Hutchinson, Thomas, 1711–80, colonial governor of Massachusetts (1771–74) and historian, b. Boston. A descendant of Anne Hutchinson, he was a man of wealth and prominence, of learning, and of notable integrity. He entered public life when he became (1737) a member of the General Court, the Massachusetts legislature. When the cost of the Louisburg campaign was repaid to Massachusetts, he proposed (1748) that the money be used to redeem the colony's depreciated currency. The plan, which was ultimately successful in stimulating trade, caused Hutchinson to lose the election in 1749 and aligned him with the conservatives. He was a member of the governor's council (1749–66), a delegate to the Albany Congress Albany Congress, 1754, meeting at Albany, N.Y., of commissioners representing seven British colonies in North America to treat with the Iroquois, chiefly because war with France impended.
..... Click the link for more information. (1754), chief justice (1760–61), and lieutenant governor (1758–71). When he was appointed royal governor in 1771, Hutchinson was perhaps the most powerful man in the colony, but he had bitter political enemies among the radicals, notably Samuel Adams. Though he considered the Stamp Act and other government measures unwise, he had favored strict enforcement, and his unpopularity caused a mob to sack and burn his mansion in 1765. His unpopularity increased after he became governor, and he favored strenuous measures against the growing discontent. These views were exposed when letters he had written to English friends were made public. In 1773 he refused to let the tea-laden ships clear Boston Harbor and thus brought on the Boston Tea Party Boston Tea Party, 1773. In the contest between British Parliament and the American colonists before the Revolution, Parliament, when repealing the Townshend Acts , had retained the tea tax, partly as a symbol of its right to tax the colonies, partly to aid the
..... Click the link for more information. . As tension grew worse he was replaced as governor by Gen. Thomas Gage and moved to England. He was the author of an accurate, scholarly, and useful book, The History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay (3 vol., 1764–1828; modern ed. by L. S. Mayo, 1936).

Bibliography

See his diary and letters (ed. by P. O. Hutchinson, 1883–86, repr. 1971); study by B. Bailyn (1974).

Hutchinson, Thomas

(born Sept. 9, 1711, Boston, Mass.—died June 3, 1780, London, Eng.) American colonial administrator. The son of a wealthy Boston merchant, he pursued business ventures before serving in local and provincial legislatures (1737–49) and as a delegate to the Albany Congress. He served as lieutenant governor (1758–71) and as chief justice of the state Superior Court (1760–69). As governor (1771–74), he strictly enforced British rule. After he was accused of initiating the hated Stamp Act, a mob attacked his home, and he barely escaped with his life. His insistence that a shipment of tea be landed in Boston led to the Boston Tea Party. He was replaced as governor by Gen. Thomas Gage.

Hutchinson, Thomas (1711–80) colonial governor; born in Boston, Mass. (great-great grandson of Anne Hutchinson). As chief justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, he upheld the legality of the Stamp Act (1765). He was governor of Massachusetts during the eventful period preceding the American Revolution (1771–74) and then he moved to England where he wrote a valuable history of the Massachusetts Bay colony.