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
Cape Fear is a coastal plain and Tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington. The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties ...
to settlement. From the outset of his administration, he encountered opposition to his authority.
Biography
Burrington was born in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
shire,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
The register of Sampford Courtenay, recorded the baptism of a George Burrington on 14 November 1685.
His parents were listed as John and Mary Burrington.
John Burrington was the son of Gilbert Burrington.
Notwithstanding his rough exterior, George Burrington seems to have been a man of education; and the sale of his books shows that he was not unprovided with literature at a time when libraries were few and scattered.
His
last will and testament
A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...
is dated 8 December 1750. He was killed during an apparent robbery attempt in
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
's
St James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...
, 22 February 1759,
and buried at
St. John the Evangelist two days later.
Works
* ''An Answer to Dr. William Brakenridge's Letter Concerning the Number of Inhabitants, within the London Bills of Mortality. Wherein the Doctor's Letter is inserted at large, his Arguments proved inclusive, and the Number of Inhabitants increasing'' (1757)
* ''Seasonable Considerations on the Expediency of a War with France; Arising from a faithful Review of the State of both Kingdoms. To which are Added a Postscript, on the List of the French Army, a Short Comparison Between the British and French Dominions; and a State of the French Revenues, and Forces in the Year, 1701'' (1743)
See also
*
List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom
This is an incomplete list of unsolved known and presumed murders in the United Kingdom. It does not include any of the 3,000 or so murders that took place in Northern Ireland due to the Troubles and remain unsolved. Victims believed or known t ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
1682 births
1759 deaths
18th-century English writers
Burials in South East England
Governors of North-Carolina (1712–1776)
People from Devon
People murdered in Westminster
Unsolved murders in England
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