Surinam (English colony)

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Surinam (English colony) was a brief English settlement in South America, in the area that is now Suriname. It existed from 1650 to 1667 and was also called Willoughbyland.

How it started
- The colony was founded in 1650 by Lord Francis Willoughby, who had been the Governor of Barbados. Major Anthony Rowse carried out the establishment in Willoughby’s name.
- Willoughby later went to the settlement to strengthen it.

What the colony was like
- It covered about 30,000 acres and had a fort originally built by the French, called Fort Willoughby (later renamed Fort Zeelandia by the Dutch).
- The area had sugar plantations worked mainly by Indigenous people and African slaves. About 1,000 white settlers lived there, including Brazilian Jews who were drawn by religious freedom.
- The government combined a governor and a six‑man council to run the colony, with a 21‑person assembly of wealthy landowners that voted on proposals.

Rising trouble and decline
- The colony’s power and status waned after the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. Willoughby left for England, and while the royal grant later gave his successor responsibility for governing Surinam, unrest continued.

Key events in the final years
- The Second Anglo‑Dutch War began in 1665. Willoughby died in 1666 when his fleet was destroyed by a hurricane near Guadeloupe.
- In 1667 the Dutch captured Surinam and renamed the main settlement Fort Zeelandia. Five months later, the English recaptured it, but the Treaty of Breda that year said Surinam would belong to the Dutch.
- Seven years later, the Treaty of Westminster (1674) effectively exchanged Surinam back to the Dutch in return for New Amsterdam, which became New York City.

Aftermath
- Surinam eventually became part of the Dutch colony of Suriname. The English willoughbyland period ended with Surinam returning to Dutch control, and the area is today the independent country of Suriname.

Summary
Willoughbyland was England’s short‑lived effort to settle in South America. It flourished briefly with sugar plantations and a mixed population, but after wars and a shifting map of colonial control, the area became Dutch again and is now part of modern Suriname.