Wentworth, Paul

Wentworth, Paul (?–1793)Revolutionary War spy. Probably born on the island of Barbados, Paul Wentworth lived in Surinam and London before becoming involved in the turmoil in New Hampshire at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Though not really related to the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, John Wentworth, Paul was accepted as a kinsman and used those connections to develop ties with many colonial leaders. These relationships proved very useful when he became a British spy in 1772. His primary asignment became to gather information at the French court and watch the American diplomatic delegation there. He developed a complicated plan to prevent the French-American alliance with a wholesale bribery of Congress, but his attempt to force American negotiations with England might have actually backfired into speeding the very coalition he was supposed to prevent. After the war Wentworth speculated on stocks in London and became a trustee of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, before retiring to his plantation in Surinam, where he died.