History of New York City (prehistory–1664) as a city and to incidentally allow New York to celebrate its 350th anniversary just 11 years after its 300th. The English renamed the colony 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, remaining the largest and most important city in the colony of New York. History of New York City (prehistory–1664) The history of New York City has been influenced by the prehistoric geological formation during the last glacial period of the territory that is today New
Thomas Bell (Mayor of Gloucester) Thomas Bell (Mayor of Gloucester) Sir Thomas Bell the Elder (1486–1566) was a cap manufacturer, mayor of Gloucester, and member of Parliament. He was one of the city's largest employers and wealthiest citizens and a great benefactor of the city and its people. He is described in contemporaneous documents as a "capper". He invested much of his wealth in real estate released on the Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes in partnership with Richard Duke (c. 1515-1572), of Otterton, Devon, Clerk of the Court of Augmentations. He was thrice Mayor of Gloucester (1535–36, 1543–44 and 1553–54) and served four times as