Like Lord Cornbury, most royal governors were born and bred in England, ordinarily among the gentry or aristocracy, where they learned to live lavishly, accumulating mounting debts. They sought a colonial governorship as an opportunity to recoup their fortunes by reaping every possible salary and fee. Sojourners, they expected to return to London within a few years enriched to enjoy a more fashionable society and to reenter the higher-stakes politics of the mother country.
