Josiah Tattnall Sr.

Josiah Tattnall (8 February 17401811) was a British emigrant to colonial America who became notable for his acts in support of the Crown during his time in Savannah, Province of Georgia.

Early life Tattnall was born in Cheshire, England, to Thomas and Elizabeth Tattnall (née Barnwell) in 1740. the youngest daughter of Colonel John Mullryne and Claudia Cattell. He followed his father-in-law to Savannah, in the Province of Georgia, not long after Mullryne founded Bonaventure Plantation there in 1762. A son, John Mullryne Tattnall, was born in 1763. A second son, Josiah Jr., followed a year later at the plantation; he went on to become the 25th Governor of Georgia in 1801, two years before his death at the age of 38.

Bonaventure Plantation The first house on the plantation, made of English brick, was destroyed by a fire on 7 January 1771. The house was replaced by a mansion, also made of brick. This also burned down, in 1804.

After their actions in support of the Crown (then King George III), an order was made from the Revolutionary government for their arrest and deportation from Georgia. Both Mullryne (to Nassau in the Bahamas) and Tattnall (to London, England) subsequently fled the country. The Bonaventure estate was confiscated by the government in 1782 and sold at public auction to John Habersham, a friend of the Tattnalls, who sold the property in 1788 to Josiah Tattnall Jr., who had married two years earlier. aged 70 or 71.