William Brenton

William Brenton
Governor William Brenton grave medallion
11th President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office 1660–1662
Preceded by	Benedict Arnold
Succeeded by	Benedict Arnold
2nd Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office 1666–1669
Preceded by	Benedict Arnold
Succeeded by	Benedict Arnold
1st Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office 1663–1666
Governor	Benedict Arnold
Preceded by	position created
Succeeded by	Nicholas Easton
Personal details
Born	c. 1610
Died	autumn, 1674 Newport, Rhode Island
Spouse(s)	(1) Dorothy ________ (2) Mary Burton
Children	Barnabas, Martha, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mehitable, Jahleel, William, Abigail, Ebenezer
Occupation	Builder, selectman, assistant, president, commissioner, deputy governor, governor
Religion	Quaker

William Brenton (c. 1610–1674) was a colonial President, Deputy Governor, and Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and an early settler of Portsmouth and Newport in the Rhode Island colony. Austin and other historians give his place of origin as Hammersmith in Middlesex, England (now a part of London), but in reviewing the evidence, Anderson concludes that his place of origin is unknown. Brenton named one of his Newport properties "Hammersmith," and this has led some writers to assume that the like-named town in London was his place of origin.

Brenton was in Boston by October 1633 when he was admitted to the church there, was made a freeman in May 1634, and later the same year was appointed to oversee the building of a jail house. He was a Boston selectman from 1634 to 1637, and in 1635 was appointed to a committee to consider the incident when Massachusetts magistrate John Endecott defaced the English flag, and to report to the court to what extent Endecott would be censured.

Brenton was a Deputy in Boston from 1635 to 1637, but following the settlement of Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island (called Rhode Island) by the followers of Anne Hutchinson, he became a resident there, and in late August 1638 was directed to oversee work on the prison. It appears that Brenton was not a follower of Hutchinson, or of her brother-in-law John Wheelwright, as he was not disarmed, and he also returned to live in Boston at a later time. In April 1639 he was one of nine men who signed an agreement to settle Newport, and appears to have changed residence, being present at a general meeting there a year later. However, by 1643 his residence was once again given as Portsmouth. From 1640 to 1647, while William Coddington was the governor of the two Aquidneck Island towns of Portsmouth and Newport, Brenton was the deputy governor. In February 1649 Brenton was again living in Boston, when he was given liberty to "set up a porch afore his house" there.