William Burnet (colonial administrator)

William Burnet
Portrait by John Watson
Governor of the Province of New York
In office 1720–1728
Monarchs	George I George II
Preceded by	Peter Schuyler (acting)
Succeeded by	John Montgomerie
4º Governor of the Province of New Jersey
In office 1720–1728
Monarchs	George I George II
Preceded by	Lewis Morris, President of Council
Succeeded by	John Montgomerie
6th Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
In office 19 July 1728 – 7 September 1729
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	William Dummer (acting)
Succeeded by	William Dummer (acting)
Governor of the Province of New Hampshire
In office 19 December 1728 – 7 September 1729
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	John Wentworth (acting)
Succeeded by	John Wentworth (acting)
Personal details
Born	March 1687/8[1] The Hague, Netherlands
Died	7 September 1729(1729-09-07) (aged 41) Boston, Massachusetts Bay
Spouse	Anna Maria Van Horne
Signature

William Burnet (March 1687/88^[1] – 7 September 1729) was a British civil servant and colonial administrator who served as governor of New York and New Jersey (1720–1728) and Massachusetts and New Hampshire (1728–1729). Born into a position of privilege (his godfather became William III of England not long after his birth, and his father Gilbert Burnet was later Bishop of Salisbury), Burnet was well-educated, tutored among others by Isaac Newton.

Active for most of his life in intellectual pursuits (he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1705/6), he occupied no posts of importance until financial considerations and political connections brought him the governorships of New York and New Jersey. His tenure in New Jersey was without major controversies, although he set a precedent there for accepting what were effectively bribes in exchange for his assent to legislation. In New York he sought unsuccessfully to end the fur trade between Albany and Montreal in order to implement a colonial policy preferring direct trade with the Native Americans in central North America. His New York rule was marked by an increase in political divisions between landowners (with whom Burnet sided) and merchants. After the death of King George I, King George II appointed Burnet governor of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Although his New Hampshire tenure was inconsequential, he engaged in a nasty dispute with the Massachusetts assembly over the issue of his salary, holding the legislative body in session for six months and relocating it away from Boston. The dispute held up other colonial business, and was ongoing in September 1729 when Burnet died; his death was apparently caused by illness contracted after his carriage overturned and dumped him in water.