Robert Hunter

General Robert Hunter FRS ( – 31 March 1734) was a British army officer, playwright and colonial administrator who successively served as the governors of New York, New Jersey and Jamaica.

Early life

Robert Hunter was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, grandson of Robert Hunter, 20th Laird of Hunterston in Ayrshire, being the son of lawyer James Hunter and his wife Margaret Spalding.

Hunter was succeeded as Governor by Pieter Schuyler as acting governor from 1719 to 1720 and finally by William Burnet, whose post as Comptroller of Customs was given to Hunter in exchange.

Jamaica Hunter was then Governor of Jamaica from 1727 until his death on 31 March 1734. While in Jamaica, Hunter waged an unsuccessful war against the Jamaican Maroons. He was a member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1709.

Personal life Hunter was married to Elizabeth ( Orby) Hay, the daughter of Sir Thomas Orby, 1st Baronet of Croyland. Elizabeth was the widow of Brig.-Gen. Lord John Hay, son of John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale. Together, they were the parents of at least one son and three daughters (Henrietta Hunter, Catherine ( Hunter) Sloper, Charlotte Hunter), including:

Thomas Orby Hunter (–1769), MP for Winchelsea who married Jacomina Caroline Bullenden, the daughter of Colonel William Bullenden.