1668. In 1668 the Duke of York appointed Francis Lovelace as the new governor as the owner of the colony. In this capacity, Lovelace acquired Staten Island from the Indians. In addition, he worked on a peaceful collaboration between the English, Swedish and Dutch residents of his colony. He also had militia troops set up for defense. He also had the defenses of the city of New York expanded. Nevertheless, in 1673 the Dutch managed to temporarily recapture their former colony. At this point, Lovelace was not there himself, but was in Hartford , where he met with the Governor of the Colony of Connecticut , John Winthrop . When the Dutch invaded Lovelace lost his property in his colony. He returned to England in disgrace, where the Duke of York had him arrested and thrown into the Tower. At the same time, his English possessions were also confiscated. Lovelace became a penniless man. In prison he fell ill with dropsy and was released in April 1675 for health reasons. He died in Woodstock on December 22nd of the same year. His former colony was placed under Dutch administration under Anthony Colve before it became English again in 1674.

His grandson John was also the colonial governor of New York between December 1708 and May 1709.

literature

• Paltsis, Victor Hugo (ed.) (1910). Minutes of the Executive Council of the Province of New York: Administration of Francis Lovelace 1668–1673. State of New York, Albany. (including collateral documents and illustrations)