Hutchinson, Thomas

Hutchinson, Thomas (1711-1780), American colonial governor, born in Boston, and educated at Harvard College (now Harvard University). He began his public career in 1737, at times serving simultaneously in the Massachusetts legislature, the governor's council, as a delegate to the Albany Congress, and as chief justice of the superior court. He was lieutenant-governor (1758-1771) and served as acting governor (1769-1771) and royal governor (1771-1774). Although he opposed British colonial taxes as injurious to trade, Hutchinson upheld the British right to levy taxes. He thus came into conflict with those who denied this British right. During a controversy over the Stamp Act, a mob in 1765 ransacked his home. Further tension resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. Hutchinson became even more unpopular when his letters, written between 1768 and 1769 and asserting British supremacy, were made public. In 1773 his refusal to accept a demand that tea-laden British ships be returned without unloading precipitated the Boston Tea Party. In 1774 Hutchinson was given permission to sail for Great Britain, where he spent the rest of his life. Hutchinson's most important writings were the three-volume History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay (published 1764-1828).