1722-1805

English colonial governor and antiquarian who sought to unite archaeology with history. Elected to membership in the Society of Antiquaries (1768), Pownall investigated prehistoric burial mounds and Roman ruins. He urged a reassessment of the objectives and methods most antiquarians employed for collecting artifacts, seeking to promote systematic historical writing informed by reliable archaeological research. Pownall is better known for advocating the union of Britain's North American territories in Administration of the Colonies (1764).