Thomas Hinckley

Governor of the Plymouth Colony

Thomas Hinckley

14th Governor of Plymouth Colony
In office
1680–1686
Monarch| Charles II
Lieutenant| James Cudworth (1681-82)
William Bradford the Younger (1682-86)
Preceded by| Josiah Winslow
Succeeded by| Joseph Dudley (as President of the Dominion of New England)
In office
1689–1692
Monarchs| James II
William III and Mary II
Lieutenant| William Bradford the Younger
Preceded by| Edmund Andros (as Governor of the Dominion of New England)
Succeeded by| Sir William Phips (as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay)
Personal details
Born| March 19, 1618
Tenterden, Kent, England
Died| April 25, 1706 (age 88)
Barnstable, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Spouse(s)| Mary Richards
Mary Glover
Signature|

Thomas Hinckley (bapt. March 19, 1618 – April 25, 1706) was the last governor of the Plymouth Colony. Born in England, he arrived in New England as a teenager, and was a leading settler of what is now Barnstable, Massachusetts. He served in a variety of political and military offices before becoming governor of the colony in 1680, a post he held (excluding the interregnum of the Dominion of New England, 1686–1689) until the colony was folded into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692. A monument, created in 1829 at the Lothrop Hill cemetery in Barnstable,[1] attests to his "piety, usefulness and agency in the public transactions of his time."

## Life[edit]

Thomas Hinckley was born in Tenterden, Kent, England in 1618. His parents, Samuel and Sarah (Soole) Hinckley, were followers of the Nonconformist minister John Lothropp, in whose church at nearby Hawkhurst Thomas was baptized on March 19, 1618.[2] In 1634 the Hinckleys and Lothropp migrated to New England, although when Thomas came over is uncertain, because he did not travel with his parents.[2] They settled in the Plymouth Colony community of Scituate.[3] In 1637 he was made a freeman of the colony, and in 1639 the Hinckleys followed Lothropp to become early settlers of Barnstable, apparently over doctrinal differences in the Scituate church.

Hinckley's public service began in 1643, when he joined the local militia company. In 1645, he was chosen to represent Barnstable as a deputy in the colonial legislature's lower chamber. In 1658, he was made an assistant, a position with both legislative and judicial duties (the council of assistants served as both the upper legislative chamber and the colony's high court). During this period, a law contemporarily referred to as "Thomas Hinckley's Law" was enacted; it specified punishments for failing to adhere to certain religious practices, and was principally aimed at curbing the activities of Quakers, whom the religiously conservative colonial leadership considered heretics. Hinckley appears to have been comparatively moderate in dealing with the Quakers; while some called for them to be banished, whipped, or even executed (as happened in the neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony), the law imposed fines for acts such as getting married without the services of an approved minister.

In 1675, Hinckley was called to military service in King Philip's War, serving as the colony's commissary general for the expedition that included the Great Swamp Fight in December 1675. He was elected deputy governor in 1680, a new position created due to the ill health of then-governor Josiah Winslow, and the great age of John Alden, then the senior assistant. Upon Winslow's death later that year, Hinckley became governor, a post he would retain until it ceased to exist.

Governors of Plymouth Colony[4]

Dates  | Governor
1620  | John Carver
1621–1632  | William Bradford
1633  | Edward Winslow
1634  | Thomas Prence
1635  | William Bradford
1636  | Edward Winslow
1637  | William Bradford
1638  | Thomas Prence
1639–1643  | William Bradford
1644  | Edward Winslow
1645–1656  | William Bradford
1657–1672  | Thomas Prence
1673–1679  | Josiah Winslow
1680–1692  | Thomas Hinckley

One of the principal concerns of the colonial government at the time was its lack of formal charter. That of neighboring Massachusetts was then under threat by the government of King Charles II of England, and Plymouth, while it had rights to own land, had never been granted formal authority to establish a government. Hinckley took some steps to pursue acquisition of a charter that would legitimize the government, which some of his contemporaries criticized as being weak. These actions were overtaken by the creation of the Dominion of New England in 1686, which brought all of the New England colonies under a single governor. Hinckley was chosen to represent Plymouth in the dominion council; criticized for doing so, Hinckley claimed that this placed him well to counter the heavy-handed rule of the dominion governor, Sir Edmund Andros. The dominion collapsed in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution propelled William and Mary to the English throne, and prompted the 1689 Boston revolt, in which Andros was arrested and returned to England. Plymouth thereafter returned to its old form of governance, with Hinckley again in the governor's seat.

