Preceded by Sir Andrew Snape Hamond |
Lieutenant Governor of Colony of Nova Scotia 1783–1786 |
Succeeded by John Parr |
Preceded by Walter Patterson |
2nd Governor of St. John's Island Colony, (renamed Prince Edward Island in 1799) 1786–1804 |
Succeeded by Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres |
Edmund Fanning (April 24, 1739 – February 28, 1818) was a British North American colonial administrator and military leader. Born in New York, he became a lawyer and politician in North Carolina in the 1760s. He first came to fame as the focus of hatred of the Regulators, and led anti-Regulator militia in the War of the Regulation. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, he was driven from his home in New York, and joined the British Army, recruiting other Loyalists. He served during campaigns in New England and the South. At the end of the war in 1783 he became a United Empire Loyalist, settling in Nova Scotia.
Fanning was appointed lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia not long after his arrival, and helped oversee the resettlement of other Loyalist refugees in the province. In 1786 he was appointed governor of Saint John's Island[1], which was renamed Prince Edward Island during his tenure. He served in that post until 1804. He retired to London, where he died in 1818.
Edmund is buried in a vault inside St. Mary Abbots Parish Church, on the corner of Kensington Church Street and Kensington High Street, London W8 4LA.
Family connections: Edmund was guardian and mentor of his twin sister's young son John Wickham (1763-1839). John became an accomplished lawyer, most remembered for his successful defense of former U.S. Vice-President Aaron Burr in 1807.[2]
Excerpts (verbatim) from Edmund's profile in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography:
Letter from Edmund Fanning to his father Capt. James Fanning, 31 Jan 1777:
Letter from Edmund Fanning to his (twin) sister Hannah Wickham, 5 Apr 1778:
Letter from Gov. William Tryon to Col. Fanning, 11 Sep 1778:
Letter from Rawdon (King's American Regiment) to Col. Edmund Fanning, 19 May 1781:
Letter from John Wickham, shortly before his 20th birthday, to his uncle and mentor Edmund Fanning, 12 Apr 1783:
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Featured National Park champion connections: Edmund is 11 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 18 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 12 degrees from George Catlin, 12 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 22 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 12 degrees from George Grinnell, 24 degrees from Anton Kröller, 14 degrees from Stephen Mather, 21 degrees from Kara McKean, 16 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 25 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.