William Cosby (1690 - 1736)

Born 1690 in Stradbally Hall, Queens, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 10 Mar 1736 at about age 46 in Fort George, New York, British America

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Biography

William Cosby (1690–1736) acted as governor of Minorca from 1718 to 1732 and as the British royal governor of New York and New Jersey from 1732 to 1736.

During his short term as governor, Cosby was portrayed as one of the most oppressive royal placeholders in British Colonial America. In 1735, Cosby accused publisher John Peter Zenger of sedition and libel for publishing unflattering reports about Cosby. In spite of Cosby's efforts, Zenger was acquitted of all charges and the case helped to establish the concept of freedom of the press.

His father, Alexander Cosby of Stradbally, stemmed from an aristocratic British family that settled in Ireland in 1590, by the first Alexander Cosby. His mother, Elizabeth L'Estrange, was Irish.

In 1711, Cosby married Grace Montagu, a British lady with connections at Buckingham Palace, as sister of George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax.[1] They had children: William (1713), Grace (1716), Elizabeth (1721), Grace (1723) and Henry (1719). All of them were born in Britain, mostly at Westminster, London. Both sons followed careers in the military afterward.

19 Feb 1735 COSBY, William, Governor of New York and New Jersey. Wife Grace, sons William and Henry. Land in Cosby Manor on the Mohawk, at Rochester, Ulster Co., houses and lots in Soho Square, London, and at St. Leonard's Hall and personal estate. Executor the wife. Witnesses James de Lancey, John Felton, Jos. Murray, Charles Williams. ^[1]

Sources

• Find A Grave: Memorial #133929327 accessed on 11 Jul 2020

• Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cosby />

• Source: S-2091851085 Repository: #R-2142489842 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Page: Ancestry Family Trees Note: Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=28006477&pid=575. Repository: R-2142489842

1. ↑ Calendar of NY Wills page 62 https://ia802703.us.archive.org/27/items/calendarofwillso01fern/calendarofwillso01fern.pdf

• Wikitree profile Cosby-108 created through the import of Williams Family Tree(1).ged on May 30, 2012 by Chris Harter. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Chris and others.