HUTCHINSON, TuomAs An American loyalist, the last royal Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was born in Boston, where his father, the great-grand son of Anne Hutchinson (q.v.), was a wealthy merchant and ship-owner. He graduated at Har vard in 1727, entered his father's counting-room, early showed remarkable aptitude for business, and by the time he was twenty-four had accumu lated considerable property in trading ventures on his own account. The social prominence of his family, as well as his own position in the busi ness world, made him, while still a young man, a person of considerable importance in the com munity. In 1737 lie was elected a member of the Boston Board of Selectmen. Later in the same year he was chosen a representative to the Gen eral Court of the Colony, and at once took a strong stand in opposition to the views of the majority with regard to a proper currency. His proposal to borrow silver in England to redeem the outstanding bills of credit. and his opposi tion to the revival of the Land Bank, made him unpopular with the people, and impelled his con stituents in town meeting to draw up Instruc tions,' disregard of which led to his retirement in 1740. In that year he went to England as a commissioner to represent Massachusetts in a boundary dispute with New Hampshire. In 1742 he was reelected to the General Court, and was thereafter chosen annually until 1749, serving as Speaker from 1746 to 1749. He continued his advocacy of a sound currency, and when the British Parliament reimbursed Massachusetts in 1749 for the expenses incurred in the Louisburg expedition, he proposed the abolition of the bills of credit, and the utilization of the Parliamen tary repayment as the basis for a new colonial currency. The proposal was finally adopted by the Assembly, and its good effect on the trade of the Colony at once established Hntehinson's repu tation as a financier. On leaving the General Court he was appointed at once to the Governor's Council; in 1750 he was chairman of a commis sion to arrange a treaty with the Indians in the District of Maine: and he served on boundary commissions to settle disputes with Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1752 he was appointed judge of probate, and a justice of the Common Pleas. In 1754 as a delegate from Massachusetts to the Albany Convention (q.v.) he took a lead ing part in the discussions, and favored Frank lin's plan for colonial union. although doubting
its practicability. In 1758 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor, and in 1760 Chief Justice of the Province. In the following year. by issuing writs of assistance (q.v.). he brought upon him self a storm of protest and criticism. His distrust of popular government as exempli fied in the New England town meeting increased. Although he opposed the principle of the Stamp Aet (q.v.), considered it impolitic, and later advised its repeal, he accepted its legality, and as a result of his stand. his city house was sacked by a mob in August. 1765. and his valuable col lection of books and manuscripts destroyed. In 1769. upon the resignation of Governor Bernard. he became Acting Governor, serving in that ea pacityat the time of the 'Boston Massacre' (q.v.), March 5, 1770, when popular clamor compelled him to order the removal of the troops from the city. In March, 1771. he received his commission as Governor. His administration, controlled com pletely by the British Ministry, increased the friction with the patriots. The publication, in 1773, of some letters on colonial affairs written by Hutehinson, and obtained by Franklin in England, still further aroused public indignation, and led the Ministry to the neee—ity for stronger The temporary suspension of the civil t;overnm•nt followed, and General ;agl• was appointed military Governor in April, 1774. Driven from the country by threats in the following May. and broken in health and spirit, Hutchinson spent the remainder of his life an exile in England. There, still nominally Gov ernor. he wit.; by Lord North in regard to American affairs, hut his advice that a mod erate policy lie adopted. and his opposition to the Boston l'ort Bill. and the suspension of the „Massachusetts ('institution, was nut heeded. Ilk Ann•ri•an estates were confiscated, and he was compelled to refuse a baronetcy on account of lack of means. Ile wrote a History of Massachu setts Bay (vol. i. 1764, vol. ii. 1707, and vul. iii. 182sti, a work of great historieal rabic, calm. and judicious in the main, but entirely unphil osophical and lacking in style. His Diary and Letters were published in IS''‘'1-86. Consult also: Hosmer, Life of 7'homas Hutchinson (Boston, and the chapter Hutchinson, the Last Rival Governor of Massachusetts," in Fiske. EAW1I/R, llistorical and Literary. vol. i. (New York, 1902).