Background
Joshua Loring was born on November 1, 1744 at Hingham, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Mary (Curtis) and Joshua Loring. The Lorings were a prominent loyalist family in America before and during the American Revolutionary War.
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Joshua Loring
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As a young man Loring served with the army; on July 11, 1761, he was commissioned ensign, became lieutenant on August 1, 1765, and retired in 1768. For his military services he was granted 20, 000 acres of land in New Hampshire. In 1769 he was appointed permanent high sheriff of Massachusetts. He became a pew-holder in King's Chapel and a citizen of importance. On October 7, 1775, he was appointed a sole vendue-master and auctioneer by Governor Gage.
When General Howe evacuated Boston, in March 1776, Loring went with the royal army to Halifax, and early the next year was appointed commissary of prisoners in the British army. In the conduct of this office he made himself detested by the Whig leaders, who charged him with excessive cruelty in his treatment of prisoners. Ethan Allen complained of his murder of two thousand prisoners. Others affirmed that he charged for supplies furnished to prisoners long after they were dead, so that he must be "feeding the dead and starving the living".
Elias Boudinot, who occupied a corresponding position in the American army, accused him of neglect and ill-treatment, although he admitted that the situation had been very much worse before Loring became commissary. On August 16, 1777, Boudinot sent to Washington Loring's memorandum denying these charges and pointing out the lack of interest in Congress for the welfare of those colonials who had been taken prisoner. The truth is not easy to discover. War is grim and conditions in the best military prisons are always bad enough. It is probable, too, that partisan feeling was responsible for some exaggeration. The letters of General Gold Selleck Silliman testify that Loring treated him with "complaisance, kindness, and friendship". Banished from Massachusetts, he spent the last years of his life in Berkshire, England.
Achievements
Politics
Loring signed a protest against the solemn league and covenant issued by the committee of safety, and he was one of the one hundred and twenty-three who affixed their names to an address approving the course of Governor Hutchinson and presented it to him on the eve of his departure for England in 1774. He signed a similar address to General Gage the next year.
Connections
On October 19, 1769 Loring married Elizabeth Lloyd of Boston. One of his sons, Sir John Wentworth Loring, became a Vice Admiral in the British Navy and another son, Henry Lloyd Loring, was archdeacon of Calcutta.
References
- The loyalists of Massachusetts and the other side of the American Revolution,
- Biographical sketches of loyalists of the American Revolution : with an historical essay (Volume 2)
- The Town of Roxbury: Its Memorable Persons and Places, Its History and Antiquities, With Numerous Illustraions of Its Old Landmarks and Noted Personages
- Letters and Diary of John Rowe: Boston Merchant, 1759-1762, 1764-1779
- The loyalists of Massachusetts; their memorials, petitions and claims. With 63 portraits in photogravure.
