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61 2 Lord Cornbury (1661–1723) was appointed governor of New York and New Jersey in 1702. As a successful soldier, member of Parliament, and cousin of Queen Anne, he was welcomed in both colonies with great fanfare, and with the hope that he would bring calm to troubled regions. In 1710 he returned to England, leaving turmoil, especially in New Jersey. Historians have long ranked him as the worst governor New Jersey ever had; in 1965 Arthur Pierce described him as “A Governor in Skirts,” “Striding along the ramparts of Fort Anne in New York . . . in feminine attire,” with his hand always out “itching” for money. Descriptions of his cross-dressing appeared in several contemporary letters sent to England, while accusations that he accepted bribes and misappropriated money appeared in the Remonstrance of the New Jersey assembly. In 1998 Patricia Bonomi published The Lord Cornbury Scandal, arguing that he was an able man condemned by a “culture pervaded by gossip, satire, slander, and sexual innuendo.” The real problem was that he arrived at a time when the empire was trying to both consolidate its control and strengthen the Church of England. He was the first royal governor of New Jersey, appointed after the proprietors of East and West Jersey surrendered their political claims to the Crown and at a point when the governments of what had been two colonies were merged into one. In furthering the aims of empire and church he ran afoul of colonial politicians and religious dissenters, who blackened his name in order to have him recalled to England. What they really opposed was his policies. Bonomi concludes that Cornbury was not guilty of the charges. The conflicting tales illustrate how historical interpretations change, and sometimes are very different. The reader, whether a historian, student, or interested citizen, needs to evaluate the arguments and evidence before deciding which interpretation makes more sense. In the section of the book reproduced here Bonomi examines specifically the portrait used since the 1950s to illustrate books and articles discussing Cornbury, showing “him” in woman’s clothing. She questions the attribution. What reasons does she give, and is she convincing? Does 62 / Patricia U. Bonomi Bonomi prove her negative argument (the painting is not Cornbury), or just raise questions? The selection and the book as a whole also raise a series of questions about the nature and practice of politics in colonial New Jersey (as well as other colonies and England itself), gender roles, the use of evidence, the power of myths in history, and the possible truth about Lord Cornbury’s career as a colonial governor. British and American historians who have looked at politics in England and its colonies in the late seventeenth and eighteenth century have tried to describe when and how political parties developed, and whether or not they approximate modern parties. Not surprisingly, there is disagreement about when things happened, and even what to call what appeared to be happening. As England reeled from civil war to Restoration to the Glorious Revolution and then the Hanoverian succession, political divisions were numerous and sometimes complex. They have been characterized as Cavalier vs. Puritan, court vs. country, Tory vs. Whig, factions vs. parties, or a mix of more than one set of entities . Colonial politics reflected and were impacted by what happened in England, along with local divisions. New Jersey politics were particularly complicated. New Jersey was divided into East and West until 1702, and there were numerous factions in each section: two sets of proprietors further divided by internal disputes (East Jersey had resident Scottish and English proprietors, who disagreed on land policies, as well as conflicts with those remaining in London); religious differences (there were Anglicans, Quakers, Dutch Reform, Presbyterians, and others); and different views, for example, about preparedness during wartime, further complicated by ethnic differences. Some historians have seen the divisions, both before and after 1702, as simply proprietary vs. antiproprietary parties, others as a shifting set of factions throughout the period. Descriptions and analysis offered by historians vary, but however the local political scene is described there is no question that Cornbury stepped into a minefield. Even as political divisions worked themselves out in England, the American colonies, and New Jersey in particular, the “press” developed, and became a tool for political discussion and attacks. Newspapers became common, along with pamphlets and flyers. Opponents turned to the use of satire, innuendo, and character attack. At a time when gender roles...

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