Benning Wentworth (1696–1770) was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from (1741-1766). He was born and died in Portsmouth. He was the son of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor. His nephew John Wentworth succeeded him.
Wentworth enriched himself by a clever scheme of selling land now in the state of Vermont to developers, in spite of jurisdictional claims for this region by the Colony of New York. He often named the new townships after famous contemporaries in order to gain support for his enterprises (e.g. Rutland after John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland; Bennington he named after himself). Ultimately, this scheme led to a great deal of contention between New York, New England, and the settlers in Vermont. It created friction between the northeast colonies, and the dispute was hardly settled by the formation of Vermont as a state.
Wentworth also gave important government positions to relatives and gave them extensive grants of land. He was allowed to retire from office in 1766.
References
Swift, Esther Munroe; (1977). Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History Stephen Green Press. ISBN 0828902917.
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