General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Patrick George Tonyn (1725 – 30 December 1804) 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 and colonial administrator who served as the governor of East Florida from 1774 to 1784. His governorship lasted the span 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 ...

, with

East Florida East Florida () was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Tre ...

being a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

stronghold during the conflict.

Early life

Patrick George Tonyn was born in

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

in 1725, into a military family. His father, Charles Tonyn, was a Colonel in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. Patrick Tonyn became a captain in the 6th 6th Dragoons in 1751, and served with that regiment in Germany during 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 ...

. In 1759 the regiment fought at

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

and Wetter with great distinction. Tonyn was made lieutenant-colonel of the 104th Regiment of Foot in 1761.

Life in Florida and Revolution

Tonyn is generally described as a capable commander. During his tenure as governor of East Florida the colony enjoyed peace with the neighboring Indians, primarily due to his positive relationship with Ahaya the Cowkeeper, chief of the Alachua band of the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

tribe. Like most favored British officers, Tonyn received a large grant in the new colony—a tract in 1767. This area of land was just south of Black Creek. Nautralist William Bartram, during his 1774 travels, noted that Tonyn's land grew

indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

well. Bartram counted twenty enslaved workers when passing by the plantation. After a 1776 raid from Georgia, Tonyn was forced to give up this land for a plot east of the St. Johns River. Fort Tonyn, which was located in present-day Nassau County, Florida, near the hamlet of Mills's Ferry was named after Tonyn. On 1 March 1774, Tonyn arrived in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

as royal governor of East Florida. Throughout Tonyn's governorship, Loyalists from southern colonies sought refuge in St. Augustine. Another group was added to the population of the city when Andrew Turnbull's colony of New Smyrna to the south collapsed. Tonyn released the group (composed largely of Minorcans) from their indentures, and they too settled in St. Augustine in 1777. 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 ...

, Tonyn raised four black militia units in East Florida. Those who served were promised freedom. However, due to the efforts of slave owners and the passing of stricter slave codes, few of those who fought were granted their freedom. From 1778 – 1785, Governor Tonyn lived in the

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' comes from the S ...

dwelling at 143 St. George Street in St. Augustine, in what is known today as the Peña-Peck House, run by the Woman's Exchange of St. Augustine. Tonyn was instrumental in bringing his brother-in-law planter Francis Levett, an Englishman, to East Florida, having

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of ...

given a seat on the Royal Council. Formerly a merchant in Leghorn, Italy, working for the

Levant Company The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

in Constantinople and scion of a well-connected English merchant family, Levett took up a large grant in Florida, which he later abandoned in favor of Georgia, where he was one of the first growers of Sea Island cotton. Levett's son-in-law Dr. David Yeats served as Secretary of the province of Florida under Governor Tonyn.

London and death

Tonyn was the victim in a fraud and deception trial at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

in May 1796. Henry Weston was indicted for forging Tonyn's signature to transfer of £5,000. The Old Bailey records show that Weston, a young man with gambling debts, was sentenced to death. Patrick Tonyn died in London on 30 December 1804.

References

External links

Julianton Plantation, Francis Levett Sr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonyn, Patrick 1725 births 1804 deaths British Army major generals 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons officers People from Berwick-upon-Tweed Governors of East Florida British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War British slave owners Military personnel from Northumberland

Early life

Life in Florida and Revolution

London and death

See also

References

External links