Robert Gibbes (January 9, 1644 – June 24, 1715) was an English Landgrave, chairman and acting governor of the province of South Carolina between 1710-1712.
This sparked a conflict between both the oppositions and their supporters which finished with the Lords Proprietors declaring the election of Gibbes illegal (although they allowed them to rule for almost a year) and the appointment of Charles Craven as governor of South Carolina in 1711, who didn't arrive until 1712.
[3] Sometime before 1670, he and his brother, Thomas, attempted to find a settlement in Cape Fear, North Carolina for the Lords Proprietors, but their efforts failed.
[4] Gibbes won the position of governor after receiving only one vote more than his opponent, Thomas Broughton, which was achieved through bribery.
In one incident, Broughton took gunmen and a group of slaves from his plantation and went to Charles Town in order to assert his right to access the government council.
These included many sailors that favored Broughton, who gathered on ships in the local port with the intention of destroying the drawbridge.
After much altercation and several discussions between both parties, the Lords Proprietors decided not to support any of them, nor Gibbes or Broughton, although the former acted as governor in meantime.
Many of the local Native Americans abandoned the area shortly after the war began, taking all Tuscarora captive, except for one girl who was sold into slavery in the province of South Carolina.
Barnwell wrote to the acting governor Robert Gibbes in Charles Town that they had won the war and now had many provisions at their disposal, including fruit trees.