List of colonial governors of New Jersey

Table columns:
Portrait
Governor
Took office
Left office
Notes

Table rows:
cells: Lewis Morris (1671–1746)
1738
1746
Previously served in the Provincial Council, Assembly and as acting governor.[97] Morris died in office in 1746.[97] Morris County, Morristown, Morris Plains, and Morris Township are named in his honour.[119] Morris's tenure was marked with bitter disputes and deadlocks between himself and factions in the colonial legislature—so bitter that after his death when his widow requested the arrears on his salary, the legislature refused citing that the request was "a subject so universally disliked...there is none will say one Word in its Favour."[97]
cells: —
John Hamilton
1746
1747
See notes above.
cells: —
John Reading (1686–1767)
1747
1747
Acting governor in his role as President of Council. Readington Village and Readington Township in Hunterdon County was named in his honour.[120]
cells: Jonathan Belcher (1681/2–1757)
1747
1757
Aided the early development of The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).[111] Fortified the upper Delaware River valley to prevent Indian attacks during the French and Indian War.[105] Thomas Pownall was appointed to be Belcher's Lieutenant Governor (1755–57), the first since Richard Ingoldesby served under Lord Cornbury and Lord Lovelace, and the last until the state reinstated the office in 2010.[121] Pownall assumed the governorship of Massachusetts on August 3, 1757.[122] Belcher died in office on 31 August 1757.[123]
cells: —
John Reading (1686–1767)
1757
1758
See notes above.
cells: Francis Bernard (1712–79)
1758
1760
Arrived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on 14 June 1758.[124] In late 1759 was appointed governor of Massachusetts.[125] Bernardsville, a borough in Somerset County is named in his honour.[126]
cells: —
Thomas Boone (c.1730–1812)
1760
1761
Appointed in 1759, but did not arrive in New Jersey until 10 May 1760, and did not meet with the colonial assembly until 30 October 1760.[127] In 1761, Boone was appointed Governor of South Carolina.[128] Boonton in Morris County was named in his honour.[129][130]
cells: —
Josiah Hardy (1715–90)
1761
1763
Son of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy (1680–1744), Lord commissioner of the Admiralty, brother to Sir Charles Hardy (1716–80), Royal Governor of New York.[131] Hardy gained “a reputation for promptness, attentiveness and openness” as New Jersey's governor.[131] Replaced in 1763 in an effort to impose greater imperial authority over the colonies following the French and Indian War.[131] Hardyston Township in Sussex County was named in his honour.[132]
cells: William Franklin (c.1730–1814)
1763
1776
Despite his reputation for arrogance, stubbornness and a fiery temper, Franklin is considered one of the more popular and successful chief executives in New Jersey history.[133] Issued charters to found Queen's College (now Rutgers University).[114] Franklin was placed under house arrest by colonial militia in 1776 by the order of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, an entity he referred to as an "illegal assembly."[115] Franklin Township and Franklin Lakes in Bergen County,[134] and possibly Franklin Township in Somerset County,[135] were named in his honour.

Questions about this table:
originalText: who was the first governor of new jersey colony
answer: answerTexts: Lewis Morris