 |
Edmund FanningAmerican Colonist
Date of Birth: 24.04.1739
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Political Career in North Carolina
- American Revolutionary War and Loyalist Service
- Post-War Appointments
- Later Years and Legacy
Early Life and Education
Edmund Fanning was born in 1739 in Southold on Long Island, in the British colony of New York. Some sources suggest he was of Irish Protestant descent from Ulster, while others claim his parents were Captain James Fanning and Hannah Smith. In 1757, Fanning enrolled at Yale College and later pursued legal studies in New York.
Political Career in North Carolina
After graduating, Fanning established a legal practice in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He became politically active, holding local offices and serving as a protégé of colonial governor William Tryon. However, Fanning's involvement in the "Regulator movement," a protest against government corruption, led to accusations of extortion with fellow lawyer Francis Nash. He was acquitted but fined a nominal sum. After an army suppression of the movement in 1771, Fanning followed Tryon to New York as his private secretary.
American Revolutionary War and Loyalist Service
During the American Revolutionary War, Fanning's loyalist sympathies made him a target of revolutionaries. He defended himself fiercely, raising loyalist troops and suffering two wounds. For his service, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Yale College.
Post-War Appointments
After the war, Fanning became the inspector and later lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia under Governor John Parr in 1783. In 1785, he married Phebe Maria Burns and was appointed lieutenant-governor of St. John's Island (later renamed Prince Edward Island), a post he held for 19 years until 1805. In 1808, he was promoted to major-general in the British Army.
Later Years and Legacy
Fanning returned to London in 1813 and died there on February 28, 1818. His descendants include several notable figures, such as his nephew, war hero Nathaniel Fanning; renowned lawyer John Wickham; and famous Arctic explorer Edmund Fanning.
