Dinwiddie, Robert

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Dates 1758-1770
Location Bristol area
Vocation Merchant
Place of Birth Germiston, near Glasgow
Marriage Rebecca Auchinleck
Issue Elizabeth, Rebecca
Place of birth Source Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Graduated from University of Glasgow and entered into transatlantic trade. Settled in Bermuda in 1718 and sought his fortune in service of the British crown. Frequently corresponded with Board of Trade in London, advising on economic and political problems in the West Indies and America. Appointed ‘Surveyor General of the Southern Part of the Continent of North America. Viz. South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Bahama Islands and Jamaica’. (1738) Effectively was made the overseer of the British customs service for most of the British possessions in North America and the West Indies. Moved to Virgina and appointed lieutenant-governor in 1751. As a defender of British interests frequently clashed with colonial Virginians. Greatly affected health and he migrated to England in 1758. Died at Hotwells at Clifton, near Bristol 1770.