Biography[]
Lt. Gov. John Wentworth was born 16 January 1671 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States to Samuel Wentworth (c1641-1690) and Mary Benning (1647-1725) and died 12 December 1730 of unspecified causes. He married Sarah Hunking (c1673-1741) 12 October 1693 .
John Wentworth served as Lieutenant Governor for the Province of New Hampshire from 1717 to 1730.
He was a grandson of "Elder" William Wentworth (born at Alford, Lincolnshire, England, in 1615; died in Dover, New Hampshire, March 16, 1697), an early settler in New England. William was a follower of the Rev. John Wheelwright. With him and 33 others, William signed, August 4, 1639, “A Combination for a Government at Exeter, N. H.” William moved to Wells, Maine, with Wheelwright; and when the latter went to England on the accession of Oliver Cromwell to power, William moved to Dover, where he was a ruling elder and often preached. On his death, he left a widow, nine sons, and one daughter.
John Wentworth was raised to be a sea captain. In 1712 he was appointed by Queen Anne a councillor for New Hampshire; in 1713 he became a justice of the common pleas, and late in 1717 lieutenant governor.[3] Before New Hampshire received its own Royal Governor in 1741, its governors were also commissioned to govern the neighboring Province of Massachusetts Bay, where they spent most of their time. Consequently the lieutenant governors exercised significant power.
As lieutenant governor, John Wentworth had little function in the government for several years. Then in January 1723, Governor Samuel Shute abruptly returned to England, so Wentworth took over in New Hampshire, governing until the arrival of Shute's replacement, William Burnet, in 1728. He continued as Lt. Governor until his death in 1730,[4] again governing between Burnet's death in 1729 and the arrival of Jonathan Belcher in 1730. During his administration he brought focus on the border dispute between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, cultivating power centers in London that eventually led to resolution of that dispute (albeit in 1740, long after his death), and establishing the dynasty that would dominate New Hampshire until independence.
Marriage and Family[]
On October 12, 1693 Wentworth married Sara Hunking. The couple had thirteen children, three of whom (Samuel, Benning, and Mark Hunking Wentworth) would become prominent themselves. Benning Wentworth was later the first directly appointed royal governor of New Hampshire. Mark's son in his turn would also become the last royal governor, John Wentworth.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Benning Wentworth (1696-1770) | 24 July 1696 Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States | 14 October 1770 Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States | Abigail Ruck (c1699-1755) Martha Hilton (c1737-1805) |
| Hunking Wentworth (1697-1784) | |||
| Hannah Wentworth (1700-1769) | |||
| Sarah Wentworth (1702-1776) | |||
| John Wentworth (1703-1773) | 19 October 1703 Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire | 1773 Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire | Sarah Hall (1711-1790) |
| William Wentworth (1705-1767) | |||
| Mary Wentworth (1707-c1774) | |||
| Samuel Wentworth (1708-1766) | 15 January 1708 | 16 December 1766 | Elizabeth Deering (1715-1785) |
| Mark Hunking Wentworth (1709-1785) | |||
| Elizabeth Wentworth (1711-1790) | |||
| Rebecca Wentworth (1712-1738) | |||
| Ebenezer Wentworth (1714-1757) | |||
| Daniel Wentworth (1716-1747) | |||
| George Wentworth (1719-1741) | |||
References[]
- wikipedia:en:John Wentworth (Lieutenant-Governor) - Wikipedia
- John Wentworth - disambiguation
- The Wentworth Genealogy: English and American, volume 1, by John Wentworth, p 178-184
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