John Archdale was born in England on about May 5, 1642. An agent for the lords proprietors, Archidale first arrived in Carolina in about 1683. In 1694 he became the governor of the colony and the following year he set up his office in Charleston, where he set out in improving the transportation and taxation policies in both North and South Carolina. In 1696 when his son sold his share of the proprietary of Carolina, Archdale returned home to England. Archdale again served as a member of the propietary board from 1705 to 1708, but never returned to the Carolinas. He died in England in about 1710.