Robert Dinwiddie

Robert Dinwiddie (1692 – 27 July 1770) was a Scottish colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1751 to 1758. Since the governors of Virginia remained in Europe, he served as the de facto head of the colony of Virginia. Dinwiddie is credited for starting the military career of George Washington. Early life Dinwiddie was born at Glasgow before 2 October 1692, the son of Robert Dinwiddie of Germiston and Elizabeth Cumming. His younger brother Lawrence Dinwiddie was later Lord Provost of Glasgow. He was a descendant of the Lordly Dinwiddies of Annandale. He matriculated at the university in 1707 before starting work as a merchant. Joining the British colonial service in 1727, Dinwiddie was appointed collector of the customs for Bermuda. Following an appointment as surveyor general of customs in southern American ports, Dinwiddie became Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and featured as such in William Makepeace Thackeray's nineteenth-century historical novel The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century.