Elias Durnford (13 June 1739 – 21 June 1794) was a

British army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

who is best known for surveying the town of

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

and laying out a city plan based on two public places (now the Plaza Ferdinand VII and the Seville Square).Encyclopedia of Alabama
Robin Fabel Auburn University. Published 9 March 2007. Between 1769 and 1778 he was Lieutenant Governor of

British West Florida British West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783, when it was ceded to Kingdom of Spain, Spain as part of the Peace of Paris (1783), Peace of Paris. British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S ...

and by 1794 Colonel Durnford was Chief Royal Engineer of the West Indies.

Early life

Elias Durnford was born in Ringwood,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 13 June 1739.

Military Service

Durnford served as an

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the British army

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, having signed up on 17 March 1759. In the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

he participated in the

Capture of Belle Île The Capture of Belle Île was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British amphibious expedition to capture the Kingdom of France, French island of Belle Île off the Brittany coast in 1761, during the Seven Years' War. After an initial British attack was ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 1761 and was also at the

Battle of Havana (1762) The siege of Havana was the successful capture of the Spanish-held city of Havana, Cuba in 1762 as part of the war between the two nations which formed part of the larger Seven Years' War. After the Spanish abandoned their former policy of neu ...

. After the Cuban action Lord Albemarle made him an Aide-de-camp. Durnford became an accomplished artist while on the Cuban campaign and engravings made from his sketches are highly valued. After the Seven Years' War Durnford was posted to the newly established British colony of

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

, where he was appointed chief engineer and surveyor general. To supplement his small salary he was paid for land surveying and as the colony was being divided into land grants he profited greatly from this arrangement. Durnford laid out the city plan for

after arriving there in 1764. His plan for the city was classic in nature, centered on two squares, one for government and one for military drill and public affairs. Streets were all surveyed at right angles named after royal family members and government representatives. He included in the housing plan gardening plots on the north side of the city along Garden Street, Durnford's own estate was , including his plantation, named ''Belle Fontaine'', which was located atop the eastern cliffs above

Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. T ...

. The location was also home to a military convalescent hospital, named Crofton. He designed a new port for the area, but the plan was never put into action. His design for a road to link Mobile to the colony's capital, Pensacola was more successful and was partly completed. When the Governor of West Florida, John Eliot, hanged himself in 1769, Durnford was named Lieutenant Governor of the colony. After getting married in England, Durnford returned to West Florida and was appointed Acting Governor until the new governor, Peter Chester, arrived on 10 August 1770. Durnford remained as Lieutenant Governor and was a member of the West Florida Council until 1778. Durnford's duties changed with the outbreak of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Spanish forces, allied with France and the American colonial rebels, moved to capture British West Florida. January 1780 found Durnford in command of Fort Charlotte in Mobile, an old French fort in disrepair that had been formerly known as Fort Conde. His force of 287 regulars and irregulars was opposed by a Spanish force of 2,000 troops, that arrived in Mobile Bay on 10 February 1780. Given that Durnford was greatly outnumbered the Spanish demanded the surrender of the British force, but Durnford refused, hoping for a relief force from Pensacola. The opposing commanders carried on protracted and polite negotiations over wine and cigars, while the Spanish prepared to take the old fort. Relief was not forthcoming and on 10 March 1780 Durnford surrendered, his estate having been burnt. As part of the surrender to the Spanish commander

Bernardo de Gálvez Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was a Spanish military leader and government official who served as colonial governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba, and later as Viceroy of New S ...

, Durnford received an agreement that his garrison would be accorded the honours of war and that the Spanish would not punish the people of the town for the defence. De Gálvez agreed but insisted that the armed colonists would be treated as prisoners of war. This was agreed and Spanish troops entered Fort Charlotte in August 1780. De Gálvez later captured Pensacola and the rest of West Florida in 1781. Durnford and his family returned to Britain and he carried on his military career in the 1790s, campaigning against the French forces in

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

and

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Family

Elias Durnford and Rebecca Walker Durnford

While in England on 25 August 1769 Durnford married Rebecca Walker. Durnford and his wife had a total of nine children, five sons and four daughters. He was the father of soldier-engineer Major General Elias Walker Durnford.

Death

Elias Durnford died from yellow fever on 21 June 1794 while on the island of

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

References

External links

Elements of Urbanism: Pensacola

Image of Elías Durnford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durnford, Elias 1739 births 1794 deaths Military personnel from Hampshire American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by the United States Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War British prisoners of war in the American Revolutionary War Governors of West Florida Governors of British North America People from Ringwood, Hampshire Deaths from yellow fever