Early Life
Duer was born in Devon, Great Britain in 1743. He was the son of John Duer, a planter of Antigua in the West Indies, who had a villa in Devonshire. His mother was Frances Frye, daughter of Sir Frederick Frye, who held a command in the West Indies, where she married John Duer. After being sent to Eton, and while still under age, he was put into the army as ensign, and accompanied Robert Clive as aide-de-camp on his return to India as governor general in 1762. As he suffered severely from the climate, Lord Clive sent him back to England, where he remained five years until his father's death, upon which he inherited his father's estate.
Read more about this topic: William Duer (Continental Congressman)
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