- List of colonial governors of Rhode Island
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This is a list of the "judges," presidents, and governors of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations from 1638 to 1776.
Judges of Portsmouth
- William Coddington 1638-1639
- William Hutchinson 1639 - March 1640
Judge of Newport
Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island 1636, Chief Officer 1644-1647, President 1654-1657
- William Coddington 1639-1640
Governor of Rhode Island (Portsmouth and Newport)
- William Coddington 1640 - 1647
Chief Officer under the Patent of 1643 (Providence and Warwick)
- Roger Williams September 1644-May 1647
Presidents under the Patent of 1643
Richard Ward
William Greene- John Coggeshall May-1647-November 1647 (died in office)
- Jeremy Clarke May 1648-May 1649
- John Smith May 1649-May 1650
- Nicholas Easton May 1650-August 1651
- Samuel Gorton October 1651-May 1652 (Providence and Warwick only)
- John Smith May 1652-May 1653 (Providence and Warwick only)
- Gregory Dexter May 1653-May 1654 (Providence and Warwick only)
Governors of Newport and Portsmouth under the Coddington Commission
- William Coddington May 1651-May 1653
- John Sanford May 1653-1653 (died in office between June and November 1653)
Presidents under the Patent of 1643
- Nicholas Easton May 1654-September 1654
- Roger Williams September 1654-May 1657
- Benedict Arnold May 1657-May 1660
- William Brenton May 1660-May 1662
- Benedict Arnold May 1662-November 1663
Governors under the Royal Charter of 1663
Stephen Hopkins, Signatory of the Declaration of Independence, Governor 1755-1757, 1758-1762, 1767-1768- Benedict Arnold November 1663-May 1666
- William Brenton May 1666-1669
- Benedict Arnold 1669-1672
- Nicholas Easton 1672-1674
- William Coddington 1674-1676
- Walter Clarke 1676-1677
- Benedict Arnold 1677-1678 (died in office)
- William Coddington 1678 (died in office)
- John Cranston 1678-1680 (died in office)
- Peleg Sanford 1680-1683
- William Coddington, Jr. 1683-1685
- Henry Bull 1685-1686
- Walter Clarke 1686
The Rhode Island Charter was suspended from 1686-1689. During this time, Sir Edmund Andros served as Governor of the Dominion of New England, which included Rhode Island.
Governors
Joseph Wanton had Loyalist sympathies, but maintained neutrality during the American Revolutionary WarVacant May 1689-February 1690
- Henry Bull February 1690-May 1690
- John Easton May 1690-May 1695
- Caleb Carr May 1695-December 1695 (died in office)
- Walter Clarke 1696-1698 (resigned from office)
- Samuel Cranston 1698-1727
- Joseph Jenckes 1727-1732
- William Wanton 1732-1733 (died in office)
- John Wanton 1734-1740 (died in office)
- Richard Ward 1740-1743
- William Greene 1743-1745
- Gideon Wanton 1745-1746
- William Greene 1746-1747
- Gideon Wanton 1747-1748
- William Greene 1748-1755
- Stephen Hopkins 1755-1757
- William Greene 1757-1758 (died in office)
- Stephen Hopkins 1758-1762
- Samuel Ward 1762-1763
- Stephen Hopkins 1763-1765
- Samuel Ward 1765-1767
- Stephen Hopkins 1767-1768
- Josias Lyndon 1768-1769
- Joseph Wanton 1769-1775 (removed from office)
- Nicholas Cooke 1775-1776
See also
External links
Colonial Governors of Rhode Island Judges of Portsmouth
(1638–1640)
Judge of Newport
(1639–1640)Governor of Newport and Portsmouth
(1640–1647)Chief Officer (Providence
and Warwick) (1644–1647)Presidents of Rhode Island
(Patent of 1643) (1647–1663)Governors of Newport and Portsmouth
(Coddington Commission) (1651–1654)Governors of Rhode Island
(Charter of 1663) (1663–1686)Arnold · Brenton · Arnold · N. Easton · Coddington · W. Clarke · Arnold · Coddington · J. Cranston · P. Sanford · Coddington Jr. · Bull · W. ClarkeGovernors under Dominion
of New England (1686–1689)Governors of Rhode Island
(1690–1776)Italics: Gorton, Smith and Dexter were presidents of Providence and Warwick only, since Coddington had received a commission to remove Newport and Portsmouth from their jurisdiction, valid from 1651 to 1653; before and after these dates the President presided over all four towns of the colony. Under the Dominion of New England, Dudley only presided over the "Narragansett country," later to become Washington County, Rhode Island; the remainder of the colony later fell under Andros' administration.Categories:- Lists of American colonial governors
- Pre-state history of Rhode Island
- History of religion in the United States
- Rhode Island colonial people
- Rhode Island in the American Revolution
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