John Forbes & Company

John Forbes was born in Scotland, and he received his education at King's College in old Aberdeen, where he studied Greek, mathematics, philosophy and divinity. The University of Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts in 1763. Later the same year, he was ordained by the bishops of the Church of England as deacon and priest. After Florida became a British possession, the Spanish evacuated, leaving few people in the area, so the English tried to encourage new settlers, and parliament.

Appointed ministers to the area, including John Forbes. On February 2, 1769, he married Dolly Murray of Milton, Massachusetts. He was later made a member of the Colonial Council, and by 1774 he had become the sole Judge Surrogate of the Court of Vice-Admirality and Assistant Judge of the Courts of Common Law in the province. He later returned to England and died there in 1783. The Forbes Purchase refers the purchase of 1,250,000 acres of land in Middle Florida by the Forbes Company.