Sir Richard Everard (24 June 1683–17 February 1733) was a British soldier and

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

official who served as the fourth governor of North Carolina from 1725 to 1731.

Early life and career

Everard was born on 24 June 1683 at Langleys, Much Waltham (now called

Great Waltham Great Waltham — also known as Church End — is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford (borough), Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex. The parish contains the village of Ford End, and the hamlets of Broad's Green, Howe Street, L ...

) in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, the eldest son of Sir Hugh Everard and his wife, Mary Browne. He became a captain in the British Army, and may have taken part in the capture of Gibraltar in 1704. He served in the garrison there for eighteen months before returning to Britain. In January 1706, following the death of his father, he succeeded to the Everard baronetcy at which point he resigned his commission. On 13 June 1706, he married Susannah Kidder, the daughter and co-heiress of Richard Kidder,

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

. In 1710, in order to clear debts, he sold the family estate at Langleys to

Samuel Tufnell Samuel Tufnell (15 September 1682 – 1758), of Langleys, Essex, was a British lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1715 and 1747. Early life Tufnell was the son of John Tufnell, brewer, of St Mary's Undershaft, Lond ...

. He then bought a more modest house at Broomfield Green.

Governor of North Carolina

The previous governor,

George Burrington George Burrington ( ca. 1682 – 22 February 1759) was a British colonial official who served as the third and fifth governor of North Carolina from 1724 to 1725 and 1731 to 1734. He is noted for opening the lower Cape Fear region to settlement ...

, had been removed from office in 1725 by the

Lords Proprietors A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". Origin In the beginning of the European ...

, following many complaints by colonists about his behavior (Burrington was known principally for physically threatening other

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

officials). Everard petitioned for the position, 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 Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

of the

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, but refused to explain his reasons. The assembly then declared their

prorogation Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the peri ...

was illegal and an infringement upon liberty, notifying the Lords Proprietors. They deplored the loss of ex-governor Burrington and expressed concern at the prospect "of so vile an administration". Everard then involved himself in disputes over the character of Rev. Thomas Bailey, who had defended Burrington. 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." Burrington again sought out Everard at his home on 2 December 1725, but was refused admittance. "Come out," demanded 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 Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...

, and I'll take care of you, numbskull head." (This episode led to procedures at law in which several depositions were taken.) The Assembly, meeting again in April, 1726, issued a catalogue of grievances, and was promptly prorogued once more by Everard. 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. Everard's sole accomplishment in office was the settlement of North Carolina's border with

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 ...

, which had long been disputed. Everard's rule was even more unpopular than Burrington's had been, and his "pack of rude children who gave offence daily" were a particular sore spot. The Provincial Council complained that Everard had set up a sort of

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

in which the servants of the gentry were questioned under oath about whether their masters had made private disrespectful remarks about the Governor. The Lords Proprietors sold the province to the Crown in 1729, and the Crown appointed Burrington as governor. Everard stayed in office for two more years, until Burrington had qualified. He then retired to London in 1731. Everard died two years later and was buried at Much Waltham,

Personal life

Sir Richard and Susannah Everard had four children: * Sir Richard Everard (d. 7 March 1742), succeeded his father to the baronetcy, but died unmarried. * Sir Hugh Everard (d. 1745), succeeded his elder brother, but also died without issue at which point the baronetcy became extinct. * Anne Everard, married George Lathbury, about whom nothing more is known. * Susannah Everard, married David Meade of Nansemond County, Virginia. One of her children was Richard Kidder Meade, aide-de-camp to

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everard, Richard 1683 births 1733 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Burials in Essex Governors of North-Carolina (1712–1776)