These events served to heighten concern over the lack of colonial charter. It was thought that Plymouth, a relatively poor colony, would be absorbed by one of its larger and more economically successful neighbors, either Massachusetts or New York (which then included Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands). Hinckley apparently worked behind the scenes to ensure the colony would be joined to Massachusetts, which took place with the issuance of a new charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692. Plymouth thereafter ceased to exist as a separate political entity, its three counties joined to Massachusetts. Hinckley was then chosen to serve on the Massachusetts governor's council, a post he would hold until his death in 1706. He was buried in Barnstable's Lothrop Hill Cemetery, where later descendants placed a memorial marker in 1829.

## Family[edit]

Hinckley married twice; first on December 6, 1641 to Mary Richards, and again to Mary Glover (née Smith) of Dorchester, Massachusetts on March 15, 1659. He may have had as many as 17 children, a number of whom died young; different sources disagree on the exact number.

## See also[edit]

* Biography portal

* List of colonial governors of Massachusetts
* Province of Massachusetts Bay

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ "Thomas Hinckley 1706". www.capecodgravestones.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
2. ^ a b Putnam, p. 225
3. ^ Barnstable (Mass.) (1840). The Cape Cod centennial celebration at Barnstable, Sept. 3, 1839, of the incorporation of that town, Sept. 3, 1639: giving a full detail of the preliminary proceedings of the committees and the speeches and toasts at the dinner, correctly reported and rev. S.B. Phinney. p. 19.
4. ^ "Governors of Plymouth Colony". Pilgrim Hall Museum. 1998. Archived from the original on February 15, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.

## Sources[edit]

* Goodwin, James (1888). The Pilgrim Republic: An Historical Review of the Colony of New Plymouth. Boston: Ticknor and Co. OCLC 3570931.
* Noyes, Charles P (1907). Noyes-Gilman Ancestry. New York: Gilliss Press. p. 314. OCLC 13174186.
* Putnam, Eben (July 1921). "Two Early Passenger Lists". New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 75 (3): 217–226.

* v
* t
* e

British Empire

Legend
Current territory
Former territory
* Now a Commonwealth realm
Now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations

Culture:Anglosphere

Europe

* 1542–1800 Ireland (integrated into the UK)
* 1708–1757, 1763–1782 and 1798–1802 Minorca
* Since 1713 Gibraltar
* 1794–1796 Corsica
* 1800–1813 Malta (Protectorate)
* 1813–1964 Malta (Colony)
* 1807–1890 Heligoland
* 1809–1864 Ionian Islands
* 1878–1960 Cyprus
* 1921–1931 Irish Free State
* Since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia (before as part of Cyprus)

* v
* t
* e

Africa

| 17th and 18th centuries| 19th century| 20th century

|
|

* Since 1658 Saint Helena23
* 1792–1961 Sierra Leone
* 1795–1803 Cape Colony

* Since 1815 Ascension Island23
* Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha23
* 1806–1910 Cape of Good Hope
* 1807–1808 Madeira
* 1810–1968 Mauritius
* 1816–1965 The Gambia
* 1856–1910 Natal
* 1862–1906 Lagos
* 1868–1966 Basutoland6
* 1874–1957 Gold Coast7
* 1882–1922 Egypt

* 1884–1900 Niger Coast
* 1884–1966 Bechuanaland8
* 1884–1960 Somaliland
* 1887–1897 Zululand
* 1890–1962 Uganda
* 1890–1963 Zanzibar9
* 1891–1964 Nyasaland10
* 1891–1907 Central Africa
* 1893–1968 Swaziland11
* 1895–1920 East Africa
* 1899–1956 Sudan

* 1900–1914 Northern Nigeria
* 1900–1914 Southern Nigeria
* 1900–1910 Orange River
* 1900–1910 Transvaal
* 1903–1976 Seychelles
* 1910–1931 South Africa
* 1914–1960 Nigeria
* 1915–1931 South-West Africa12
* 1919–1961 Cameroons13
* 1920–1963 Kenya
* 1922–1961 Tanganyika13
* 1923–1965 and 1979–1980 Southern Rhodesia14
* 1924–1964 Northern Rhodesia15

* 6\. Now Lesotho.
* 7\. Now Ghana.
* 8\. Now Botswana.
* 9\. Now part of Tanzania.
* 10\. Now Malawi.
* 11\. Now named Eswatini.
* 12\. Now Namibia.
* 13. League of Nations mandate. British Cameroons is now part of Cameroon, while Tanganyika is part of Tanzania.
* 14. Self-governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 (as Rhodesia) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003.
* 15\. Now Zambia.

