View source for James Colleton

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{about||the member of parliament for Lostwithiel|James Colleton (died 1790)|others of this name|Colleton baronets}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = James Colleton
| image =
| caption =
| office1 = [[List of colonial governors of South Carolina|7th Governor of South Carolina]]
|monarch1= [[Mary II of England|Mary II]]<br>
[[William III of England|William III]]
| term_start1 = 1686
| term_end1 = 1690
| preceded1 =[[Joseph Morton (governor)|Joseph Morton]]
| succeeded1 =[[Seth Sothell]]
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date = 1706
| death_place = Barbados<ref name="enc" />
| restingplace =
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| signature = Signature of James Colleton.png
}}'''James Colleton''' (d. c. 1706) was a governor of the English proprietary [[Province of Carolina]] from 1686 to 1690.
== Biography ==
Son of Sir [[John Colleton]], one of the colony's founders, he took over some of the family's landholdings in [[Barbados]] before being appointed governor by the colony's proprietors.<ref name="enc">{{cite web |title=Colleton, James |url=https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/colleton-james/ |website=South Carolina Encyclopedia}}</ref>  Upon his arrival in the colony he put a stop to a planned expedition against Spanish [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], organized in retaliation for an earlier attack against [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charles Town]].  Since England and Spain were then at peace, the proprietors approved his action, much to the annoyance of the local leaders.  He further angered the colonists by maintaining the government according to the colony's [[Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina|Fundamental Constitutions]] in the face of popular opposition.
In 1687 the Lords Proprietors wrote to Colleton, angry that a member of his Grand Council had been abetting pirates. John Boone had been removed from the Council for smuggling supplies to [[Henry Holloway (pirate)|Henry Holloway]] and a pirate named Chapman, and helping hide their loot. The Proprietors excoriated Colleton when Boone was allowed back on the Council: "This must not be. Men convicted of such misdemeanours must not be chosen again and restored. ... We are sorry to see the proneness of the Parliament of Carolina to such proceedings, and hope that they will not occur again."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fortescue|first1=J.W.|title=America and West Indies: March 1687, 1-15 {{!}} British History Online|date=1899|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|pages=324–343|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol12/pp324-343|accessdate=20 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>
By 1690 Colleton and the provincial assembly were at loggerheads, and Colleton attempted to rule without the assembly.  This resulted in open resistance to his rule, prompting him to declare [[martial law]], although he quickly retracted this when he could not even control the militia.  He was turned out of office by the arrival in 1690 of [[Seth Sothel]], one of the proprietors.<ref name="South Carolina, 1670-1719">McCrady, Edward. [https://archive.org/details/historysouthcar06mccrgoog/page/n233 <!-- pg=218 quote=colleton. --> ''The History of South Carolina Under the Proprietary Government, 1670-1719'']</ref>
Colleton was the [[List of speakers of the House of Assembly of Barbados|Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbados]] from 1700 to 1701.<ref>{{cite web |title=The House of Assembly |url=https://www.barbadosparliament.com/main_page_content/show_content/7 |website=www.barbadosparliament.com}}</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:Colonial governors of South Carolina]]
[[Category:Speakers of the House Assembly of Barbados]]
[[Category:1706 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
[[Category:18th-century Barbadian people]]
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