Abstract
When Britain acquired West Florida in 1763, John Ellis was appointed royal agent for West Florida. Found only in Nova Scotia, Georgia, and East and West Florida, royal or crown agents were used in underdeveloped but strategically important colonies that lacked the revenue to finance their own government. In these cases the crown assumed the financial load, and the agent was the London-based fiscal officer— the comptroller— supervising the crown’s allocations to the colony. Though easily confused with the better known and more widely used colonial agent, the royal agent was an entirely different kind of office. The royal agent was the crown’s watchdog; the colonial agent stood sentry in London for the colony, its governor, its council, and its assembly.
Recommended Citation
Rauschenberg, Roy A.
(1983)
"John Ellis, Royal Agent for West Florida,"
Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 62:
No.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol62/iss1/3
