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Paul Wentworth (spy)
Paul Wentworth (1728 or 1736–1794) was a lawyer and plantation owner in Surinam, a stockbroker in London, a British intelligence agent to Lord North during the American War of Independence, and a politician who sat in the House of Commons briefly. He was friendly with Arthur Lee (diplomat), Silas Deane, Philip Skene and Benedict Arnold. Early life Wentworth may have been born in Barbados or in New Hampshire. He moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the 1750s, and won the patronage of the governor Benning Wentworth. He studied law ( LL. D.) and in 1756 he married a rich widow in Surinam, where he worked at court of justice. In 1764 he hired the chemist Edward Bancroft to survey and improve his Surinam plantation. After he inherited a sugar and coffee plantation he left for London. He established himself as a stockbroker or speculator. In 1767 he resided at Spring Gardens and send a collection of butterflies from the Dutch colony of Surinam to 2nd Marquess of Rockingham and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intelligence Agent
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangible benefit. A person who commits espionage is called an ''espionage agent'' or ''spy''. Any individual or spy ring (a cooperating group of spies), in the service of a government, company, criminal organization, or independent operation, can commit espionage. The practice is clandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome. In some circumstances, it may be a legal tool of law enforcement and in others, it may be illegal and punishable by law. Espionage is often part of an institutional effort by a government or commercial concern. However, the term tends to be associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies for military purposes. Spying involving corporations is known as industrial espionage. One of the most effective ways to ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet (9 August 1737 – 8 April 1820) was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. He is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Church in Halifax. Early years Wentworth was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 9, 1737. His ancestry went back to some of the earliest settlers of the Province of New Hampshire, and he was a grandson of John Wentworth, who served as the province's lieutenant governor in the 1720s, a nephew to Governor Benning Wentworth, and a descendant of "Elder" William Wentworth. His father Mark was a major landowner and merchant in the province, and his mother, Elizabeth Rindge Wentworth, was also from the upper echelons of New Hampshire society. In 1751, he enrolled in Harvard College, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1755 and a master's degree in 1758. During his time at Harvard, he was a classmate and became a close friend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France In The American Revolutionary War
French involvement in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783 began in 1776 when the Kingdom of France secretly shipped supplies to the Continental Army of the Thirteen Colonies when it was established in June 1775. France was a long-term historical rival with the Kingdom of Great Britain, from which the Colonies were attempting to separate. A Treaty of Alliance between the French and the Continental Army followed in 1778, which led to French money, matériel and troops being sent to the United States. An ignition of a global war with Britain started shortly thereafter. Subsequently, Spain and the Dutch Republic also began to send assistance, which, along with other political developments in Europe, left the British with no allies during the conflict (excluding the Hessians). Spain openly declared war in 1779, and war between British and Dutch followed soon after. France's help was a major and decisive contribution towards the United States' eventual victory and indepe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Hope
Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business Hope & Co. at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the manager of Hope & Co. and he participated in the firm for about a third from 1782. He is considered to be as great a genius as his uncle Thomas Hope. In 1786 Adam Smith dedicated the fourth edition of his book ''The Wealth of Nations'' to Henry Hope in hopes of increasing his readership:Adam Smith, ''The Wealth of Nations'', 1895; Early years His father, Henry, was a Rotterdam merchant of Scottish lineage who left for the "new world" after experiencing financial difficulties in the economic bubble of 1720. Though born in Rotterdam, he was considered Scottish because his father and brothers were members of the Scottish Church in Rotterdam. Henry the elder settled near Boston and became a Freemason and merchant. When his son Henry the younger was 13, he sent him to London ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Secret Service
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence in support of the UK's national security. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary. Formed in 1909 as the foreign section of the Secret Service Bureau, the section grew greatly during the First World War officially adopting its current name around 1920. The name "MI6" (meaning Military Intelligence, Section 6) originated as a convenient label during the Second World War, when SIS was known by many names. It is still commonly used today. The existence of SIS was not officially acknowledged until 1994. That year the Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA) was introduced to Parliament, to place the organisation on a statutory footing f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland
