Edward Bancroft

Edward Bancroft (January 9, 1744 – September 8, 1821) was an American physician and double agent in the American Revolution.

Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, he worked as a spy for Benjamin Franklin when he was secretary to the American Commission in Paris. However, he was also a spy for the British who would report on American and French dealings.

Early life
Edward Bancroft was born on January 9, 1744, in Westfield, Massachusetts. His father died when Edward was only two years old, and Edward's mother was forced to carry for the family. She remarried five years later, and Edward moved to Connecticut to live with his stepfather David Bull. In his time living at Connecticut, Bancroft notably studied under Silas Deane. At the age of 16, Bancroft was apprenticed to a physician. Bancroft later fled his master (to whom he owed a debt), though Bancroft would later return and repay the debt.

On July 14, 1763, Bancroft traveled to Surinam, becoming a medical chief at one of the plantations. He soon expanded his practice to multiple plantations and wrote a study of Surinam's environment. Of note is his discovery that the Torpedo Fish discharged electricity. However, Bancroft grew tired of Surinam and left in 1766. He then spent one year traveling between North America and South America before traveling to London.

Arrival at London
Once he arrived at London, Bancroft became a physician's student at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He also published a book entitled Natural History of Guinea in 1769. This book attracted the attention of Paul Wentworth, New Hampshire's colonial agent in London, and Bancroft was hired to survey Wenworth's plantation in Surinam, in the hopes that Wenworth would be able to increase his profit. Bancroft revisited Surinam for a couple months to observe Wenworth's plantation, and then returned back to London.

After he returned to London, Bancroft encountered another colonial agent in London, Benjamin Franklin. Bancroft and Franklin became friends, and Bancroft became a spy for Franklin.

Spying for Franklin
While Franklin was in London, Bancroft was used as a spy in order to support Franklin's colonial goals. However, evidence as to whether Bancroft continued spying after Franklin left London is less clear, although most agree that Bancroft maintained his position as a colonial spy. For example, when the Committee for Secret Correspondence sent Silas Deane, Bancroft's former teacher, to Paris to France, a letter sent by Franklin to Deane instructs Deane to meet with Bancroft.

Interestingly, just one day after Deane arrived in France on June 7, 1776, he sent Bancroft a letter asking him to come to France. In the letter, Deane said that the meeting was about procuring goods for Indian trade, and Deane enclosed 30 pounds for travel expenses. Bancroft met with Deane on June 8, and Bancroft learned that Deane's purpose in France was to establish French aid to the colonies. While Bancroft declined the invitation to attend negotiations, he served as Deane's assistant and interpreter. The meetings would later result in France's sending supplies to be used by the colonists.

Deane also informed Bancroft that colonial leaders hoped to inspire a war against England (specifically, a Bourbon-Prussian coalition). The colonists hoped that this would force England to attend to other matters besides the colonies. Deane and other colonists were of the belief that the French would enter such a coalition, and for a time it looked as if this might happen. This coalition never came to be, but it greatly troubled Bancroft. On July 26, 1776, Bancroft left France and headed back to London. Before leaving, he agreed to Deane that he would spy for the colonists through using his contacts in England.

Spying for the British
Bancroft, although having previously worked as a spy for Benjamin Franklin, was not a radical promoter of rebellion, and the possibility of a French war against England scared him. Although he agreed to Deane that he would spy for the colonists, he had his reservations. Bancroft did not want to see what he thought would be the end of Britain and separation between Britain and the colonies. Paul Wentworth, recently recruited by the British Secret Service, was able to arrange a meeting between Bancroft, William Eden (chief of the British Secret Service), and Lords Suffolk and Weymouth, and Bancroft agreed to be a double agent for the British. Soon, Bancroft's friend Franklin arrived at Paris to negotiate French aid for the colonies. Bancroft was ordered to associate himself with Franklin. Once arriving at Paris, Franklin appointed Bancroft as the Secretary to the American Commission. For his spying, Bancroft was given a pension of 200 pounds (later on increased to 500 pounds).

Bancroft's reports dealt with interactions between the French and the Americans. Bancroft turned over his spy reports in the following manner: he would address a letter to "Mr. Richards" and sign it "Edward Edward." The letter would be about gallantry, but in between the lines Bancroft would write his reports in special ink. Every Tuesday, once he had completed his letter, he would place it in a bottle, tie a string around the bottle, and place the bottle in a hole in a certain box tree after 9:30 PM. An English official would pick the message up and replace it with orders. Bancroft would later on return that night to recover his bottle. It is said that, through this method, King George III received the French-American Treaty just two days after it was signed. In addition, Bancroft was often sent on spying missions to London by Franklin and Deane, and was able to report to people such as Lord Suffolk.

Franklin's Knowledge of Bancroft's Spying
There is some debate as to whether Benjamin Franklin knew that Bancroft was a British spy. Franklin wrote that, even though he suspected one associate of being a spy, as long as he did not provide the suspect any private information, there was nothing to be worried about and the spy need not be dismissed. Even if Franklin had discovered the true occupation of Bancroft, he never revealed it explicitly in any of his remaining writings. Whether or not Franklin did know that Bancroft was a spy, what's clear is that Bancroft was able to get a huge amount of information regarding American-French relations. However, even with this knowledge, the British were unable to stop France from allying with the Americans.

Life after Revolutionary War
At the end of the American Revolutionary War, Bancroft received English and French patents giving him the right to import yellow oak-bark. This trade made Bancroft a rich man. In 1794, Bancroft published "Experimental Researches Concerning Permanent Colors," a book he updated in 1813.

Bancroft's occupation as a double-agent stayed hidden until 1891, when British papers were disclosed to the public.