Francis Lovelace
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Francis Lovelace (1621-1675) was the third son of Sir William Lovelace (1584-1627) and his wife Anne Barne of Lovelace Place, Bethersden and Woolrich, Kent. He was the younger brother of Richard Lovelace, the Cavalier poet. The Bethersden Lovelace lineage was founded in 1367 by John Lovelace, six generations before Francis, and has been confused over the years with the Hurley Lovelaces who were raised to the House of Lords.
The five Lovelace brothers supported Charles II in his fight to be restored to the throne. When Cromwell was defeated, Charles gave his brother, the Duke of York (later to become King James II), rights to the colony of Nieuw Amsterdam when Richard Nicolls took it from the Dutch in 1667.
The Duke of York appointed Lovelace the second governor of the New York colony in 1668 after the departure of Richard Nicolls. His administration was terminated by the temporary re-capture of the colony by the Dutch in 1673.
During a brief period in 1673, Dutch Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the youngest captured New York and re-established Nieuw Amsterdam. From 1673 to 1674, Dutch naval Captain Anthony Colve was military governor-general pro-term until the British recaptured the colony.
Lovelace was meeting with the Governor of Massachusetts when the Dutch re-established Nieuw Amsterdam. He was planning the first postal system from New York to Boston. The Duke of York blamed Lovelace for the loss of his colony, confiscated his plantation on Staten Island, and shut him up in the Tower of London, where he contracted dropsy and died in penury two years later 1675.
The third new Governor of New York after Francis Lovelace was John Lovelace, 4th Lord Lovelace of Hurley - no kin to Francis of the Bethersden Lovelaces. Early geneologists confused Francis with an identically named son of Richard, 1st Lord Lovelace of Hurley, due to a pamphlet issued at the time of his appointment mistakenly asserting that he was the brother of the said Richard. The confusion has also spread to more modern historians.
The 1933 Dictionary of American Biography describes Governor Francis Lovelace's five years in office as follows:
"Lovelace transacted much business by himself, with his councilors, in the high court of assizes, or by commissions appointed by him and under his control. He not only watched over his vast territory, but entered into every phase of its needs and difficulties. His administration was harassed, internally and externally, by Indian troubles, boundary disputes, an insurrection in the Delaware country, a rebellion in New Jersey, and the incompatibilities of a mixed population of Dutch, English, Swedish and other nationalities."
"He interested himself in better ferriage, roads and transportation by land and water; and the regulation of trade and extension of commerce. He instituted the first merchant's exchange and the first haven master of the port. He promoted shipbuilding and himself owned a fine ship, The Good Fame of New York. He extended settlements and laid out new villages and townships, and by purchase for the Duke, freed Staten Island from Indian control. He was tolerant toward religious sects, even the Quakers. He was interested in Indian missions and though unsuccessful, made the first attempt to introduce the art of printing into the middle British colonies. He furthered the strengthening of fortifications and the raising of foot companies and troops of horse, keeping them in training. The drift whale, as well as sport fisheries, engaged his attention....He instituted the first continuous post road between New York and Boston, under a postmaster."
[edit] References
- 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)
- The British Governors of Colonial New York
