John Worley arrived in North Carolina by 1715. A resident of Chowan Precinct, Worley served as a justice on the General Court from August 1716 to November 1732. He also served as a member of the North Carolina Council from 1726 to 1730, during which time he heard cases about a wide variety of issues affecting the colony. He died in Tyrrell County in about February or March 1741.