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William Browne (sometimes reported as Brown; February 27, 1737 – February 13, 1802) was a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature (the highest court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay) from 1774 to 1775, and Governor of Bermuda from 1782 to 1788.

Early life

Born in Salem, Massachusetts on February 27, 1737, son of Samuel Browne Jr. and Catherine Winthrop. He was the part of the prominent Browne family of Salem, and through his mother's side, he was descended from four colonial governors, including John Winthrop. Browne attended Harvard College and was classmate and friend of John Adams. He graduated in 1755 and was valedictorian of his class.

Browne married Ruth Wanton, daughter of Rhode Island Governor Joseph Wanton. In 1762 he was appointed as collector of the port of Salem, a position he held until 1766 when he was dismissed for sympathizing with colonist on the Sugar Act. William Browne was also a colonel of the Essex County militia.

Massachusetts judge

William Browne was appointed a judge in Essex County from 1770, and later appointed to the Massachusetts high court in 1774, following the death of Nathaniel Ropes. He was appointed by Governor Thomas Hutchinson, though his appointment was approved during the tenure of Governor Thomas Gage.

American Revolution

Browne was forced out of office during the American Revolution, in part for refusing to reject the heightened salary granted to judges by the Crown. He was also appointed a mandamus councilor to Governor Gage, a post he refused to resign, earning him widespread dislike in Massachusetts. This refusal led to the resignation of all of the officers of the Essex County militia regiment he led. In 1774, he and his family fled to Boston.

Seizure of property

Browne left Massachusetts for England in 1776, and his extensive family properties in Salem were later seized by the state in 1781. This included: his mansion in downtown Salem, along with his farmhouse on the Marblehead and Salem border, that would eventually become known as the General Glover House in present day Swampscott, and the remnants of Browne Hall that he inherited in what is now present day Danvers. This site would later be mentioned by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his writing Browne's Folly. Of all his properties, only his farmhouse is still standing.

Governor of Bermuda

William Browne was appointed Governor of Bermuda by the prime minister, Lord North, in 1781. Arriving in Bermuda in 1782, he immediately took steps to improve the island's defenses and raising militia companies heavily populated with exiled Loyalists. Following American independence, he sought to establish trade with the United States and make Bermuda a free port. Browne eventually received some financial compensation from the British government for his family's losses.

Later life and death

William Browne would retire as governor at the age of 51, and move to Westminster, England. He would leave Bermuda in better shape than he found it, having established commerce with the new United States that would ensure the islands economic sustainability. Browne is noted as saying that “Bermuda is divided on domestic business, but it is united in its loyalty to His Majesty”.

William Browne died in England on February 13, 1802. John Adams remembered his friend and former classmate as "a solid, judicious character...They made him a judge of the superior court and that society made of him a refugee. A Tory I verily believe he never was."

References

1. travis.smith-simons (2016-03-03). "Previous Governors of Bermuda". www.gov.bm.
2. "Founders Online: Tuesday March 28 [i.e. 29?]. 1774". founders.archives.gov.
3. Garceau, Zachary (18 August 2020). "The Wantons of Rhode Island, Part Two". Vita Brevis.
4. ^ Boucher, Ronald L. (1973). "The Colonial Militia As a Social Institution: Salem, Massachusetts 1764-1775". Military Affairs. 37 (4): 125–130. doi:10.2307/1983774. ISSN 0026-3931. JSTOR 1983774.
5. ^ Washburn, Emory (1840). Sketches of Massachusetts Judicial History. Boston: Little, Brown. pp. 312–314. OCLC 12348114.
6. ^ "Salem Houses" (PDF). stanford.edu.
7. "The Salem Houses of William "Old Billy" Gray" (PDF).
8. ^ "Browne's Folly, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1860". www.ibiblio.org.
9. ^ "UELAC.org - Loyalist Trails newsletter Online edition 2008 Archive". www.uelac.org. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
10. ^ Corcoran. "Loyalist Trails 2008-38". UELAC.
11. "The American Quarterly Register". 1843.
12. Adams, John. The Works of John Adams Vol. 10. Jazzybee Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8496-9308-4.

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