Margaret Wake Tryon (c.1732 – 1819) was an English heiress and the wife of

William Tryon Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...

, who served as the Colonial Governor of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and the Colonial Governor of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The namesake of

Wake County Wake County, officially the County of Wake, is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake Count ...

, she is one of three

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

, along with

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her ...

and

Virginia Dare Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587; date of death unknown) was the first English people, English child born in an Americas, American English overseas possessions, English colony. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery ...

, to have a North Carolinian county named after her. She was known for her interest in military strategy, which was controversial for upper-class women of her time.

Biography

Margaret Wake was born in London to a

genteel Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

family. Her father,

William Wake William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a minister in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 to his death. Life Wake was born in Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, o ...

, served as the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

from 1742 to 1750. Her mother, Elizabeth Elwin Wake of Thurning Hall, was from a prominent

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

family. She lived with her family at a house in

Hanover Square, Westminster Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover S ...

prior to her marriage. On 26 December 1757 she married

of Norbury Park, a captain in the

1st Regiment of Foot Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and a grandson of

Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers PC (20 October 1650 – 25 December 1717)—known as Sir Robert Shirley, 7th Baronet, from 1669 to 1677 and Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, from 1677 to 1711—was an English peer and courtier. ...

, at St. George's Church. An heiress, she married with a dowry of £30,000. She lived with Tryon in a house on

Upper Grosvenor Street Upper Grosvenor Street is a one-way Georgian architecture, Georgian street in Mayfair, London, United Kingdom. It runs from the north side of the Grosvenor House Hotel (fronting Park Lane) to the south side of the London Chancery Building (f ...

. They had two children; a daughter, Margaret, and a son who died in infancy. A year after their wedding her husband was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In 1764 Wake moved with her husband to the

Province of North Carolina The Province of North Carolina, originally known as the Albemarle Settlements, was a proprietary colony and later royal colony of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776.(p. 80) It was one of the five Southern col ...

, where he served as Lieutenant Governor. They lived at Russelborough House on the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a blackwater river in east-central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River in the town of ...

near Wilmington. During this time they went on a tour of the colony and were received as guests of honor at a ball for the

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

New Bern New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...

. In 1765 her husband was appointed

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Seventy-five people have held the office since the first state governor, Richard Caswell, took office in 1777. The governor serves a ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. In 1770 they moved into

Tryon Palace Tryon Palace, also called the Governor's House and the Governor's Palace, is a two-story building located in the eastern part of New Bern, North Carolina. The building is a faithful reconstruction of the original 1770 residence built by archite ...

in New Bern, which they had built as the official residence for the Governor of North Carolina. They left New Bern in 1771, when her husband was appointed the

Colonial Governor of New York The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India C ...

. In 1770 colonial planter and general assemblyman Joel Lane named

in honor of Margaret Wake. Wake was described as an "accomplished" and "learned" woman who had a talent for playing the organ and

spinet A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. Harpsichords When the term ''spinet'' is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the ''bentside spinet'', described in this ...

. She was known to avoid women's company and preferred to engage in men's conversation, particularly on the topics of government and military fortifications, which was considered unconventional at the time. She was also interested in military strategy and religion, and kept a large library at Tryon Palace. Wake reportedly insisted on being addressed as ''

Your Excellency Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the right ...

'', her husband's form of address. Her daughter Margaret (born c. 1761) perished after jumping from a window to elope sometime around 1790. She returned to England with her family during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. When her husband died in 1788, he left the bulk of his estate to her and her heirs. Wake died on 16 February 1819 in Yarmouth. In her last will and testament, she bequeathed fifty pounds to Penelope Pennington, and left her property on Sloan Street in Chelsea to Penelope and William Pennington, which at that time was being rented by Lady Skipwith.

In popular culture

Wake appears in the 2017 romance novel The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband written by Julia Quinn. Wake is portrayed by Melanie Gray in the fourth season of the British television series '' Outlander''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wake Tyron, Margaret 1730s births 1819 deaths 18th-century English women 18th-century English people 19th-century English women 19th-century English people British emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies 18th-century American women First ladies and gentlemen of New York (state) First ladies and gentlemen of North Carolina Socialites from London People from colonial North Carolina People from colonial New York Spouses of British politicians Tryon family