Francis Lovelace (c. 1621–1675) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Royalist and the second
Governor of New York colony.
Early life
Lovelace was born circa 1621. He was the third son of Sir William Lovelace (1584–1627) and his wife Anne Barne of Lovelace Place,
Bethersden and
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. 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 House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
Career
The five Lovelace brothers supported
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
in the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. Francis was a Colonel in the Royalist army and was governor of
Carmarthen Castle
Carmarthen Castle ( Welsh: ''Castell Caerfyrddin'') is a ruined castle in Carmarthen, West Wales, UK. First built by Walter, Sheriff of Gloucester in the early 1100s, the castle was captured and destroyed on several occasions before being reb ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
from June 1644 until it was surrendered to
Parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
troops in October 1645 after a fierce battle in which his brother, William, was killed. He and another brother, Dudley, migrated to Europe and served with the French army later in the 1640s. The brothers later supported
Charles II, and spent time in exile like him, in his fight to be restored to the throne.
Lovelace lived in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
where his sister, Anne Gorsuch, had migrated after marriage, from 1650 until after the colony was seized by the English Parliamentary commissioners in 1652 when the governor,
Sir William Berkeley, dispatched him to France to inform Charles II. He returned to England in 1658, the year of
Oliver Cromwell
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 ...
's death. In 1659, he was arrested and confined in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
until after the fall of the Parliamentary government and the restoration of Charles II in 1660.
Charles gave his brother, the Duke of York (later to become King
James II), rights to the colony of
Nieuw Amsterdam when
Richard Nicolls
Richard Nicolls (sometimes written as Nichols, 1624 – 28 May 1672) was the first English colonial governor of New York province.
Early life
Nicolls was born in 1624 in Ampthill in Bedfordshire, England. He was the son of Francis Nicolls (1 ...
took it from the Dutch in 1667. Many English colonists did not like Nicolls because they thought Oliver Cromwell had been their savior.
Governor of New York
The Duke of York appointed Lovelace the second governor of the
New York Colony
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...
in 1668 after the departure of
Richard Nicolls
Richard Nicolls (sometimes written as Nichols, 1624 – 28 May 1672) was the first English colonial governor of New York province.
Early life
Nicolls was born in 1624 in Ampthill in Bedfordshire, England. He was the son of Francis Nicolls (1 ...
.
While in office he purchased
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
from the local
Native Americans, among whom he sent
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
missionaries, granted 'freedom of conscience' to the English, Dutch and Swedish populations of the colony, organised
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
and
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
companies and expanded
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's defences.
During his time in NY, he ran and operated the King's House tavern (also known as Lovelace Tavern) in lower Manhattan. The tavern was built in 1670 in the
Stadt Huys Block and rediscovered by archeologists in 1979–1980.
Despite his defensive preparations, his administration was terminated by the temporary re-capture of the colony by the Dutch in 1673 when, for a brief period the Dutch Admiral
Cornelis Evertsen the youngest seized New York City, to little opposition, and re-established
Nieuw Amsterdam.
At the time of the invasion, Lovelace was out of the colony, meeting with the Governor of Connecticut,
John Winthrop Jr. in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, in the course of planning the first postal system from New York to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. From 1673 to 1674, Dutch naval Captain
Anthony Colve
Anthony or Anthonij Colve ( fl. 1667-1695) was a Dutch naval captain and the Director-General of New Netherland during a brief restoration of Dutch rule in New Netherland (roughly present-day New York and New Jersey).
Career
Colve was likely inv ...
acted as military governor-general until England recovered the colony under the terms of the
Treaty of Westminster in 1674.
Return to England
Lovelace, whose property in New York had been confiscated by the Dutch, was sent home in disgrace to England.
The Duke of York, blaming Lovelace for the loss of his namesake colony, confiscated his plantation on
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
and his English estates for a £7,000 debt. In January 1675 he was committed to the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, where he was interrogated by commissioners. His answers were deemed unacceptable, but no further proceedings were brought against him. He contracted
dropsy
Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...
and, because of his health, was released in April. He went to live at
Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 3,100.
Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is next to W ...
and died, in
penury
Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includ ...
, by 22 December 1675 when
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
of his estate was granted to his brother Dudley.
The third new Governor of New York after Francis Lovelace was
John Lovelace, 4th Baron Lovelace
John Lovelace, 4th Baron Lovelace (16721709) was the Governor of both New York and New Jersey.
Biography
He was the son of William Lovelace of Hurst, Berkshire. He was the grandson of Francis Lovelace, son of Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovel ...
of
Hurley – no kin to Francis of the Bethersden Lovelaces. Early genealogists confused Francis with an identically named son of
Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace
Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace (1564 – 22 April 1634) of Hurley, Berkshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1622. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Lovelace in 1627.
Lov ...
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.
References
Sources
*
*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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovelace, Francis
1621 births
1675 deaths
People from Kent
People from Livingston, Staten Island
Governors of the Province of New York
Deaths from edema