Everything about Thomas Dongan totally explained
Thomas Dongan,
2nd Earl of Limerick (
1634 –
December 14,
1715), was a member of
Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the
English Civil War, and governor of the
Province of New York. He is noted for having called the first representative legislature in New York, and for his granting the province's Charter of Liberties.
He was born in
1634 in Castletown Kildrought (now
Celbridge),
County Kildare in the
Kingdom of Ireland. He was the youngest son of Sir John Dongan, Baronet, Member of the Irish Parliament. As
Catholics, his family faced persecution after the overthrow of
Charles I and fled to
France. While in France, he served in an Irish regiment with
Turenne. He continued to stay in France after the
Restoration and achieved the rank of
colonel in
1674.
After the
Treaty of Nijmegen ended the
French-Dutch War in
1678, Dongan returned to
England in obedience to the order that recalled all English subjects fighting in service to France.
James, Duke of York, who had served as a fellow officer of Dongan's in French army, arranged to have him granted a pension and high-ranking commission in the army and designated for service in
Flanders. That same year, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of
Tangiers. In
1682, James, who had become the Lord Proprietor of the Province of
New York after it was acquired from the
Dutch, appointed Dongan as provincial governor (
1684-
1688 and granted him an estate on
Staten Island. The estate eventually became the town of
Castleton; later, another section of the island was named
Dongan Hills in honor of Dongan. He was replaced as Governor by
Francis Nicholson.
At the time of his appointment, the province was bankrupt and in a state of rebellion caused by the mismanagement of the previous governor. Dongan was able to restore order and stability through tactful means. On
October 14,
1683, he convened the first-ever representative assembly in
New York history, which convened at
Fort James.
Dongan was to grant
land grants to establish several towns throughout New York State including the eastern
Long Island communities of
East Hampton (town), New York and
Southampton (town), New York. The land grants were called the
Dongan Patents. The patents set up Town Trustees as the governing bodies with a mission of managing common land for common good. The Dongan Patents still hold force of law and have been upheld by the
U.S. Supreme Court with the Trustees -- rather than town boards, city councils or even the State Legislature -- still managing much of the common land in the state.
In
1698, his brother William,
Earl of Limerick, died with issue. Because of his service to the Crown as a military officer and as provincial governor, he was granted his brother's title and a portion of his brother's forfeited estates by a special Act of Parliament for his relief.
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