William Wanton

William Wanton (September 15, 1670 – December 1733) was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving a short term prior to his death. He spent most of his adult life in the civil and military service of the colony and commanded a sloop for chasing privateers. Life Wanton was the third son of Edward Wanton, a ship builder. After witnessing their persecution, he became a Quaker and preacher. His father had lived in York, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; and Scituate, Massachusetts before coming to Rhode Island. Civil and military affairs Wanton was a merchant who became a freeman of Newport, Rhode Island in 1698, and was thereafter very active in the civil and military affairs of the town and colony. In all but two years from 1705 to 1732, Wanton was either a deputy or an assistant, and for many of those years he was the Speaker of the House of Deputies.