Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet

Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet (1608–1666) served King Charles I during the English Civil War.

He rose through the Royalist ranks during the conflict, but later had his land-holdings seized when the Cavaliers were finally defeated by Parliamentary forces.

Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, he was one of eight individuals rewarded with grants of land in Carolina by King Charles II for having supported his efforts to regain the throne.

And in further recompense for his great services, in conjunction with the Duke of Albemarle, Earl Clarendon, Earl Craven, and four other noble persons, granted by letters patent to them, their heirs, and successors, large dominions in Carolina, and the Bahama Islands.

[10] In 1663 King Charles II granted Colleton and another seven persons, called Lords Proprietors, the land called Carolina, named in honor of his father King Charles I. Colleton brought a group of settlers from the Caribbean Isle of Barbados, who brought with them slaves from Africa thus introducing slavery to Carolina.