List of colonial governors of New Jersey

Settled areas of New Netherland now constitute the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut as well as parts of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

[33] The Swedes sought to expand their influence by creating an agricultural (tobacco) and fur-trading colony, and thus bypassing French and English merchants.

[36] Willem Kieft, Director of New Netherland, objected to the Swedish presence, but Minuit ignored his protests knowing that the Dutch were militarily impotent.

[37] As a reprisal, the Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant sent an army to the Delaware River, which compelled the surrender of the Swedish forts and settlements in 1655.

[34]: pp.155ff  The Swedish settlers continued to enjoy local autonomy, retaining their own militia, religion, court, and lands, however, until the English conquest of the New Netherland colony on 24 June 1664.

This attempt ended in an unsuccessful mutiny, and for the next seven years Plowden remained in Virginia managing the affairs of the intended colony, and selling land rights to adventurers and speculators.

[46] Plowden returned to England in 1649 to raise funds, and promote the colony as a refuge for Roman Catholics exiled during the English Civil War.

[49]: pp.43–44  Nicholls would remain governor until 1668, but the Duke of York granted part of the New Netherland territory (that between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, present day New Jersey), to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley for their devoted service to the Duke of York and his brother Charles II during the English Civil War.

By the 1665 Concession and Agreement, the Lords Proprietor outlined the distribution of power in the province, offered religious freedom to all inhabitants, and established a system of quit-rents, annual fees paid by settlers in return for land.

In 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch were able to recapture New Amsterdam (renamed "New York" by the English) under Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and Captain Anthony Colve.

[59] Due to Byllynge's financial difficulties encountered in his attempts to assert his title to the colony, he sought investment from William Penn, and others.

Title issues were settled in 1676 with the negotiation of the Quintipartite Deed between Carteret, Penn, Byllynge, Nicholas Lucas, and Gawen Lawrie dividing the colony into East and West Jersey.

[60] West Jersey was largely a Quaker venture focused on the settlement of the lower Delaware River area, and was associated with William Penn and prominent figures in the colonization of the Pennsylvania.

[9] This arrangement lasted for approximately thirty years, but because of issues of administration, the proprietors of both colonies surrendered their right to government to Queen Anne.

[65] The Proprietors of East Jersey were angered by the revocation of their charters, but retained their property and petitioned Andros, the governor of the dominion, for manorial rights.

[66]: pp.240–250 [67] Leisler's Rebellion in New York City deposed Nicholson in what amounted to an ethnic war between English newcomers and the Dutch who were old settlers.

Because the crown's representatives were generally incompetent or corrupt, and the royal governor often ignored New Jersey and its affairs, the colonists had substantial autonomy, and the proprietors continued to wield considerable power through the retained control of land titles and sales.

[85] It was a diverse colony, as Queen Anne and Royal Governor Hunter began to important Palatine Germans into New York's Hudson Valley in a plan to produce naval stores.

[90]: p.39 After tensions were provoked with the Penn's Walking Purchase in 1737, relations between colonists and the region's Native American tribes became increasingly hostile.

[106] During this time, the colonial government provided generous monetary rewards to colonists who killed Indians, established a line of fortifications in the Minisink (i.e., the upper valley of the Delaware River), and mustered military units (the New Jersey Frontier Guard and 1st New Jersey Regiment) to defend this frontier and carry out punitive raids on Indian villages.

[106][107] Hostilities began to subside with the Treaty of Easton in October 1758, negotiated by New Jersey Royal Governor Francis Bernard, Pennsylvania Attorney-General Benjamin Chew, and chiefs of 13 Native American nations, led by Teedyuscung.

[112][113] In 1766, Governor William Franklin issued the charters to establish Queens College (now Rutgers University) in New Brunswick to "educate the youth in language, liberal, the divinity, and useful arts and sciences" and for the training of future ministers for the Dutch Reformed Church.

[114][115][116] In the last year of William Franklin's tenure, his power was diminished and he became marginalized by the rebellious sentiment rising in the colony's residents.

A red and white brick house with a sign in front of the house.
The Proprietary House (built 1762–64) in Perth Amboy , was the last residence for a Royal Governor of New Jersey. It is the only Provincial Governor's Mansion from the Thirteen Colonies that is still standing. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
A hand-drawn parchment map with territories colored red, green, and yellow, and captions written in Latin
A 1685 reprint of the 1650 map Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ showing Virginia , New Netherland, and New England
A map of New Jersey with the upper right portion colored magenta (New Netherland), and the lower left portion colored blue (New Sweden).
The relative locations of New Netherland (magenta) and New Sweden (blue) in eastern North America
A man with a crown, surrounded by a circle of Latin inscriptions, with the name "Sir Edmund Plowden" on the bottom.
Sir Edmund Plowden (1590–1659)
A split portrait of John Berkeley (left) and George Carteret (right).
The two Lords Proprietor of the Province of New Jersey: John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton (left) and Sir George Carteret (right)
A map of New Jersey, with the left side yellow (West Jersey), the right side green (East Jersey), divided by an orange line and a red line.
The provinces of West Jersey and East Jersey are shown in yellow and green respectively, as divided by the Keith Line (in red) and the compromise Coxe and Barclay line (in orange) [ 58 ]
An oak tree with red leaves against a blue sky background.
John Fenwick, the founder of New Salem (now Salem, New Jersey) the first Quaker settlement in West Jersey, signed a treaty with the Lenape beneath the "Salem Oak" in 1675. The oak tree is said to be approximately 600 years old. [ 82 ]
A three-storey building with a clock tower and American flag.
Built in 1756, Nassau Hall , or "Old Nassau" is the oldest building at Princeton University which was chartered by New Jersey's royal governor ten years earlier. [ 102 ] [ 103 ]