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1707 Governor GEORGE CLARKE, New York Manuscript Document Signed for Cornbury!

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:700.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,000.00 USD
1707 Governor GEORGE CLARKE, New York Manuscript Document Signed for Cornbury!
Autographs
1707 Early Colonial New York Governor George Clarke & Land Grant Document Signed For “Viscount Cornbury”
GEORGE CLARKE (Born 1676-1760). Appointed Secretary of the Province of New York in 1703, Acting Governor of New York (1736-1743) who built an Estate named Hyde Park on Long Island.
February 20, 1707-Dated, Early historic Colonial Era Manuscript Document Signed, “Geo. Clarke,” as probate clerk of New York for “Edmund Viscount Cornbury,” being an issued Land Grant, Fine. This original Document measures 10” x 13” where George Clarke has signed a Grant of probate as the Clerk to Lord Cornbury, to Mary Kniffen, the wife of the late Samuel Kniffen. She has inherited his entire estate, but must also be responsible for paying any debts owed. Samuel Kniffen, was the Constable and Tax Collector of Rye, New York in 1701. It is Signed by George Clarke at lower right. The Document itself having a fully intact embossed wax and paper Official Seal at the upper right. There are some archival strips of tape for reinforcement on the blank reverse side where some fold lines were splitting. Overall, a very collectable document even condition.
George Clarke (1676 – January 12, 1760) was a Colonial Governor of New York. He was also known as George Clarke of Hyde, after he purchased Hyde Hall in Cheshire, the ancestral home of his wife, Anne Hyde, in the 1740s. He became Secretary of the Province of New York in 1703. Along with his wife he purchased land in 1715 in Hempstead, Long Island, New York, and built an estate called Hyde Park.

He became Acting Colonial Governor of New York in 1736 following the death of William Cosby, serving until George Clinton arrived in 1743 to replace Cosby. Clarke then held the post of Lieutenant Governor until 1747.

In 1741, Clarke was marginally involved in the suppression of the New York Conspiracy of 1741, a plot much-disputed by historians on the part of African slaves and poor white settlers to overthrow the colonial government by setting fires in New York City in March 1741.

On his return journey to England, with the fortune he had amassed in America, he was captured by a French cruise boat. After a short time he was released. He died in Chester, England, on 12 January 1760, aged 84. He is buried in Chester Cathedral, where there is a monument to him.