glorious victory." He handed it to Parke and charged him with delivering it to Queen Anne in London. Parke rode via horseback for eight days non-stop, personally delivering the note to the queen in Windsor Castle, Berkshire. In gratitude for his actions, the queen rewarded him with a bejewelled portrait miniature of herself, an annual gratuity of 1,000 pounds, and her personal thanks. Parke claimed that Marlborough had offered him the position of governor of Virginia in reward for his military service in Europe. However, after returning to England, he discovered that George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney had been appointed to the position instead. Infuriated, he petitioned for an equivalent position, and was offered the governorship of the Leeward Islands, which were host to a number of English colonial possessions. Parke reluctantly accepted the posting, writing that it was "the hardest taske of all the Queen's Governors, tho' the least sallary." Governorship and murder On 14 July 1706, Parke arrived by ship in the English colony of Antigua. After officially assuming the role of governor, his first months in office were occupied with directing efforts to improve the fortifications of the Leeward Islands in order to defend the region against French attacks by sea; he also engaged in efforts to suppress smuggling activities carried out by colonial planters. However, Falkner noted that Parke's "commendable vigour was unmatched by any sense of tact." During his tenure as governor, he quickly made enemies with several members of the colonial elite, including fellow administrator Christopher Codrington and local Royal African Company factor Edward Chester. Parke used his powers as governor to confiscate estates owned by Codrington, who responded by stirring up colonial discontent against him; Chester's anger against Parke stemmed from discovering that he was engaged in an open sexual affair with Chester's wife. Shocked by the lawless state of the Leeward Islands, he embarked on a campaign to restore the rule of law to the region. During his tenure as governor, Parke was subjected to two assassination attempts from discontented colonists. The first assassin mistakenly shot at an army officer who he had mistaken for Parke. The second attempt was carried out by a Black marksman (named Sandy or Alexander) who was hired by the Rev. James Field, which also failed to kill him. In the first week of December 1710, the governor's council requested Parke to convene the colonial legislature