Carolina: Governors (Albemarle): 1665-1692

Governor of the County of Albemarle
Feb/Mar 1665 - 1667/1668	William Drummond [1]
1667/1668 - Mar 1670	Samuel Stephens [2]
10/20 Mar 1670 - Jun/Jul 1672	Peter Carteret [3]
Deputy Governor
Jun/Jul 1672 - Sep? 1675	John Jenkins
Sep? 1675 - Oct 1676	office vacant [4]
Oct 1676 - c.15/25 Jun 1677	John Jenkins
President of the Council
c.15/25 Jun 1677 - 4/14 Dec 1677	Thomas Miller [5]
4/14 Dec 1677 - 1679	office vacant
Governor
1679/1680	John Harvey [6]
1679/1680 - 17/27 Dec 1681	John Jenkins
1682? - Sep/Oct 1689	Seth Sothel [7]
Nov? 1689 - Aug/Sep 1690	John Gibbs [8]
May? 1690 - 11/21 Apr 1692	Philip Ludwell [9]

The bearer of Drummond's commission reached Albemarle on 23 Feb/5 Mar 1665 and likely delivered it to Drummond shortly thereafter.
The commission for Stephens was issued on 8/18 Oct 1667 and dispatched from England later that month. Stephens received it by the end of 1667 or in early 1668. He died in office before 7/17 Mar 1670, and his successor was appointed by the Council at its meeting on 10/20 Mar 1670, possibly held in Albemarle.
Carteret was authorized by the Grand Council to depart on mission to England on 27 Apr/7 May 1672 and by 11/21 Jul 1672 he was in New York. He never returned to Carolina and his deputy, Jenkins, was overthrown by rebels.
Jenkins was imprisoned by rebels and Thomas Eastchurch as speaker of the Assembly apparently exrecised executive functions. Jenkins was released and voted "Generalissime" by rebels, regaining the control of government by Oct 1676, but ceased to hold the office of deputy governor under the Proprietors. His status before the arrival of Miller is unknown.
Miller was appointed to preside in the Council by Thomas Eastchurch who had been commissioned Governor on 21 Nov/1 Dec 1676, but never landed in Carolina. A group of rebels imprisoned Miller on 4/14 Dec 1677 and then prevented Eastchurch from entering the province.
Harvey was appointed to exercise the function of governor, pending the release of Governor Seth Sothell who had been captured by pirates en route to America. There is evidence that Harvey attended the court in August 1679 and signed a document issued by the Council on 5/15 Dec 1679. He died before 5/15 Feb 1680.
The date of Sothel's assumption of the governorship is not known. Extant records provide no information about the government of Albemarle in the year following Jenkins's death on 17/27 Dec 1681. It is possible that Sothel reached the colony and took office before or soon after Jenkins’s death; it is also possible that an acting governor, chosen by the council, served in the interim. Sothel was in Albemarle prior to 1/11 Mar 1683, when he issued a letter of administration upon an estate. He was overthrown most likely in Sep/Oct 1689—certainly after he witnessed a will on 25 Jul/4 Aug 1689, and before the Proprietors wrote to him on 2/12 Dec 1689, informing Sothel that they had received word that "the people under yo^r Governm^t have risen upon you."
Gibbs was either designated by Sothel or assumed the governorship before 16/26 Nov 1689, the date on which he was named as buyer of a plantation in a deed. He denounced Ludwell in a declaration of 2/12 Jun 1690 and departed for England in Aug/Sep 1690 to seek resolution of their dispute alongside Ludwell.
Ludwell was commissioned "Governour of that part of our Province of Carolina that lyes north and east of Cape feare" by the Palatine and Lords Proprietors on 5/15 Dec 1689 and assumed the government probably in May 1690. He sailed for England in Aug/Sep 1690, where he was appointed "Governor and Comander in Cheif of Carolina" on 2/12 Nov 1691. His commission was read and published in Charles Town on 11/21 Apr 1692 and he took the oath of office on 14/24 Apr 1692.