Thomas Lynch (Governor)

Thomas Lynch (* 17th century; † 1684 ) was the grandson of the Bishop of London and came from an Irish family near Kent . He took part in the wars of Charles I against the English Parliament and Oliver Cromwell . He later became a planter in Jamaica , a slave trader and eventually governor of Jamaica.

Due to a five-year stay in Spain , Lynch was very fond of Spanish culture and he also mastered the language. This made him the ideal candidate for his plans for Charles II towards the end of the 1660s. Charles II intended to make Jamaica the focal point of the slave trade with Spain. South America was also considered as a possible buyer for slaves.

Meanwhile, the intention to intensify trade with Spain, while the restoration of the royal dignity in 1660 was not particularly pronounced, it intensified in the course of the Anglo-Dutch naval wars and ultimately led to the following decision: Thomas Modyford , the then governor of Jamaica, became Replaced in 1671 by Thomas Lynch and the Royal African Company was founded in 1672 , under the Duke of York , James II, and given the monopoly on the slave trade with Spain.

From the time he was nominated Governor of Jamaica, Lynch has taken a tough line against the pirates , systematically disarming them and pushing them to grow sugar. The main reason Modyford was ousted was that he had approved of Henry Morgan's attack on Panama, thereby exacerbating the conflict with the Spanish Crown.

See also

• Royal African Company
• slavery

literature

• Peter Earle: The sack of Panamá: Captain Morgan and the battle for the Caribbean. Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press, New York NY 2007, ISBN 978-0-312-36142-6 .