Walter Barefoote (also Barefoot, fl. 1655 – d. 1688) was colonist and deputy governor of the

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was n ...

. From 1685 to 1686 he served as acting governor of the province. Little is known of his origin, although genealogists believe he may be descended from

Ezekiel Culverwell Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...

, a prominent English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

of the late 16th century. He came to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

in the 1650s, purchasing a house in

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town i ...

in 1658. He did not stay long in Kittery, selling the house there in 1661 and establishing a medical practice in nearby

Dover, New Hampshire Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,741 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in the New Hampshire Seacoast region and the fifth largest municipality in the state. It is the county se ...

in 1661. Despite his claimed Puritan family connections he was a confirmed Anglican, opposing the Puritan rule of the New Hampshire settlements by Massachusetts Bay Colony, and lending assistance to Quakers Puritans were trying to drive out of the province in 1662. When the

was chartered in 1680, Barefoote served as a deputy collector of customs during

John Cutt John Cutt (1613 – April 5, 1681) was the first president of the Province of New Hampshire. Cutt was born in Wales, emigrated to the colonies in 1646, and became a successful merchant and mill owner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was marri ...

's administration. He was appointed a councilor of the province when

Edward Cranfield Edward Cranfield ( fl. 1680–1696) was an English colonial administrator. Cranfield was governor of the Province of New Hampshire from 1682 to 1685, in an administration that was marked by hostility between Cranfield and the colonists. Cranfiel ...

was appointed governor in 1682. He was appointed deputy governor in January 1683, and became acting governor when Cranfield left the province in 1685. He served as acting governor until the province was absorbed into the

Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure rep ...

, on whose council he also sat. His will was written in early October 1688, and was formally proven in February 1688/9. His exact date of death is presumed to fall between these dates. Family details are unknown; his will mentions neither a wife nor children.

References

''New England Historical and Genealogical Register''''Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society'', Volume 39
(contains will and some biographic details) Colonial governors of New Hampshire 1688 deaths Year of birth unknown {{NewHampshire-politician-stub