Person:William O'Brien (20)

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William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin, PC ( – 16 January 1692), was an Irish military officer, peer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Tangier from 1675 to 1680 and the governor of Jamaica from 1690 until his death in office in 1692. O'Brien is best known for his long career in service to the English Crown, serving as a colonial governor in England's overseas possession in North Africa and the West Indies.

Born in Doneraile, Ireland to the 1st Earl of Inchiquin, O'Brien was raised in London growing up. After being briefly imprisoned during the Second English Civil War, O'Brien eventually left England to enlist in the service of the French Royal Army in 1660 alongside his father. While on board a French Navy fleet, he was captured by Barbary pirates and imprisoned for a year in North Africa before being released and returning to England.

In 1671, O'Brien joined the Irish Privy Council, and was appointed as the governor of Tangier in 1674. However, O'Brien's governorship was poor and in 1680 he was recalled. After King James II succeeded to the English throne in 1685, O'Brien was removed from the Privy Council. During the 1688 Glorious Revolution, he supported the Williamites and fought an unsuccessful campaign against Jacobite forces in Munster before moving to London.

O'Brien was appointed as governor of Jamaica in 1689, assuming the office a year later. During his tenure as governor of Jamaica, O'Brien frequently clashed with the Jamaican assembly and governor's council, along with amassing a huge personal fortune worth 15,000 pounds. He also reestablished the fledgling Jamaican judiciary and suppressed a slave rebellion. On 16 January 1692, O'Brien died in Spanish Town of dysentery.

1. ↑ William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.