Thomas Pownall - Governor of Massachusetts Bay

Governor of Massachusetts Bay

Pownall arrived in Boston in early August, he was well received, and assumed his duties on August 3. He was immediately thrust into a war-related crisis, as a French force was reported to be moving toward Fort William Henry in northern New York, and the military commander there had made an urgent call for militia. Pownall was energetic in organizing the militia, but the call to arms came too late: Fort William Henry fell after a brief siege that was followed by some of the worst Indian atrocities of the war.

In September 1757 he traveled to New Jersey to attend the funeral of Governor Jonathan Belcher, and stopped in New York to meet with Loudoun. Loudoun was upset that the Massachusetts General Court had not fully implemented his demands, and he held Pownall responsible. Pownall objected to the interference of the military in civilian affairs, the threat of which Loudoun used to implement his agenda, maintaining that it was necessary for the governor to lead, not drive, the provincial assembly. The meeting was acrimonious, and Loudoun afterward wrote a letter to London harshly criticising Pownall's position, calling his ideas on governance "high-handed". He encountered opposition in the General Court (the provincial assembly) to a demand that British troops be billeted with civilians in Boston, and Loudoun threatened to march additional troops into the province and take housing by force. Pownall requested that the General Court accede in some way to Loudoun's demands, eventually signing a bill authorizing the quartering of troops in inns. This bill was unpopular, and Pownall was negatively cast in the local press as supportive of Loudoun and his policies. Pownall's exchanges with Loudoun, however, show that he was keenly aware of the colonists' position: "the inhabitants of this province are intitled to the natural rights of English born subjects ... the enjoyment of these rights ... will animate and encourage them to resist ... a cruel, invading enemy". He was equally clear on the relationship between the royal governor and his assembly: "a governor must endeavour to lead those people for he cannot drive them and must lead them step by step as he can gett footing." He was so committed to these ideas that he offered to resign; however Loudoun encouraged him to remain in the post. Pownall would later author portions of the 1765 Quartering Act, a Parliamentary bill whose implementation was widely resisted in the colonies.

In January 1758 Pownall wrote several letters to William Pitt, outlining the difficult issues surrounding relations between the colonial government and both the military and civil administrations of the British establishment. He specifically recommended that London offer to pay more of the colonial expenses of the war; the implementation of this idea led to significantly increased militia recruitment in the remaining years of the war, including 7,000 men from Massachusetts for the 1758 campaign. Pownall was able to move a bill through the General Court implementing reforms of the militia system. The bill was short on the number of changes Pownall sought to achieve a more flexible and less costly organization, and its terms also centered more power over the militia in the hands of local officials (at the governor's expense).

Despite these reforms, recruiting for the militia proved difficult, and recruiting parties were often harassed and stoned, leading to rioting on several occasions. Pownall was, however, successful in recruiting the province's full quota of militia, and his energetic assistance in the war effort earned him approbation from William Pitt, the Board of Trade, and that year's commander in chief, James Abercrombie. Flush with success, Pownall proposed to General Jeffery Amherst the idea of establishing a fort on Penobscot Bay to contest potential French movements in the area. This idea developed into a major expedition to the area, which received not only Amherst's approval but that of the assembly. Pownall led the expedition, oversaw the construction of Fort Pownall, and counted it as a major success of the year. Its success kicked off a minor land rush in the area.

Although Pownall's start in power was a little rocky, his popularity in the province grew as his term progressed. He assiduously saw to the needs of its many fishermen, successfully convincing military authorities to eliminate burdensome red tape, and courted local merchants. He invested in ventures managed by Thomas and John Hancock, and was lauded by a group of Massachusetts merchants upon his departure. A bachelor, he was reported to be a ladies' man and highly engaged in the social scene. Although he was not strongly religious, he regularly attended Anglican services, but was also a frequent visitor to local Congregational services. He successfully finessed contentious issues surrounding the recruitment, deployment, and provisioning of militia, negotiating compromises between military and provincial demands. He did, however, have a strained relationship with his lieutenant governor, Thomas Hutchinson. The two men never trusted each other, and Pownall regularly excluded Hutchinson from his inner council meetings, instead sending him on missions, for example to deal with militia recruitment issues. One of Pownall's last acts before leaving the colony was to approve the appointment of James Otis, Sr., a longtime Hutchinson opponent, as speaker of the assembly.

In the later months of 1759 Pownall wrote a letter to William Pitt requesting leave to return to England because "I might be of some service" there. Biographer John Schutz speculates that the underlying reason for Pownall's request were related to frustration with his exclusion from the major military actions of the later war years, and possibly his desire to acquire a more significant post, such as a governor-generalship of conquered New France. Historian Bernard Bailyn is of the opinion that Pownall's divisive dislike and distrust of Shirley supporters like Thomas Hutchinson and ensuing local political infighting contributed to the request, as did his difficult relationships with the military commanders. Whatever the reason, the Board of Trade engaged in a reshuffling of colonial positions after King George II died, and Pownall was given the governorship of South Carolina, and permission to first take leave in England. His departure from Boston was delayed by militia recruiting issues and the need to deal with the aftermath of a major fire in the city, and he did not leave until June 1760.