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List of governors of the Bahamas

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This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The local pirates ruled a de facto 'Privateers' Republic' for several years; in 1717 the Bahamas became a British crown colony, and the pirates were driven out.

During the American War of Independence, the Bahamas were briefly occupied by both American and Spanish forces. In 1964, the Bahamas achieved self-governance, and, in 1973, full independence.

History

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The Bahamas were first settled by William Sayle and a number of nonconformists from Bermuda in 1647. In 1670, Sayle, then the first Royal Governor of South Carolina , received a grant from King Charles II of England that the Bahamas were to be governed by the Governor of South Carolina, however many governors and lords proprietors deliberately neglected the islands. This led to a number of pirates settling in the Bahamas and setting up their own de facto Pirate Republic.[1] The lords proprietors of South Carolina appointed Hugh Wentworth as the first official Governor of the Bahamas to deal with the pirates, though he died soon after and was replaced by his brother John.[2]

During the American Revolutionary War, the American rebels raided the Bahamas as did the Spanish. The Governor Montfort Browne managed to get the islands' gunpowder stores evacuated but he was captured. He was released in a prisoner exchange but was later removed from the governorship as a result.[3] The 1783 Treaty of Paris affirmed the Bahamas as a British possession.[3]

In 1940 during the Second World War, Edward, Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII) was appointed as the Governor of the Bahamas at the suggestion of the Prime Minister Winston Churchill. This was reportedly done due to suspicions that the Duke had Nazi sympathies. The Duke reportedly did not want to go but eventually acquiesced after Churchill reminded him that even Major-Generals could be court-martialled.[4] The Duke was praised for negotiating a peaceful settlement to the 1942 Burma Road riot during his tenure as Governor.[5]

The last British Governor of the Bahamas was Sir John Paul who held the role in 1972 and 1973. When the Bahamas gained their independence from the United Kingdom, Paul remained on as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, now reigning as Queen of the Bahamas, as the new Governor-General of the Bahamas.[6]

List

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The following is the list of colonial Governors of the Bahamas:[7]

ImageGovernorFromTo
Governors of Eleuthera (1648–1657):
William Sayle16481657
Proprietary governors of the Bahama Islands (1670–1706):
Hugh Wentworth1671December 1671
John WentworthDecember 16711676
Charles Chillingworth16761677
Robert Clarke16771682
Richard Lilburne16821684
British rule temporarily disrupted due to joint Spanish and French raid on Charlestown
Thomas Bridges16861690
Cadwallader Jones (governor)16901694
Nicholas Trott16941697
Nicholas Webb16971699
Read Elding
(acting)		16991701
Elias Haskett17011701
Ellis Lightfoot17011703
Edward Birch17041704
Privateer's Republic (1706–1718)
Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1718–1776)
Woodes Rogers26 July 17181721
George Phenney17211728
Woodes RogersAugust 172916 July 1732
Richard Fitzwilliam
(acting)		17341738
John Tinker17411758[8]
John Gambier
(acting)		17581760
William Shirley1760[9]1768
Sir Thomas Shirley, 1st Baronet17681775
Montfort Browne17753 March 1776
Commandant of the Bahama Islands (during American occupation, 1776)
Samuel Nicholas3 March 177617 March 1776
Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1776–1782)
John Gambier
(acting)		17761778
John Robert Maxwell17808 May 1782
Governors of Louisiana (during Spanish occupation)
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid,
Count of Gálvez		8 May 178219 April 1783
Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1783–1969)
Andrew Deveaux (acting)19 April 17831783
John Robert Maxwell17831784
James Edward Powell
(Lieutenant-governor)		17841786
John Brown
(acting)		17861787
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore17871796
Robert Hunt
(acting)		179614 February 1797
John Forbes
(Lieutenant-governor)		14 February 1797June 1797
Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell20 November 17971801
John Halkett18011804
Charles Cameron8 May 18041820
Lewis Grant18211829
Sir James Carmichael Smyth, 1st Baronet18291833
Blayney Townley Balfour18331835
William MacBean George Colebrooke18351837
Sir Francis Cockburn18371844
George Benvenuto Mathew18441849
John Gregory18491853
Sir Alexander Bannerman18541857
Charles John Bayley18571864
Rawson William Rawson18641869
Sir James Walker18691871
Sir George Cumine Strahan18711873
Sir John Pope Hennessy13 March 1873[10]1874
Sir William Robinson18741880
Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan18801881
Sir Charles Cameron Lees1882[11]January 1884
Sir Henry Arthur Blake4 January 18841887
Sir Ambrose Shea1887[11][12]1895
Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith1895[11][12]1898
Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter1898[11][12]1904
Sir William Grey-Wilson1904[12][13]1912
Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith1912[12]1914
Sir William Allardyce15 June 19141920
Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux8 December 19201926
Major Sir Charles Orr December 1926 January 1932

