This is a list of the judges, presidents, and governors of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations from 1638 to 1776.
Governor of Providence [ edit ]
Judges of Portsmouth [ edit ]
Governor of Rhode Island (Portsmouth and Newport)[ edit ]
Chief Officer under the Patent of 1643 (Providence and Warwick)[ edit ]
Presidents under the Patent of 1643 [ edit ]
1st John Coggeshall of Newport; 21 May 1647 - 27 November 1647 (died in office)
2nd Jeremy Clarke of Newport; 16 May 1648 - 22 May 1649
3rd John Smith of Providence; 22 May 1649 - 23 May 1650
4th Nicholas Easton of Newport; 23 May 1650 - August 1651 (resigned)
5th Samuel Gorton of Warwick; October 1651 - 18 May 1652 (Providence and Warwick only)
6th John Smith of Providence; 18 May 1652 - 17 May 1653 (Providence and Warwick only)
7th Gregory Dexter of Providence; 17 May 1653 - 16 May 1654 (Providence and Warwick only)
8th Nicholas Easton of Newport; 16 May 1654 - 12 September 1654
9th Roger Williams of Providence; 12 September 1654 - 19 May 1657
10th Benedict Arnold of Newport; 19 May 1657 - 22 May 1660
11th William Brenton of Newport; 22 May 1660 - 22 May 1662
12th Benedict Arnold of Newport; 22 May 1662 - November 1663
Governors of Newport and Portsmouth under the Coddington Commission [ edit ]
William Coddington of Newport; 20 May 1651 - 17 May 1653
John Sanford of Portsmouth; 17 May 1653 - 1653 (died in office between June and November 1653)
Governor of the Dominion of New England [ edit ]
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. Andros was deposed on April 18, 1689.
Colonial Governors under the Royal Charter of 1663 [ edit ]
Vacant 20 December 1686 - 27 February 1690
Note - the Rhode Island Royal Charter of 1663 remained in effect until the Constitution of Rhode Island was ratified in 1842. For a list of governors of Rhode Island from 1775 to the present see List of 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 1644) (1647–1663) Governors of Newport and Portsmouth (Coddington Commission) (1651–1654) Governors of Rhode Island (Royal Charter of 1663 ) (1663–1686) Governors under Dominion of New England (1686–1689) Governors of Rhode Island (Royal Charter of 1663 ) (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 1654; before and after these dates the President presided over all four towns of the colony. Dudley presided over the "Narragansett Country" only, later to become Washington County, Rhode Island; Andros subsequently presided over the entire colony.