Christopher Gale: First Chief Justice of North Carolina

Near here stood Kirby Grange, the plantation home of Christopher Gale, the first Chief Justice of colonial North Carolina. Born in York, England, around sixteen seventy-nine, Gale arrived in Carolina around seventeen hundred and quickly established himself as an Indian trader, explorer, and lawyer. He married the widow of Governor Thomas Harvey in seventeen oh two, gaining both resources and connections.

Governor Robert Daniel appointed him to the General Court in seventeen oh three. After being captured by the French while returning from Charles Town, Gale reached home in July seventeen twelve and was restored to the presidency of the General Court, the colony's top judicial post. He held the position through some of the colony's most turbulent years, including the aftermath of the Tuscarora War.