born 1624, Ampthill, Bedfordshire, Eng.
died May 28, 1672, in the North Sea, off Suffolk, Eng.
English colonial governor of New York.
In 1664 he forcibly seized the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam and renamed the province and its main city for his patron, the duke of York. He thereby became the first governor of the English colony of New York. An efficient administrator, he issued the colony's first legal code in 1665. He returned to England in 1668 and resumed his duties as gentleman of the bedchamber to the duke.