Brenton, William
governor of Rhode Island, was born in England. He was lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island prior to 1660, president of the colony between 1660 and 1661, and governor under the charter obtained from Charles II. from 1666 till 1669. His original grant gave him a certain number of acres for every mile of land surveyed, and on the strength of this he secured much valuable property. He was one of the nine original proprietaries of Rhode Island. His name is preserved in Brenton's Point and Brenton's Reef, Narragansett Bay. He died in 1674, in Newport, R. I.