Edward Trelawny
- Born:
- 1699, Trelawne, Cornwall, England
- Died:
- January 16, 1754, London
- Title / Office:
- governor (1738-1752), Jamaica
Edward Trelawny (born 1699, Trelawne, Cornwall, England—died January 16, 1754, London) was a British governor of Jamaica from April 1738 to September 1752 who ended a long-standing war between white planters and descendants of formerly enslaved Black workers known as Maroons.
Trelawny was a member of a noted Cornish family and the son of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, bishop of Exeter. In March 1739 he arranged a peace agreement, accepted by the English planters, that guaranteed freedom and granted land to the Maroons. Considered a firm and tactful governor, he worked in unusual harmony with the colonial legislature.
Trelawny took part in the War of Jenkins’ Ear (which merged into the American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession, 1740–48), between Great Britain and Spain.