List of colonial governors of North Carolina
This is a list of the colonial governors of the Province of North Carolina and preceding British colonies in the same region.
Roanoke Colony, 1585 - 1587
- Ralph Lane, 1585 - 1586
- John White, 1587
Proprietary Colony, 1664-1731
Governors of Albemarle Sound, 1664-1689
- William Drummond 1664-1667
- Samuel Stephens 1667-1669
- Peter Carteret 1670-1672
- John Jenkins 1672-1675
- Thomas Eastchurch 1675-1676
- John Jenkins 1676-1677
- Thomas Miller 1677
- John Harvey 1679
- Henry Wilkinson 1680 (appointed but never left England and did not serve) [1]
- John Jenkins 1680-1681
- Seth Sothel 1682-1689
Governors of Carolina, 1689-1710
In 1689-91, a system developed in which the Proprietors appointed one governor of the entire Province, who was based in Charleston. This official governed the northern section of the colony through a Deputy, who was in many ways autonomous. In the early years, the deputy governor was known as the governor of "Ye Lands North and East of Cape Feare." Eventually, this system gave way to the creation of two separate governments.
Deputy Governors (North Carolina)
- John Gibbs 1689-1690
- Thomas Jarvis 1690-1694
- Thomas Harvey 1694-1699
- Henderson Walker 1699-1703
- Robert Daniell 1703-1705
- Thomas Cary 1705-1711 (refused to abandon his office to Glover)
- William Glover 1706-1710
Governors (South Carolina)
- Philip Ludwell 1690-1693
- Thomas Smith 1693-1694
- Joseph Blake 1694
- John Archdale 1695-1696 (at one point governed from the North)
- Joseph Blake 1696-1700
- James Moore 1700-1703
- Nathaniel Johnson 1703-1709
- Edward Tynte 1709-1710
- Robert Gibbes 1710-1711
Governors of North Carolina, 1711-1731
- Edward Hyde 1711-1712
- Thomas Pollock 1712-1714 (acting)
- Charles Eden 1714-1722
- Thomas Pollock 1722 (acting)
- William Reed 1722-1724 (acting)
- George Burrington 1724-1725
- Richard Everard 1725-1731
Royal Colony, 1731-1775
- George Burrington 1731-1734
- Nathaniel Rice 1734 (acting)
- Gabriel Johnston 1734-1752
- Nathaniel Rice 1752-1753 (acting)
- Matthew Rowan 1753-1754 (acting)
- Arthur Dobbs 1753-1765
- William Tryon 1765-1771
- James Hasell 1771, 1774 (acting)
- Josiah Martin 1771-1775 (Martin considered himself to remain in office throughout the Revolutionary War, but he left North Carolina in July of 1775)