History of New York City (1665–1783) port British ships evacuated in 1783. The English had renamed the colony the Province of New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665, appointed Thomas Willett the first of the Mayors of New York. The city grew northward and remained the largest and most important city in the Province of New York, becoming the third largest in the British Empire after London and Philadelphia. The Dutch regained the colony briefly in 1673, then finally lost it permanently to the English in 1674 after the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Leisler's Rebellion, an uprising in which
Allan Willett in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising. Upon leaving the military, he started his own business in 1962, importing machinery for the manufacturer of packaging and plastics. The resulting business, Willett International Limited became a market leader in electronic labeling processes and won two Queen's Awards. In 2003 Willett International was sold to a competitor. He lived with his wife Anne in Chilham, Kent. He died on 18 July 2015. Willett was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1997 Birthday Honours for services to export. On 5 January 2002 he succeeded Robin