From 1692 to 1699, Samuel Allen was the governor of New Hampshire. For most of his tenure, he remained in London, pursuing legal actions relevant to proprietary land claims he had purchased from the Masons, but he came to the colony briefly before the arrival of his replacement as governor, the Earl of Bellomont. From 1699 to 1741, the governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay was also commissioned as governor of New Hampshire. The lieutenant governor controlled the province, acting as governor unless the commissioned governor was present. In 1741 the governance of Massachusetts and New Hampshire was divided. As a result, during the tenures of the last two governors, Benning and John Wentworth, the role of the lieutenant governor diminished. John Temple, the last lieutenant governor, apparently held the office in title only.