¶Robert Barclay, 1648-1690, was a Scottish Quaker, and the absentee governor of the American 'province' of East New Jersey; he is considered one of the great theological writers of the seventeenth century. Though his fervent defence of Quakerism caused him to be arrested a number of times, he eventually became a favourite of James II and spent time at Court. He was an absentee governor of East Jersey from 1682-1690, and never actually visited the colony, instead he appointed deputy governors who were based there.