* v
* t
* e

Asia

| 17th and 18th centuries| 19th century| 20th century

|
|

* 1685–1824 Bencoolen
* 1702–1705 Pulo Condore
* 1757–1947 Bengal
* 1762–1764 Manila and Cavite
* 1781–1784 and 1795–1819 Padang
* 1786–1946 Penang
* 1795–1948 Ceylon16
* 1796–1965 Maldives

* 1811–1816 Java
* 1812–1824 Banka and Billiton
* 1819–1826 Malaya
* 1824–1948 Burma
* 1826–1946 Straits Settlements
* 1839–1967 Aden Colony
* 1839–1842 Afghanistan
* 1841–1997 Hong Kong
* 1841–1946 Sarawak17
* 1848–1946 Labuan
* 1858–1947 India18
* 1874–1963 Borneo

* 1879–1919 Afghanistan (protectorate)
* 1882–1963 North Borneo17
* 1885–1946 Unfederated Malay States
* 1888–1984 Brunei
* 1891–1971 Muscat and Oman
* 1892–1971 Trucial States
* 1895–1946 Federated Malay States
* 1898–1930 Weihai
* 1878–1960 Cyprus

* 1907–1949 Bhutan (protectorate)
* 1918–1961 Kuwait
* 1920–1932 Mesopotamia19
* 1921–1946 Transjordan8
* 1923–1948 Palestine19
* 1945–1946 South Vietnam
* 1946–1963 North Borneo
* 1946–1963 Sarawak
* 1946–1963 Singapore
* 1946–1948 Malayan Union
* 1948–1957 Federation of Malaya17
* Since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory (before as part of Mauritius and Seychelles)26

* 16\. Now Sri Lanka.
* 17\. Now part of Malaysia.
* 18\. Now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
* 19. League of Nations mandate. Iraq's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
* 26\. Legitimacy of territorial establishment disputed

* v
* t
* e

North America

| 17th century and before| 18th century| 19th and 20th centuries

|
|

* 1579 New Albion
* 16th c.–1880 British Arctic Territories
* 1583–1907 Newfoundland
* 1605–1979 *Saint Lucia
* 1607–1776 Virginia
* Since 1619 Bermuda
* 1620–1691 Plymouth
* 1623–1983 Saint Kitts
* 1624–1966 *Barbados
* 1625–1650 Saint Croix
* 1627–1979 *Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* 1628–1983 Nevis
* 1629–1691 Massachusetts-Bay
* 1632–1776 Maryland
* since 1632 Montserrat
* 1632–1860 Antigua
* 1635–1644 Saybrook
* 1636–1776 Connecticut
* 1636–1776 Rhode Island
* 1637–1662 New Haven

* 1643–1860 Bay Islands
* Since 1650 Anguilla
* 1655–1860 Mosquito Coast
* 1655–1962 *Jamaica
* 1663–1712 Carolina
* 1664–1776 New-York
* 1665–1674 and 1702–1776 New-Jersey
* Since 1666 Virgin Islands
* Since 1670 Cayman Islands
* 1670–1973 *Bahamas
* 1670–1870 Rupert's Land
* 1671–1816 Leeward Islands
* 1674–1702 East Jersey
* 1674–1702 West Jersey
* 1680–1776 New Hampshire
* 1681–1776 Pennsylvania
* 1686–1689 New England
* 1691–1776 Massachusetts-Bay

* 1701–1776 Delaware
* 1712–1776 North-Carolina
* 1712–1776 South-Carolina
* 1713–1867 Nova-Scotia
* 1733–1776 Georgia
* 1754–1820 Cape Breton Island
* 1762–1974 *Grenada
* 1763–1978 Dominica
* 1763–1873 Prince Edward Island
* 1763–1791 Quebec
* 1763–1783 East Florida
* 1763–1783 West Florida
* 1784–1867 New Brunswick
* 1791–1841 Lower Canada
* 1791–1841 Upper Canada
* Since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands

* 1818–1846 Columbia District/Oregon Country1
* 1833–1960 Windward Islands
* 1833–1960 Leeward Islands
* 1841–1867 Canada
* 1843 Paulet affair
* 1849–1866 Vancouver Island
* 1853–1863 Queen Charlotte Islands
* 1858–1866 British Columbia
* 1859–1870 North-Western Territory
* 1860–1981 *Antigua and Barbuda
* 1862–1863 Stickeen
* 1866–1871 British Columbia
* 1867–1931 *Dominion of Canada2
* 1871–1981 *Belize
* 1882–1983 *Saint Kitts and Nevis
* 1889–1962 Trinidad and Tobago
* 1907–1949 Newfoundland3
* 1958–1962 West Indies Federation
* 1967–1983 West Indies Associated States

* 1. Occupied jointly with the United States.
* 2. In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. See Name of Canada.
* 3. Gave up self-rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949.

