Jeremiah Basse

Who was Jeremiah Basse?

Jeremiah Basse was a governor of both West and East Jersey. He became governor of West Jersey in 1697, and became governor of East Jersey in the following year.

Basse was not an effective governor, however, after Andrew Hamilton returned to England in 1698, following an act of parliament which provided that "no other than a natural-born subject of England could serve in any public post of trust or profit." Basse was unable to effectively maintain a good administration during his term of governorship, so finally Hamilton was reappointed as the governor on 19 August 1699.

After being province secretary for Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury and entering the Cornbury ring, he was convicted during the governorship of John Lovelace for perjury.