Busy months followed. Homes were stripped for their furnishings. Linens, silver, clothing, and various personal articles were packed into chests and boxes. Tearful groups gathered at the landing place to bid farewell to friends and neighbors. Some residents were able to sell their property to the English, who were at first hard-pressed to find accommodations, but much remained unsold and was left in the custody of Spanish agents until more English buyers might appear. Some, including that of the Church, was deeded in trust to two friendly English traders, John Gordon and Jesse Fish. On July 30, 1763, Major Francis Ogilvie arrived at St. Augustine with an English regiment. English soldiers in their bright red coats paraded brazenly on the Plaza green, while remaining Spaniards looked on in sullen resentment. Governor Feliú and the last of the Spanish families sailed on January 21, 1764. The departing Spaniards took with them all of their movable possessions including, it is said, the bones of their former governor and the remains of several of their Saints. [Illustration: _The British divided the territory into two provinces—East Florida, with St. Augustine as its capital, and West Florida, with Pensacola as its capital._] New Orleans Mississippi River GEORGIA 1764 BOUNDARY 1763 BOUNDARY WEST FLORIDA ★Pensacola Mobile Apalachicola River EAST FLORIDA Chattahoochee ★St. Augustine New Smyrna Records show that St. Augustine at the time of the Spanish evacuation had a population of 3,096—961 men, chiefly soldiers and officials; 798 women, and 1,337 children. The majority went to Cuba and the West Indies to find new homes. The English flag with its cross of St. George waved over the capital. The stout Castillo, the narrow streets, and the name St. Augustine remained. _British Rule Begins_ St. Augustine became virtually deserted except for the presence of the English staff and garrison. Dust and cobwebs soon covered the Spanish shrines. Weeds and brush grew deep in the yards of the vacated homes. As time went on a few English families began to move in, and English gentlemen of wealth and standing arrived to look over this new province which their country had acquired. On a hot August day of 1764 a salute of the fort’s guns greeted the arrival of Colonel James Grant, who came from London to serve as East Florida’s first English governor. He had earlier led an expedition against French-held Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) and had served in the Cherokee Indian wars in Carolina.