Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet served King Charles I during the English Civil War. He rose through the Royalist ranks during the conflict, but later had his land-holdings seized when the Cavaliers were finally defeated by Parliamentary forces. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, he was one of eight individuals rewarded with grants of land in Carolina by King Charles II for having supported his efforts to regain the throne.
Origins
He was the second son of Peter Colleton of Exeter in Devon, Sheriff of Exeter in 1618, who was born in the parish of Monkenzeale who following his death in 1622 was buried at St Olave's Church in Exeter. His mother was Ursula Hull, a daughter of Henry Hull of Exeter, who married John Colleton in 1578 at St Kerrian's Church in Exeter. John's sister Elizabeth Colleton was the wife of Sir Hugh Croker, Mayor of Exeter, a younger son of the Croker family of Lyneham, Yealmpton, in Devon.
He was a Royalist and very active at the beginning of the Civil War, serving as a Captain of foot-soldiers. He received a commission for Colonel from Sir John Berkeley, general of the royalist forces in Devon, signed by the Prince of Wales, and successfully raised a regiment within ten days. He spent £40,000 of his own money in the king's service, and lost a further £7,000 through plunder and sequestration. Eventually he fled to the Island of Barbados. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 Berkeley petitioned King Charles II on his behalf as follows:
Created a baronet
In recompense for his service during the Civil War, King Charles II in 1661 created him a baronet with territorial designation "of London". And in further recompense for his great services, in conjunction with the Duke of Albemarle, Earl Clarendon, Earl Craven, and four other noble persons, granted by letters patent to them, their heirs, and successors, large dominions in Carolina, and the Bahama Islands.
Grants in Carolina
In 1663 King Charles II granted Colleton and another seven persons, called Lords Proprietors, the land called Carolina, named in honor of his father King Charles I. Colleton brought a group of settlers from the Caribbean Isle of Barbados, who brought with them slaves from Africa thus introducing slavery to Carolina. These settlers introduced the cultivation of rice to the area. Colleton County, South Carolina, is named after him as is Colington, North Carolina.
Marriage and children
In 1634 at St Mary Arches Church in Exeter, he married Katherine Amey, a daughter of Thomas Amey of Exeter, by whom he had children as follows:
Sir Peter Colleton, 2nd Baronet, eldest son and heir. He was awarded the title of Landgrave, pre-Revolutionary, English colonial titles of nobility in the lowcountry of Carolina, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
