Home > William Tryon

Tryon was born at Norbury Park, Surrey, England. In 1757, when he was a captain of the First Foot Guards, he married Margaret Wake, a London heiress with a dower of £30,000. In 1764 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, upon Arthur Dobbs 's death in 1765 became governor pro tem., and in December of the same year received his commission as Governor of North Carolina.

Like many other pre-Revolutionary officials in America, he has generally been pictured by American writers as a tyrant. In reality, however, he seems to have been tactful and considerate, an efficient administrator, who in particular greatly improved the colonial postal service, and to have become unpopular chiefly because, through his rigid adherence to duty, he obeyed the instructions of his superiors and rigorously enforced the measures of the British government. By refusing to allow meetings of the Assembly from May 18th, 1765 to November 3, 1766Events January 1 Bonnie Prince Charlie becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Charles III and figurehead for Jacobitism. March 5 Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans. March 18 Am, he prevented North Carolina from sending representatives to the Stamp Act CongressThe Stamp Act Congress was a meeting in October of 1765 of delegates from the British American Colonies that discussed and acted upon the recently passed Stamp Act. The meetings adopted a Declaration of Rights and wrote letters or petitions to the King an in 1765. To lighten the stamp tax he offered to pay the duty on all stamped paper on which he was entitled to fees. With the support of the law-abiding element he suppressed the Regulator uprising in 1768Events January 9 Philip Astley stages the first modern circus ( London) May 10 John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London Secretary of State for coloni- 1771Events January 22 Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to England. July 17 Massacre at Bloody Falls: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his arctic overland journey, massacre a group of unsuspecting Inuit. September 8 In Cali, caused partly by the taxation imposed to defray the cost of the governor's fine mansion at New BernNew Bern is a city located in Craven County, North Carolina where the Trent River and the Neuse River converge. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 23,128. It is the county seat of Craven County 6. History New Bern was founded by the (which Tryon had made the provincial capital), and executed seven or eight of the ringleaders, pardoning six others.

From 1771Events January 22 Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to England. July 17 Massacre at Bloody Falls: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his arctic overland journey, massacre a group of unsuspecting Inuit. September 8 In Cali nominally until March 22March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in Leap years). There are 284 days remaining. Events 238 Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperors 1621 The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Mass, 1780 he was Governor of New York. While he was on a visit to England the American Revolutionary War broke out, and on October 19, 1775, several months after his return, he was compelled to seek refuge on the sloop-of-war Halifax in New York Harbor, but was restored to power when the British took possession of New York City in September 1776, though his actual authority did not extend beyond the British lines. In 1777, with the rank of major-general, he became commander of a corps of Loyalists, and in 1779 invaded Connecticut and burned Danbury, Fairfield, and Norwalk.

In 1780 he returned to England, and in 1782 was promoted to lieutenant-general. He died in London.