Benning Wentworth was a royal governor of New Hampshire.
Background
Benning Wentworth was a great-grandson of Elder William Wentworth, who came to America from Rigsby, England, in 1636, was closely associated with the Rev. John Wheelwright, and in 1639 settled at Exeter, N. H. Benning was born in Portsmouth, N. H. He was the eldest son of Lieutenant-Governor John and Sarah (Hunking) Wentworth.
Education
He was listed as fifth in his class at Harvard College, where the order was determined by the social standing of the students' families. He graduated in 1715.
Career
He became associated with his uncle Samuel, a merchant in Boston. Wentworth was a member of the New Hampshire Assembly for a short time and became a member of the council in 1734. During the years 1734-39 he made several trips to England and Spain. With his brother-in-law, Theodore Atkinson, he labored to make New Hampshire independent of Massachusetts, and upon achieving that result Wentworth became the first royal governor of the province, serving for the extraordinary period of twenty-five years. Like other colonial governors, and with no more success, he urged the Assembly to grant him a fixed salary in sterling or proclamation money, since New Hampshire was troubled by a depreciating paper currency. Like most of the royal governors of the century he complained frequently that the Assembly was encroaching upon his powers. The House in appointing chaplains, surgeons, and commissaries, in electing committees to handle supplies for the militia, and in limiting the militia's period of service and field of operations invaded his powers as commander-in-chief. He was not a tactful man and as a result of his determination to uphold the royal prerogative in sending writs of election to new towns became involved in a bitter controversy with the Assembly. A deadlock resulted in 1747, but by 1752 both sides were eager for harmony; the representatives from the new towns were admitted by the Assembly, and Wentworth approved the Assembly's choice, Meshech Weare, as speaker. New Hampshire took a prominent part in military expeditions against the French, furnishing one-eighth of the land forces sent against Louisbourg in 1745 and contributing towards the Louisbourg expedition of 1758 and the various attacks on Crown Point; Wentworth received many thanks from the New Hampshire generals for his attention to the troops. During his administration the province grew in wealth and population. In 1761 the Governor made no less than sixty grants of land west and eighteen east of the Connecticut River. With the conclusion of the French and Indian war many soldiers applied for grants in the Connecticut Valley, in territory claimed by both New Hampshire and New York. The resulting controversy was decided by the British government in favor of New York, but the New Hampshire settlers refused to accept the decision and the matter was not settled finally until the formation of the state of Vermont. Although New Hampshire was represented in the Albany Congress of 1754 it was one of the colonies unrepresented at the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, because Wentworth, by proroguing the Assembly, prevented the election of delegates. Several attempts were made to remove him from the governorship. Complaints were made that he had too many relatives in office, that he had favored them with grants of land, and that he had grown rich through fees and the practice of reserving for himself 500 acres in each township; other complaints dealt with his exercise of the office of surveyor of the King's Woods. The home government said he neglected his correspondence. After some years of this campaign against him John Wentworth in 1765 presented a defense of his uncle to the Marquis of Rockingham, as a result of which Benning was permitted to resign and his nephew was appointed to succeed him both as governor and surveyor of His Majesty's Woods. In his last years he was corpulent and much troubled by gout. He died at Little Harbor and was buried in the Wentworth tomb in the graveyard of Queen's Chapel, St. John's Church, Portsmouth.
Achievements
Personality
He provided a handsome fortune for his wife, who was the sole heir to his estate. Wentworth was an aristocrat in bearing and manner and showed that he had the courage of his convictions by the way in which he carried out royal instructions. He was a loyal promoter of the Anglican Church and the leader of a powerful social group; his home at Little Harbor was one of the most spacious country houses of colonial America. He left no issue.
Connections
On December 31, 1719, he married Abigail Ruck, daughter of John Ruck, a prominent merchant; he had three sons, but none survived him. After retiring in June 1767, Benning Wentworth resided at Little Harbor with his second wife, Martha Hilton, whom he had married on March 15, 1760.