* v
* t
* e

Oceania

| 18th and 19th centuries| 20th century

|

* 1788–1901 New South Wales
* 1803–1901 Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania
* 1807–1863 Auckland Islands20
* 1824–1980 New Hebrides21
* 1824–1901 Queensland
* 1829–1901 Swan River/Western Australia
* 1836–1901 South Australia
* since 1838 Pitcairn Islands

* 1841–1907 New Zealand
* 1846–1847 North Australia
* 1851–1901 Victoria
* 1874–1970 Fiji
* 1877–1976 Western Pacific Territories
* 1884–1902 Papua
* 1888–1901 Rarotonga/Cook Islands20
* 1889–1948 Union Islands20
* 1892–1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands22
* 1893–1978 *Solomon Islands

* 1900–1970 Tonga
* 1900–1974 Niue20
* 1901–1942 *Australia
* 1907–1947 *New Zealand
* 1914–1962 Samoa
* 1919–1942 and 1945–1968 Nauru

* 20. Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand.
* 21\. Now Vanuatu.
* 22. Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu.

South America

* 1631–1641 Providence Island
* 1651–1667 Willoughbyland
* 1670–1688 Saint Andrew and Providence Islands4
* 1831–1966 Guiana
* Since 1833 Falkland Islands5
* Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands5

* 4. Now a department of Colombia.
* 5. Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982.

Antarctica and the South Atlantic

* Since 1658 Saint Helena23
* Since 1815 Ascension Island23
* Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha23
* Since 1833 Falkland Islands
* 1841–1933 Australian Antarctic Territory (transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia)
* 1841–1947 Ross Dependency (transferred to the Realm of New Zealand)
* Since 1908 British Antarctic Territory24
* Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands25

* 23. Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island (1922–) and Tristan da Cunha (1938–) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena.
* 24. Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under the Antarctic Treaty.
* 25\. Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1985

* Historical flags of the British Empire

* Category
* Commons
* Portal

* v
* t
* e

Thirteen Colonies

* New England Colonies
* Middle Colonies
* Chesapeake Colonies
* Tobacco Colonies
* Southern Colonies
* United Colonies

* Virginia (1607–1776)
* New Hampshire (1629–1641; 1679–1686; 1689–1776)
* Maryland (1632–1776)
* Connecticut (1636–1776)
* Rhode Island (1636–1776)
* Delaware (1664–1776)
* New Jersey (1664–1673; 1702–1776)
* New York (1664–1776)
* Pennsylvania (1681–1776)
* Massachusetts Bay (1691–1776)
* North Carolina (1712–1776)
* South Carolina (1712–1776)
* Georgia (1732–1776)

* Other British colonial entities in the contemporary United States

* Roanoke (1585–1590)
* Popham (1607–1608)
* Jamestown (1607–1699)
* Plymouth (1620–1686; 1689–1691)
* Maine (1622–1658)
* Saint Croix (1625–1650)
* Carolana (1629–1663)
* Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629–1686; 1689–1691)
* Saybrook (1635–1644)
* New Haven (1638–1664)
* New England Confederation (1643–1654; 1675–c. 1680)
* Carolina (1663–1712)
* Rupert's Land (1670–1811)
* North-Western Territory (1670–1870)
* East Jersey (1674–1702)
* West Jersey (1674–1702)
* Dominion of New England (1686–1689)
* Indian Reserve (1763–1783)
* Quebec (1763–1783)
* East Florida (1763–1783)
* West Florida (1763–1783)
* New Ireland (1779–1783; 1814–1815)
* Columbia District (1810–1846)
* Red River Colony (1811–1818)
* Stickeen Territories (1862–1863)
* Colony of British Columbia (1863–1866)
* Colony of British Columbia and Vancouver Island (1866–1871)
* Province of British Columbia (1871–1903)

* Non-British colonial entities in the contemporary United States

* Columbian Viceroyalty (1492–1535)
* New Spain
* 1521–1821; Spanish Florida, 1565–1763
* New Navarre, 1565–1821
* Captaincy General of the Philippines, 1565–1898
* Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, 1580–1898
* Santa Fe de Nuevo México, 1598–1821
* Captaincy General of Cuba, 1607–1801
* Spanish Saint Croix, 1650–1651
* Spanish Texas, 1690–1821
* Las Californias, 1767–1804
* Spanish Louisiana, 1769–1801
* Provincias Internas, 1776–1821
* Spanish East Florida, 1783–1821
* Spanish West Florida, 1783–1821
* Alta California, 1804–1821
* New France
* 1534–1763; French Florida, 1562–1565
* Hospitaller Saint Croix, 1651–1665
* French Saint Croix, 1665–1733
* French Louisiana, 1682–1763 and 1801–1803
* New Netherland (1614–1667)
* Dutch Virgin Islands (1625–1672)
* New Sweden (1638–1655)
* Danish West Indies (1672–1917)
* Brandenburger Saint Thomas (1685–1754)
* Krabbeninsel (1689–1693)
* Scottish Darien Company (1698)
* Russian America (1799–1867)

* Category

Portals:

* England
* Monarchy
* North America

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* VIAF

National|

* United States

Other|

* SNAC

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template