and took part in the capture of Havana, being the first through the breach into Morro Castle. In 1763 he returned to North America and found his settlement reduced to 15 inhabitants. He travelled to England and in 1765 obtained a royal patent for a large tract of land known as Skenesborough (now the village of Whitehall). Returning to New York, he again began to develop a tenant settlement on his property. When his regiment returned to Ireland in 1768, Skene transferred to the Xth Foot, and then sold his commission in 1769. In 1770 he became a resident of his new community. Over the next 5 years he made many improvements to his property, such as a road to Salem, New York and on to Bennington known as “Skene’s Road”. He built mills, storehouses, and boats, including the schooner Katherine that later became the USS Liberty when seized by the patriots.

Plan for a new colony
Shortly before the Revolution Ethan Allen and other leaders of the New Hampshire Grants came up with a plan to solve their disputes with the colony of New York by obtaining a charter for a new royal colony comprising the Grants and also land on the New York side of Lake Champlain. The colony was to be obtained by Skene, who would be the governor and reside at Skenesborough. In pursuit of this goal Skene went to England and was appointed lieutenant governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and royal surveyor of the woods around Lake Champlain.[8] He was advised to gather petitions from the inhabitants before seeking a royal patent for the new colony; Allen and others arranged a meeting at Westminster in the Grants on 11 April 1775, which approved a resolution asking “be taken out of so oppressive a jurisdiction and either annexed to some other government, or erected and incorporated into a new one”. This plan was interrupted by the Revolution. It came up again during Vermont’s negotiations with the British governor of Quebec in the early 1780s, where if Skene had actually obtained a secret charter (as Ira Allen and others claimed), Vermont could have been part of a larger autonomous province.

American Revolution
When the American Revolution began, Skene’s son Andrew was arrested as Crown Point and Ticonderoga were being seized. Skene himself was returning from England; on hearing of the outbreak of the Revolution, his ship was diverted to Philadelphia. His arrival there alarmed the Continental Congress to the extent of appointing a committee headed by John Adams to look over his papers; after their report, he was sent to Connecticut under arrest. John Adams wrote of Skene,

    We have an infernal scoundrel here, a certain Col. S——, who comes over full of plans and machinations of mischief. He has had the most unreserved and unlimited confidence of Lord Dartmouth, during the whole of the past winter, and it seems for some time before; and together with a contemptible puppy of a parson, V——, has been contriving to debauch, seduce, and corrupt New-York.

After giving parole, Skene and his son lived with Sarah Hooker at her house in West Hartford, Connecticut. While he was there, there was some alarm when Skene’s “negro” slave John Anderson was appointed “governor of the negros” by the previous incumbent. Governor Trumbull and his council appointed a committee headed by Jesse Root to call on Skene and examine whether this was part of some plot, which Skene denied. Skene was eventually exchanged for James Lovell in October 1776.

On his return to England in 1777 he enlisted with General John Burgoyne’s expedition and was given the rank of colonel. Burgoyne used Skene’s home in Skenesborough as a headquarters in early July 1777, and Skene served Burgoyne as an advisor on local conditions and a commissary. Skene was sent along with Baum’s expedition that ended at the Battle of Bennington to recruit Loyalists; he was sent back by Baum to hurry along the reinforcements. As the reinforcements came up, reputedly Skene hailed some American scouts with a cry of “Are you for King George?” and got his horse shot out from under him.[13] He also may have been influential in Burgoyne’s decision to cut a road from Skenesborough to Fort Edward, perhaps with a view to improving access to his settlement. Skene was later part of the surrender of Burgoyne’s army.

Later life
In 1779 Skene and his son Andrew were attainted as Loyalists by New York State, and their property seized. Skene attempted vainly to regain his property, and then appealed to the British government for compensation and received in 1784 a pension of £180 per year, and later a lump sum of £20,000, which he used to purchase property in Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. He died in 1810 at his home Addersey Lodge, near Stoke Goldington and Hartwell, and is buried in the chapel at Hartwell.

Family
Skene’s father James Skene was a Jacobite who was captured at the Battle of Preston in 1715 and several times narrowly avoided execution; he died in 1736. His mother was Mary Ann Smith, the daughter of a Battersea minister. Skene’s brother James was a surgeon for the East India Company. He died in 1780 in London. Skene himself married Katherine Heyden, an heiress from Ireland, and they had three children: Andrew Philip (b. 1753), Mary Ann Margaret (b. 1755), and Katherine (b. 1756).

This is a collection of three items that are named to Captain Philip Wharton Skene.

– Brass Barrel Flintlock Pistol By Joseph Heylin, Cornhill, London, Circa 1770. Features an 8 inch brass barrel with octagonal breech in .62 caliber. It is signed in full along the top flat (Cornhil London), grooved foliate engraved tang, signed (Heylin) border engraved brass flat beveled lock, decorated with foliage on the stepped tail, engraved safety-catch, molded figured full stock carved, silver mounts comprising cast, pierced and chased side-plate, trophy of arms escutcheon engraved with owner’s initial P.W.S., border engraved spurred pommel with grotesque mask cap, trigger-guard with early style finial and engraved with a trophy of arms on the bow. The sterling silver trigger guard is marked with an “I-K” maker’s mark, a London City Hallmark, a Crowned Leopard London Hallmark and a “P” 1770 date stamp. Turned ramrod-pipes and ramrod with bone tip. Measures 14 inches in overall length. There is an Irish registration number on the barrel indicating that this pistol was in Ireland after 1820. Joseph Heylin is noted for making pistols of this type. He was free of the Gunmakers’ Company in 1757 and was elected Master in 1777. He is recorded as a gunmaker and stone-bow maker at 48 cornhill between 1757 and 1779, and he died in 1801.

– Framed Vellum commission signed by King George III of Great Britain appointing Philip Skene as Captain in the 10th Regiment of Foot. Signed by King George as “George R.” In the Upper Left Corner. Dated March 29th, 1768.

– 9ct Gold Carnelian Intaglio Carved Signet Ring of an image of a Georgian man inside a trophy of arms. The ring features a loop for wearing as a necklace, the rim is engraved with the initials P.W.S.