<P> Governor of the Colony of North Carolina was the top executive of the government of the British colony of North Carolina . The Carolina colony which comprised all of the land below Virginia and north of Spanish Florida was founded in 1663 . It was controlled by the Lords Proprietors, a group of eight English noblemen led informally by member Anthony Ashley - Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury . Dissent over governance of the province led to the appointment of a deputy governor to administer the northern half of the colony in 1691 . </P> <P> The office of Governor of the separate colony of North Carolina was first recognized in 1712 when Edward Hyde received his commission from the Lords Proprietors . </P>

Who is in charge of north carolina colony