Thomas de Malleville (1739 – 21 October 1798) was a Creole-Danish military officer and colonial administrator in the Danish West Indies. He was present at

Johann Friedrich Struensee Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. ...

's arrest in January 1772. He served as Governor of St. Thomas and St. John from 1773 to 1795 and then as Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1796 until his death in 1798. He was the first and only governor of the islands of Creole descent.

Early life

Malleville was born out of wedlock on St. Thomas to planter Jean de Malleville. His father was of Creole descent. His younger half-sister Elisabeth Sophie Charlotte de Malleville (17401768) married Hans Gustav Lillienskiold (17271786), owner of

Lilliendal Lilliendal is a manor house and estate located at Vordingborg in southeastern Denmark. The estate covers approximately 800 hectares of mostly farmland. Lilliendal was established by Hans Gustav Lillienskiold (1727–1796) in the 1760s and later ...

, Skuderupgaard and Høvdinghus.

Career

Malleville became a lieutenant in the Royal Danish Army in 1747. He joined the Holsteen Regiment on 29 April 1760, but on 24 September was transferred to the Falster Regiment with the rank of captain. In 1772, he was promoted to major. He was present the same year at the arrest of

. On 6 September 1773, he was appointed as Governor of St. Thomas and St. John. He left Copenhagen on board a ship in early November and arrived to St. Thomas on 22 December. On 25 July 1796, he was promoted to colonel. In 1796, he was appointed as Governor-General of the Danish West Indies with titular title of general. He died two years later.

Personal life

Malleville married on 27 March 1763 to Johanne Marie Meyer (31 March 1750 – 20 November 1819), daughter of a naval captain. The couple had a son, Emmanuel, in 1764, who died at the age of five in 1769. The marriage was dissolved in 1780. Rumour had it, according to

Charlotte Dorothea Biehl Charlotta Dorothea Biehl (June 2, 1731 – May 17, 1788) was a Danish author, playwright and translator. Biography Charlotta Dorothea Biehl was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her parents were Christian Æmilius Biehl and Sophie Hedevig Brøer ...

, that his wife had an affair with Frederik Carl Warnstedt. She was later married to Werner von der Schulenburg. She belonged to Queen Caroline Mathilda's inner circle. Malleville was the first governor of the Danish West Indies who belonged to its Moravian congregation. He was also the first and only governor of the islands of Creole descent. He was a Freemason. He died on St. Thomas on 21 October 1798. He is buried at Friedensthals Cemetery.

References

External links

Thomas de Malleville
at geni,com {{Authority control Governors of the Danish West Indies Danish generals People from the Danish West Indies Danish people of Creole descent 1739 births 1798 deaths People from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 1770s in the Danish West Indies 1780s in the Danish West Indies 1790s in the Danish West Indies