William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, PC (Ire), FRS (3 April 174528 May 1814) was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1793. Early life A member of the influential Eden family, Auckland was a younger son of Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, of Windlestone Hall, County Durham, and Mary, daughter of William Davison. His brothers included Sir John Eden, 4th Baronet, also an MP; Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland, the last royal Governor of Maryland; and Morton Eden, 1st Baron Henley, diplomat. He was educated at Durham School, Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the bar, Middle Temple, in 1768. Career In 1771 Auckland published ''Principles of Penal Law'', and soon became a recognized authority on commercial and economic questions. In 1772 he took up an appointment as Under-Secretary of State for the North, a post he held until 1778. He was Member of Parliament for Woodstock from 1774 to 1784 and served as a Lord of Trade f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hope & Co
Hope & Co. was a Dutch bank that existed for two and a half centuries. The bank was located in Amsterdam until 1795; originally it concentrated on Great Britain. From 1750 it played a major part in the finances of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) through Thomas Hope and his brother Adrian. During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) the Hope brothers profited from the Netherlands' neutral position and became very wealthy. The Hopes became heavily involved in the Dutch Caribbean, and Danish West Indies. They specialised in plantation loans, in which the entire produce of the plantation was remitted to the lender, who would supervise its sale in order to secure repayment. In this way, the Hopes helped the plantation economy to become integrated into a global network of financiers and consumers. The Hope family were among the richest in Europe at the time. The family business focused on financing commercial transactions and especially on issuing money loans to monarchs and governme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world. The EIC had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three Presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British army at the time. The operations of the company had a profound effect on the global balance of trade, almost single-handedly reversing the trend of eastward drain of Western bullion, seen since Roman times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies", the company rose to account for half of the world's trade duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir James Cockburn, 8th Baronet
Sir James Cockburn, 8th Baronet (1729 – 26 July 1804) was a Member of the Parliament of Great Britain for Linlithgow Burghs from 1772 to 1784 and a Director of the East India Company. Family He was a son of William Cockburn of Berwickshire and his wife and cousin Frances Cockburn. His paternal grandparents were Sir Alexander Cockburn, 6th Baronet and his wife Mary Ancrum. His maternal grandfather was Dr. James Cockburn of Jamaica. Alexander and Dr. James Cockburn were brothers. They were both sons of Sir Archibald Cockburn, 4th Baronet and his wife Marion Sinclair. Marion Sinclair was a daughter of John Sinclair and Isabel Boyd. Her paternal grandfather was Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet (d. 1649) and his wife Marion McCath. Career Cockburn joined the London firm of Henry Douglas, a wealthy merchant and his future father in law. He was a commissary to the Army in Germany during the Seven Years' War and appointed Commissary General in 1762, after which he returned to London a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Colebrooke
Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Baronet (14 June 1729 – 5 August 1809), of Gatton in Surrey, was an English merchant banker, Member of Parliament for Arundel from 1754-1774 and chairman of the East India Company from 1767-1772. He was conspicuous by his wealth and ostentation, and the ambitious and speculative nature of his financial activities. Colebrooke was known as a stockjobber and a Nabob with close ties to Robert Clive and Alexander Fordyce. Colebrooke bankrupted himself through unwise speculations in the crisis of 1772. Early life Colebrooke was born in 1729 at Chilham, Kent, the third son of James Colebrooke, a London banker, and was educated at Leiden University around 1745, likewise John Wilkes and Charles Townshend. He acquired Arnos Grove house in 1752 on the death of his father.Mason, Tom. (1947) ''The Story of Southgate''. Enfield: Meyers Brooks. p. 61. His older brothers were Robert Colebrooke and James Colebrooke. Robert was Member for Maldon, Essex from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Wyndham (of Hammersmith)
Thomas Wyndham (c.1693–1777), of Tale, Devon, was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1732 to 1741. Biography Wyndham was the only son of Edmund Wyndham of Tale and his wife Penelope Dodington, daughter of John Dodington of Dodington, Somerset. He succeeded his father in 1723. Wyndham was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for Poole on the government interest at a by-election on 26 April 1732. He was probably put forward through the influence of his cousin, George Bubb Dodington, who was a Lord of the Treasury. He was returned unopposed again for Poole at the 1734 British general election. He voted for the Administration in all recorded divisions until 1740, when Dodington went into opposition. He did not stand in 1741. Dodington owned the villa of La Trappe in Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It is bordered by Shepherd's Bush to the north, Kensington to the east, Chiswick to the west, and Fulham to the south, with which it forms part of the north bank of the River Thames. The area is one of west London's main commercial and employment centres, and has for some decades been a major centre of London's Polish community. It is a major transport hub for west London, with two London Underground stations and a bus station at Hammersmith Broadway. Toponymy Hammersmith may mean "(Place with) a hammer smithy or forge", although, in 1839, Thomas Faulkner proposed that the name derived from two 'Saxon' words: the initial ''Ham'' from ham and the remainder from hythe, alluding to Hammersmith's riverside location. In 1922, Gover pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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