Born in 1729, William Tryon was a British general officer who made his career while working in the 13 colonies. Serving as Governor of North Carolina and Governor of New York, Tryon was kind of a big deal across both sides of the pond. In his 1990 academic book about Tryon, Paul David Nelson argues that Tryon excelled at his job because he "understood American thinking."

But until Diana Gabaldon wrote him into her Outlander series, the closest Tryon got to immortality were a few streets, parks, and counties named after him. With the TV show Outlander, Tryon might even become a household nameat least among avid followers of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Frasers (Caitriona Balfe) adventures in love and historical interventions.

Tryon was first introduced as a minor character in season 4 of Outlander. Come season 5, out February 16, Tryons presence will take on even greater importance. The trouble swirls around Jamie and Tryons deal: In exchange for the land at Frasers Ridge, Jamie will cooperate with Tryon.

Jamie's first assignment from Tryon? Gather a militia to battle the Regulators, a band of North Carolina backcountry farmers who incited riots in the name of political change and fairer taxes. Murtagh (Duncan LaCroix), Jamies long-lost godfather, is a Regulator, along with many other Scottish Highlanders. Do we sense a complication? Indeed, we do.

Based on Gabaldons The Fiery Cross, season 5 of Outlander captures a time when North Carolina actually went to war against itself. The real Tryon played a major role in the matter. Heres what you need to know about him, and thus his place in Outlander.

William Tryon was born in 1729 to a prominent family in Surrey, England. In 1751, when he was about 22 years old, Tryon began his career in the English army, starting in the First Regiment of Foot Guards. He eventually fought against the French in the Seven Years War.

But his career really took off after he married London heiress Margaret Wake. By 1758, Tryon had risen to the level of lieutenant colonel in his regiment by his own effortsbut it was Margaret, with her wealth and connections to royalty and the ruling class, that pushed his career to the next level.

When Arthur Dobbs, the elderly governor of North Carolina, wanted to retire, Margaret's relative, colonial administrator Viscount Hillsborough, likely put in a good word for Tryon. In 1764, Tryon was named lieutenant governor of North Carolina. Tryon, his wife, and their young daughter landed on the shores of North Carolina in 1765.

Tryon would become one of North Carolina's most capable governors, but was not without his controversies.

"He's the figurehead of the machine. He's part of the world's greatest army to the world's greatest empire," Downie says about his character, who is often quite cold, in an interview with Outlander: Behind the Scenes. "If you grow up believing that there's nothing better than the English and your part in it, then your humanity shifts."

Born to a wealthy London family, Margaret Wake Tryon used her privilege to advance her studies.

As politically engaged as her husband, Margaret preferred studying military strategy to keeping company with other wives. Some of her peers called her "mad," but Nelson, Tryon's biographer, called her an "extraordinary woman." Reportedly, she insisted on being called "Your Excellency," like her husband. North Carolina's Wake County is named after her.

The couple had two children together: A daughter, Margaret, and a son who died in infancy. Margaret died at the age of 30 in England.

At first, Tryon won the support of his North Carolina constituents. Tryon landed during the Stamp Act crisis, and was sympathetic to why North Carolinians opposed the tax. Tryon attempted to lessen the effects of the Stamp Tax, but still insisted it be paidever loyal to his superiors' orders.

The real trouble began when he levied his own controversial tax in order to build a lavish capitol and governor's residence. "His crib is really quite something," Downie said.

Suffice to say cash-poor farmers weren't pleased their money was used to fund his new home, nicknamed Tryon's Palace. "This luxurious Governors mansion, known everywhere as Tryons Palace, became a symbol of royal greed and corruption," Meltzer and Josh Mensch write in The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington.

The brewing conflict pitted Tryon and colonial officials against a resistance group called the Regulators, comprised of backcountry farmers who used riots to enact political change.

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Season 5 of Outlander will focus on the conflict, and the Regulators' defeat by Tryon's militia at the Battle of Alamance in 1771.

For real. But first, let's back up. As a reward for squashing the Regulators, Tryon was given the governorship of the New York colony.

When he landed in New York, Tryon was jealous that the crowds gathered were not for him, but for the new Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington, and the future first President of the United States.

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From then on, Washington became Tryon's enemy and target. Thanks to his time in North Carolina, Tryon had grown wary of revolutionary sentiment (in fact, the Battle of Alamance in considered to be one of the sparks of the Revolutionary War). Tryon was determined to strike back at the revolutionaries and reassert his power," according to Meltzerand that meant Washington, along with other revolutionaries.

Tryon developed a network of spies throughout the colonies and worked to recruit rebel soldiers to the Loyalist side, usually through bribery. Two of those soldiers were part of Washington's Life Guard, the elite squad hired to keep Washington safe. They were an essential part of Tryon's 1776 plan to assassinate Washington. When the plot was uncovered, Washington ordered Thomas Hickey, one of the suspected bodyguards, to be executed.

From the point of view of the Americans, [Tryon] can only be viewed as a villain, Meltzer and Mensch write in The First Conspiracy. Nonetheless, he was a man of influence and power, who was often at the center of seismic events. Most important, if his plot was successful, American historyand perhaps America itselfwould not exist today.

Tryon was not the nicest chap. In 1779, he led a series of controversial raids along the Connecticut coast, laying waste far beyond what was ordered.

When he was ordered to destroy rebels' supplies in Danbury, Connecticut in 1777, for example, he instead burned down the entire town. After burning Danbury, Tryon and his 800 soldiers marched to Fairfield and burned down half of its homes, and most of its shops and businesses. Four people died. Allegedly, Tryon also killed women and children.

The American army accused him of committing war crimes, but he was never tried.

Tryon returned to England in 1780. He died there eight years later. After a storied, and controversial, career in North America, his name is still honored in parks, streets, and counties throughout the East Coast.

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Who Was the Real Governor Tryon From "Outlander"? The True Story - Oprah Mag