Edward D'Oyley (1617 – 1675) was an English soldier who served as

Governor of Jamaica This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica. For context, see History of Jamai ...

on two occasions. D'Oyley was a Parliamentarian who served in the

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

in Wiltshire and in Ireland. In 1654 he sailed to the West Indies as a lieutenant-colonel in General

Robert Venables Robert Venables (ca. 1613–1687), was an English soldier from Cheshire, who fought for Parliament in the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and captured Jamaica in 1655. When the Anglo-Spanish War began in 1654, he was made joint comm ...

' regiment. Venables had been ordered to the West Indies to advance the Parliamentarian cause and to repel Spanish advances. Once there, Venables raised a local regiment and appointed D'Oyley as its colonel. After the death in 1655 of Major-General Richard Fortescue, D'Oyley was elected commander-in-chief of all the Jamaican forces. Although temporarily displaced by the

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

protegés

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and William Brayne, command of the forces ultimately devolved completely upon D'Oyley in September 1657. As military commander, he beat off Spanish attempts to take control of the Caribbean in 1657 and 1658. At the

Restoration of the monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

in 1660, Charles II confirmed him in his position as the first Governor of the Colony of Jamaica, a position he held until 1662, when he was replaced by the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth, PC (c. 1627 – 3 November 1687), was the son of Dixie Hickman and his wife Elizabeth Windsor, sister and heiress of Thomas Windsor, 6th Baron Windsor. He assumed the additional surname of Windsor an ...

. Much of D'Oyley's time was taken up fighting the

Maroons Maroons are descendants of African diaspora in the Americas, Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples, eventually ethnogenesi ...

in the mountainous forests of the interior; they were runaway slaves who secured their freedom from their Spanish masters when the English took the island. In about 1660, he persuaded the leader of one of the Maroon bands, Juan de Bolas, to switch sides and join the English. However, D'Oyley was unable to persuade Juan de Serras, leader of the Karmahaly Maroons, to follow suit, and this group continued to fight against the English.Campbell, ''The Maroons of Jamaica'', pp. 25-27. In 1662, D'Oyley returned to England, where he established himself in St Martin-in-the-Fields, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

, London. He died in London in March 1675.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyley, Edward 1617 births 1675 deaths English army officers Governors of Jamaica