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Dinwiddie, Robert 1693-1770
Scottish colonial administrator

Born near Glasgow, he was appointed Collector of Customs for Bermuda in 1727 and Surveyor-General for southern America in 1738. Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1751, he tried to prevent French occupation of the Ohio district in 1753. He sent a young surveyor, George Washington, to demand a French withdrawal, followed by troops in 1754, but Washington was forced to surrender at Fort Necessity. In 1755 General Edward Braddock was defeated near Fort Duquesne in Ohio, thus precipitating the French and Indian War (1755-63). Dinwiddie was recalled in 1758.