Уильям Косби: Колониальный губернатор и судебный процесс Ценгера

British colonial official
the American entertainer

Brigadier General William Cosby (1690–1736) was an Anglo Irish soldier who served as the British colonial governor of New York from 1732 to 1736. During his short term, Cosby was portrayed as one of the most oppressive governors in the Thirteen Colonies. 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.

William Cosby was born in Stradbally Hall, Queen's County, Ireland, in 1690. His father, Alexander Cosby of Stradbally, stemmed from an English family that emigrated to Ireland in 1590, by the first Alexander Cosby. His mother, Elizabeth L'Estrange, was from another family of the Protestant Ascendancy. In 1709, 19 year old William Cosby travelled to Italy and earned money by gambling in card games. The next year he enlisted in the British Army at Spain, under General Stanhope's command. In successive years, his military career progressed: cornet of the 5th Dragoon Guards (24 August 1705), captain of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, Harvey's Regiment of Horse (15 April 1711) and colonel of the Royal Regiment of Ireland (24 December 1717 to 1732). In 1711, Cosby married Grace Montagu, a lady with connections at the British court as a sister of George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax. They had five children: William (1713), Grace (1716), Elizabeth (1721), Grace (1723) and Henry (1719). All of them were born in Britain, most within Westminster. Both sons followed careers in the military afterwards. A third son, Alexander, born 1717, is not recorded as a son of William in contemporary documents but was a son of Grace. Cosby had a home in Soho Square and one in St. Leonard's Hill near Windsor, Berkshire.

In 1717, Cosby was promoted to colonel of the Royal Regiment of Ireland. The next year, this regiment was transferred to Menorca, in the Balearic Islands. Cosby acted as governor of Menorca from 1718. His administration was unremarkable in most respects, but he ran into difficulties when he illegally seized a Portuguese ship and attempted to appropriate its valuable cargo of snuff for his own benefit.

When George II of Britain was crowned, he transferred New York's governor, William Burnet, to be the governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Burnet's successor, John Montgomerie, died soon after taking office. On 13 January 1732, George II appointed Cosby as "Captain General & Governor in Chief of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Territories depending thereon in America". The interim governor, who would serve until Cosby arrived in America, was Rip Van Dam. Thirteen months elapsed between Cosby's appointment and his arrival in New York. At the time, the colony of New York had 50,000 inhabitants, and the city only 9,000, but its port activity was booming with docks and shipyards.

On 2 January 1734, King George II granted Cosby 22,000 acres on the Mohawk River, in what is now Herkimer County, New York. The land was named Cosby's Manor in 1736, and sold in 1772 to Philip Schuyler and four other proprietors. It included the later sites of Utica and Schuyler, New York. Cosby was promoted to vice admiral on 29 September 1735, and to brigadier general on 30 November 1735, while serving as governor.

The salaries of British colonial governors were always a contentious issue in eighteenth century British America. When Cosby arrived in New York, he demanded that the acting governor, Van Dam, turn over half the salary he had received during his term to Cosby. Van Dam replied that he would not do so unless Cosby turned over half of the (presumably much larger) fees he had reaped from the office while in England. Cosby responded by taking Van Dam to court. Moreover, he insisted that the court proceed through equity jurisdiction, thus obviating the need for a jury. Equity proceedings were extremely unpopular in colonial America, especially if the equity courts were constituted without the colonial legislature's consent. Colonists saw them as a form of tyranny. Chief Justice Lewis Morris, aware of public opinion, dismissed Cosby's case on legal grounds on 9 April 1733. Cosby retaliated by removing Morris from office. He also dismissed Van Dam from the provincial council and named loyalist James De Lancey the new chief justice. Afterwards, Morris justified his decision in The New York Weekly Journal, an opposition newspaper. This episode was significant both because it was the precursor to the Zenger trial and because it augmented Cosby's reputation for arbitrary, tyrannical rule. Meanwhile, Cosby secured an adequate salary for himself by refusing to call for new elections to the New York General Assembly. The grateful assemblymen willingly voted him five years of support. Nevertheless, Morris was ultimately appointed governor of New Jersey. In New York, the Septennial Act of 1743 ensured that assembly elections would henceforth be held at regular intervals, no less than once every seven years.

During Cosby's term in office, he granted "extraordinary salaries", either lifelong or for a stated term of years, to government officers or fellow royalists as rewards for loyal service. His authority to do so was limited by the general assembly. Those salaries were often cancelled as a result of the festering rivalry between the court and country parties.