William Stephens (Georgia)
Encyclopedia
William Stephens was the governor of the Province of Georgia
between the years 1743-1751.
William Stephens was born on the Isle of Wight
, England
, where his father was lieutenant governor. He was educated at the Winchester School, and at King's College, Cambridge
. He then studied law at the Middle Temple
, but did not pass the bar. He married in 1696, and the following year was elected to Parliament representing Newport
. Sometime after 1712 he went to the Province of Carolina
.
In 1737, he was appointed secretary to the Board of Trustees of the Province of Georgia. Having known the spread the plague in Georgia and of writing a report about it, he was appointed governor of the colony. In the next decade, Georgia was threatened by poverty.
The aging Stephens eventually turned Georgia affairs over to Henry Parker in 1750, although he continued to hold the post of president until 1751. He apparently died in 1753, although the details of death recorded by his son (including the date and descriptions of Stephens' condition) are, according to his biographer Julie Anne Sweet, somewhat fanciful.
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
between the years 1743-1751.
William Stephens was born on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where his father was lieutenant governor. He was educated at the Winchester School, and at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
. He then studied law at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, but did not pass the bar. He married in 1696, and the following year was elected to Parliament representing Newport
Newport (Isle of Wight) (UK Parliament constituency)
Newport was a parliamentary borough located in Newport , which was abolished in for the 1885 general election. It was occasionally referred to by the alternative name of Medina....
. Sometime after 1712 he went to the Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
.
In 1737, he was appointed secretary to the Board of Trustees of the Province of Georgia. Having known the spread the plague in Georgia and of writing a report about it, he was appointed governor of the colony. In the next decade, Georgia was threatened by poverty.
The aging Stephens eventually turned Georgia affairs over to Henry Parker in 1750, although he continued to hold the post of president until 1751. He apparently died in 1753, although the details of death recorded by his son (including the date and descriptions of Stephens' condition) are, according to his biographer Julie Anne Sweet, somewhat fanciful.