Walter Neale () was an English military officer and an explorer and colonial administrator in the territory of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

that later became

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. Born into a family that had served

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

, Neale served in military campaigns in Europe from 1618 until about 1625. In 1629 he was hired by Sir

Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the m ...

and Captain John Mason. Gorges and Mason, who between them claimed most of the territory north of the mouth of the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

, formed the Laconia Company to explore the interior, and they hired Neale to do this exploration, as well as to administer Mason's "lower" plantations on the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...

(on the coastline of present-day

). In 1630 Neale arrived at Piscataqua. His administration of the lower plantations was marred by boundary disagreements with

Thomas Wiggin Captain Thomas Wiggin (1601–1666), often known as Governor Thomas Wiggin, was the first governor of the Upper Plantation of New Hampshire, a settlement that later became part of the Province of New Hampshire in 1679. He was the founder of Strath ...

, who administered the upper plantations on the river. He led exploratory expeditions as far as the White Mountains in the interior of New Hampshire, but never located the "Lake of the Iroquois" that his employers believed to exist. He returned to England in 1633; the Laconia Company venture failed. In 1634 King Charles I gave him command of the artillery park in London, and he was soon after appointed muster master of the city militia. He sought but did not obtain a military post in the Colony of Virginia. His last known posting is as lieutenant governor of Plymouth in 1639.

References

Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown Colonial governors of New Hampshire English explorers of North America Explorers of the United States English emigrants {{NewHampshire-politician-stub