Philip Ludwell

Philip Ludwell (* around 1638 in Bruton, Somerset , England , † around 1716 in London , England) was an English colonial governor of the Province of Carolina .

resume

Nothing is known about Philip Ludwell's youth and schooling. Around 1660 he came to what was then the English colony of Virginia , where his older brother Thomas Ludwell was a member of the colonial council. Possibly the two brothers were cousins ​​of the then governor William Berkeley. In 1675 Philip was also appointed to the government council. He was also a colonel in the colonial militia. In this capacity he was involved in the suppression of the Bacon's rebellion and in the subsequent trials against the rebels. In doing so, he defended the controversial crackdown on the part of Governor Berkeley. After disputes with Berkeley's successor, Herbert Jeffreys, Ludwell was expelled from the governing council. For this reason he was not allowed to take up a mandate in the colonial parliament, the House of Burgesses , in 1688 . Instead, he went to London, where he represented the arguments of Parliament against the then Governor Francis Howard .

In London he was also appointed the new colonial governor of the northern part of the Province of Carolina , later the US state of North Carolina . There he replaced the deposed, corrupt and scandalous Seth Sothel in 1690 . However, he had to assert himself against John Gibbs, a landowner also coming from Virginia, who claimed the office of governor for himself. In London, Ludwell was finally confirmed as governor. In 1692 he was also appointed governor of the southern part of the Province of Carolina, later the US state of South Carolina . The entire province was thus united under one governor. In the south, too, he succeeded Sothel, who, despite his offenses in the north, had managed to win the governorship in the southern part and continued with his criminal machinations there until his dismissal. Ludwell held the office of governor until 1693 and then returned to Virginia, where he was now a member of the colonial parliament. In 1695 and 1696 he was its president. He returned to England around 1700. He was married twice. His second wife, Francis, was the widow of former Virginia Governor William Berkeley.

Web links

• Ludwell in NCpedia