The Biographical Dictionary of America/Bancroft, Edward

BANCROFT, Edward, author, was born at Westfield. Mass., Jan. 9, 1744. Having a natural love for adventure, he left home at an early age, and shipped on a vessel. A second voyage took him to Guiana, where he engaged in the practice of medicine. He afterwards went to England where he devoted himself to literary work. Through the influence of Benjamin Franklin he became a writer on the Monthly Review. He was suspected of aiding in the attempt to burn the Portsmouth dock-yard and was obliged to take refuge in France, in 1777, where, through his acquaintance with Silas Deane, commissioner of the Continental Congress, he obtained intelligence about American Continental affairs of use to the British government, and he imparted his knowledge to the British ministry. He was in the employ of both the English and Continental governments as a spy. He accumulated a large fortune by securing patents from England and France for exclusive right to import yellow oak bark for dyeing purposes. He was a member of the Royal college of physicians in London, and a fellow of the Royal society. His publications include "Natural History of Guiana" (1769); "Remarks on the Review of the Controversy between Great Britain and Her Colonies" (1771); "Charles Wentworth"; "Experimental Researches Concerning Permanent Colors" (1794); "Philosophy of Permanent Colors" (2 vols., 1813), and many short articles. He died in England, Sept. 8, 1820.