born 1693, Germiston, near Glasgow, Scot.
died July 27, 1770, Clifton, Bristol, Eng.
British colonial administrator.
He entered government service in 1727 and was appointed surveyor general for the southern part of America (173951). As lieutenant governor of Virginia, he sent George Washington in 1753 to prevent the French from controlling the western frontier, an action that helped precipitate the French and Indian War . He tried to obtain intercolonial cooperation for the war effort, an issue taken up at the Albany Congress . In 1758 he returned to England.