Sir Richard Everard, 4th Baronet
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Sir Richard Everard, 4th Baronet (c. 1683-17 February 1733), was the last Governor of North Carolina under proprietary rule, serving in that capacity from 1725 to 1731.
The previous governor, George Burrington, had been removed from office in 1725 by the Lords Proprietors, following many complaints by colonists about his behavior (Burrington was known principally for physically threatening other North Carolina officials).
Everard petitioned for the position and was appointed to the vacancy, was granted it, and sailed for America. He was sworn in on 17 July 1725 as "governor, captain general, admiral, and commander-in-chief of the colony." In November of that year, Everard terminated (prorogued) the session of the Assembly of the Province, and refused to explain the reasons therefore. The assembly then declared their prorogation illegal, and an infringement upon liberty, notifying the Lords Proprietors of the same, deploring the loss of Burrington, and concerned at the prospect "of so vile an administration". Everard then involved himself in disputes about the character of Rev. Thomas Bailey, who had defended Burrington.[1]
Burrington, who had remained in the colony, nearly came to blows with Everard on 15 November 1725, asking Everard's servants, "Are all you country men such fools as Sir Richard Everard? He is a noodle, an ape...not more fit to be a governor than a hog in the woods." [2]
Burrington accosted Everard again at his house on 2 December 1725, but was refused admittance. "Come out," said Burrington, "I want satisfaction of you for saying you would send me to England in irons. Therefore come out and give it me, you Everard, you a Knight, you a Baronet, you a Governor. You are a Sancho Panza, and I'll take care of you, numbskull head." (This episode led to procedures at law in which several depositions were taken.) [2] The Assembly, meeting again in April, 1726, issued a catalogue of grievances, and was promptly prorogued once more by Everard. [1]
Everard also had belligerent episodes with Edmund Porter, Dr. George Allen, and John Lovick. Everard's enemies in England maintained that he was "too much given to intoxication", though the Provincial Council, asked to voice its opinion on the matter, stated that Everard had never been publicly drunk. [1]
Everard's sole accomplishment in office was the settlement of North Carolina's border with Virginia, which had long been disputed.
Everard had married Susannah Kidder in December 1705[3], and they had four children together. Two sons, Richard and Hugh, succeeded serially to his baronetcy following his death, but both died without male heirs, and the baronetcy became extinct. Everard's daughter Anne married a "George Lathbury", about whom no more is known. Everard's daughter Susannah married David Meade, of Nansemond Co., Virginia, and they became the parents of (among others) Lt.-Col. Richard Kidder Meade, who was aide-de-camp to General George Washington in the American Revolution and who superintended the execution of Major John André. [1]
Everard's rule was even more unpopular than Burrington's, and his "pack of rude children who gave offence daily" were a particular sore spot. The Provincial Council complained he had set up a sort of Inquisition in which the servants of the gentry were questioned under oath about whether their masters had made private disrespectful remarks about the Governor. [1]
The Lords Proprietors sold the province to the Crown in 1729, and the Crown appointed Burrington as Governor. Everard stayed in office an additional two years, until Burrington had qualified, and retired to London in 1731. He died two years later and was interred at Much Waltham, Essex.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Haywood, Marshall De Lancey (October 1898). "Sir Richard Everard" (PDF). Publications of the Southern History Association II (4): 328–339.
- ^ a b Demos, John (1991). Remarkable Providences: Readings on Early American History. Northeastern, 284. ISBN 978-1555530983.
- ^ She was daughter and co-heiress of the Right Rev. Richard Kidder, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells
| Preceded by George Burrington |
proprietary Governor of North Carolina 1725-31 |
Succeeded by Royal Gov. George Burrington |
