Wentworth, Sir John

Wentworth, Sir John, 1737–1820, colonial governor of New Hampshire, b. Portsmouth, N.H. On the forced resignation of his uncle, Benning Wentworth, he was commissioned (Aug., 1766) to succeed him both as governor of New Hampshire and as surveyor of the king's woods in North America. Assuming the governorship in June, 1767, Wentworth was at first popular. However, he was thoroughly loyal to the king and prorogued the assembly when it attempted to form (1774) a committee of correspondence. On the outbreak of the American Revolution, he was forced to flee. In 1783 he was reappointed surveyor of what remained of the king's woods in North America, and from 1792 to 1808 he was governor (although he only had the title of lieutenant governor) of Nova Scotia. He was knighted in 1795. While governor of New Hampshire, Wentworth granted (1769) Dartmouth College its charter and was a member of its original board of trustees.

Bibliography

See L. S. Mayo, John Wentworth, Governor of New Hampshire, 1767–1775 (1921); W. C. Abbott, Conflicts with Oblivion (1924, repr. 1969).