Wentworth, John

Harvard College

Harvard College: BA, 1755; MA, 1758

Anglo-American

Royal Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, 1767-1775; Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, 1792-1808.

Married his cousin Francis Deering (Fannie) in November of 1769. The couple had one son.

Sir John Wentworth was the last of the Royal Governors of the Province of New Hampshire. He served as governor from 1767-1775, succeeding his uncle Benning Wentworth. He also shares a name with his grandfather, John Wentworth (1671-1730), who served as Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of New Hampshire from 1717-1730. During his tenure, Wentworth worked to develop the interior of New Hampshire through the creation of the five original counties, the granting of tracts of land and the building of roads between the seacoast and the Connecticut River. He also secured the land and signed the charter for Dartmouth College in 1769. Wentworth remained loyal to the crown throughout his time in office. The increasing tensions created by his loyalist sentiments in the years leading up to the American Revolution eventually ended his reign as governor in 1775. Wentworth was later appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.

Fingard, Judith. University of Toronto/Université Laval, "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online." Last modified 2000. Accessed February 13, 2013. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=36832. MacLeod, Christopher. "The Wentworth Governors: A New Hampshire Dynasty". Presentation, for the New Hampshire Historical Society, 2005.