Alured Popple

Alured Popple (1699 – 17 November 1744) was a British colonial administrator who served as the governor of Bermuda from 1738 to 1744.

Early life and family Popple was born in 1699, one of three sons of Henry Popple of the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster. He was baptized on June 23rd, 1699 in Castle Street French Huguenot Westminster. William Popple was his grandfather.

In 1723, Popple married Mary Kent, with whom he had several children.

Public service

Board of Trade In 1717, Popple was appointed as a deputy clerk for the Board of Trade. In 1722, Popple was appointed as the secretary of the board, the office previously held by his grandfather William. Popple acted as a key intermediary between colonial representatives and the Board of Trade, helping to manage disputes that required metropolitan review. This included mitigating various boundary controversies in eighteenth-century British North America, many of which were ultimately settled through appeals to imperial authorities in London. Popple’s letters often directed governors to supply information about laws, taxes and military preparedness.

In 1735, he inquired into a Virginia statute that barred free Black, Indigenous, and mixed-race inhabitants from voting. Writing to governor William Gooch, Popple noted that the law appeared to deprive certain freemen of political rights solely because of their race and requested an explanation of the assembly's motives and the colony's current view of the measure. Gooch's response, which defended racial distinctions in political participation, has since become an important source for historians studying the development of racialized voting restrictions in colonial America.

He resigned from his post in 1737 to move to Bermuda, take an active role in the Bermuda Company, and assume the governorship.

Governor of Bermuda Popple was appointed Governor of Bermuda in 1738, succeeding Andrew Auchinleck. Popple's governorship lasted six years, from 1738 until 1744. In a 1739 dispatch to the Board of Trade, Popple reported that Richard Norwood's original seventeenth-century survey map and land book, key documents used to determine property boundaries throughout the colony, had remained in private ownership despite their continued importance in resolving land disputes. Popple acquired the records and arranged for copies to be transmitted to British authorities.

Popple supervised the improvement of Bermuda’s defences during his time in office. During his tenure, the island constructed Fort Popple (also called Popple’s or Governor’s Fort) on St David’s Island in 1737. Popple petitioned the Privy Council for artillery, explaining that the inhabitants had erected new works and needed additional weapons along with ammunition.

During his governship, Popple was supportive of privateering efforts in the region, including a local privateering vessel that was named in his honor during the opening stages of the War of Jenkins' Ear. In 1739, the Bermudian captain Samuel Spofforth commanded the sloop Popple, a 70-ton vessel carrying eight guns and a crew of thirty men. The ship was commissioned as a privateer on 13 August 1739 under authority granted by Barbados and was explicitly named after Popple. The successful voyage generated substantial profits, reportedly yielding approximately £50 for each crew member and about £1,000 for Captain Spofforth. The vessel continued its service during Popple's administration. On December 31, 1739, Popple commissioned a second voyage for Popple with a smaller crew, which eventually reached the Province of New York.

While governor, Popple was appointed the Masonic Provincial Grand Master for Bermuda in early 1744 under a patent issued by the Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. The appointment placed Popple in charge of overseeing Masonic affairs in Bermuda before any local lodges had been formally established, making him the earliest known Masonic official associated with the colony.

Correspondence from the period reveals tensions between the governor and customs officials over smuggling and the enforcement of imperial trade laws.

Death Popple died from bilious fever on November 17, 1744 while in office, at the age of 46. Following his death, Francis Jones served as acting governor until the appointment of Popple's brother William Popple, who assumed the office in 1745.

Legacy A 1730 portrait of Popple and his brothers by William Hogarth is in the permanent collection of the Royal Collection, originally bequeathed to Queen Victoria in 1887.