John Nanfan (1634–1716) was a

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the ...

from 1698 to 1702. He served as acting governor for about a year between the death of the Earl of Bellomont and the arrival of Bellomont's successor,

Lord Cornbury Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (28 November 1661 – 31 March 1723), styled Viscount Cornbury between 1674 and 1709, was an English aristocrat and politician. Better known by his noble title Lord Cornbury, he was propelled into the forefr ...

. During the Glorious Revolution in 1688 he served as a captain in William of Orange's invasion army with Bellomont, who was his uncle by marriage. Nanfan was born in

Birtsmorton, Worcestershire Birtsmorton is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills of Worcestershire, England, which at the 2021 census had a population of 257. It is in the south-west of the county, not far from the borders with Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. ...

, joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, rising to rank of captain. While Nanfan was acting as governor of New York in 1701, he made a peace treaty with the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

. According to the text, the Five Nations formally deeded what they considered to be their western lands, extending from present-day western

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

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, to King William of England. The Five Nations had conquered much of this area in the 1670s with firearms during the later

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...

, although in fact by 1701, had already lost effective control of most of it again to Algonquian tribes assisted by the French, who then had the strongest actual military presence in the region. Despite this Iroquois sale of all the lands they had recently lost, the English made no practical attempt to settle them, although the treaty was later used in conflicts with the French to assert British sovereignty in them. Nanfan married a woman from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

. Upon the arrival of Lord Cornbury in 1702, Nanfan's political enemies had him arrested for alleged malfeasance in office. He was ordered released by the king after a year and a half in prison, after which he managed to again evade arrest and make his way to England by 1705 and died in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

in 1716.

References

''Manual of the corporation of the city of New York''
*Webb
''Lord Churchill's Coup''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanfan, John Governors of the Province of New York 1634 births 1716 deaths