In 1685, the
Lords proprietors commissioned Quary as Provincial Secretary, and on July 12 he was appointed Governor of Carolina, replacing
Joseph West. In October Quary was replaced by former Governor
Joseph Morton. Suspecting that Quary was using his position to encourage
pirates, the proprietors removed him from all remaining positions in February 1688. Seeking a political comeback, Quary supported
Seth Sothel's takeover of the Governor's office in 1690, and was appointed Chief Justice. In 1692, Sothel was forced from office, and Quary fled South Carolina for
Philadelphia, where he came under the protection of
Maryland Gov.
Francis Nicholson. The
Navigation Act of 1696 created
admiralty courts, and Quary was appointed Judge of the Admiralty for the southern colonies, from
Pennsylvania southward. In 1701, Robert Quary was commissioned as Surveyor General of the Customs for
New Jersey and Pennsylvania; in 1703 this appointment was expanded to include all of
British America. In this position he served simultaneously on the Provincial Councils of five colonies:
Maryland, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia. Robert Quary died in Virginia in October 1712. ==References==