Sir Bede Clifford[14]

 10 January 1932 23 July 1937
Sir Charles Dundas 27 November 1937[14] 1940

The Duke of Windsor[15]

 18 August 1940 30 April 1945
Sir William Lindsay Murphy 28 July 194521 July 1949[16]
F. A. Evans (Acting Governor) 22 July 1949[16] 31 December 1949[16]
Sir George Sandford 17 February 1950[17]15 September 1950[17]
Major General

Sir Robert Neville

 6 December 1950 1953
Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly 21 December 195319 December 1956[18]
Sir Raynor Arthur 1 April 1957[18]14 June 1960[19]
Sir Robert Stapledon 18 July 1960[19]April 1964[20]
Ralph Grey, Baron Grey of Naunton 3 June 19641 November 1968
Sir Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce1 November 19681969
Governors of the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands (1969–1973)
Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow 19691972
Sir John Paul14 May 197210 July 1973
On 10 July 1973 the Bahamas gained full independence from the United Kingdom and the viceroy became the Governor-General of the Bahamian Monarch.

References

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  1. ↑ "Bahamas". Britannica. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  2. ↑ Facts about the Bahamas. Ministry of Tourism. 1966. p. 4.
  3. 1 2 Riley, Sandra; Peters, Thelma B. (2000). Homeward Bound: A History of the Bahama Islands to 1850 with a Definitive Study of Abaco in the American Loyalist Plantation Period. Miami: Island Research. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0966531022. OCLC 51540154.
  4. ↑ "What Happened when King Edward VIII Quit the Royal Family?". Vogue. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  5. ↑ Ziegler, Philip (1991). King Edward VIII: The official biography. Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 471–472. ISBN 0-394-57730-2.
  6. ↑ "Obituary: Sir John Paul". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  7. ↑ Cranton, Michael (1986). A History of the Bahamas (3rd ed.). San Salvador Press. p. 326. ISBN 0969256809.
  8. ↑ More Monumental Inscriptions: Tombstones of the British West Indies by Vere Langford Oliver: "His Excellency John Tinker died 10 July 1758 aged 58. 18 years Governor and Commander-in-Chief over these Islands"
  9. ↑ Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer, Volume 27 by Isaac Kimber and Edward Kimber. "William Shirley is appointed Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Bahama Islands in the room of John Tinker deceased - 6 November 1758"
  10. ↑ "Appointment of John Pope Hennessy as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahama Islands". The Edinburgh Gazette (8355): 165. 18 March 1873.
  11. 1 2 3 4 The Dominion Office and Colonial Office List 1939. London. 1939. p. 242.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Aspinall, Algernon E. (1914). The Pocket Guide to the West Indies, British Guiana, British Honduras, the Bermudas, the Spanish Main, and the Panama canal. Chicago, New York: Rand, McNally & company. p. 79.
  13. ↑ "Governor appointment". The London Gazette. No. 27675. 10 May 1904. p. 3001.
  14. 1 2 Colonial Office (1939). Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of the Bahamas for 1937. Colonial annual reports. London, England: H M Stationery Office. p. 29. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  15. ↑ "Duke of Windsor: Bids Farewell to Bahamas". The Daily Advertiser. 1 May 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 17 January 2025. Monday: Farewelling the people of the Bahamas in a three-minute broadcast, the Duke of Windsor assured them "you have not seen the last of us".
  16. 1 2 3 Colonial Office (1950). Annual Report on the Bahamas for the Year 1949. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 4. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  17. 1 2 Colonial Office (1952). Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1950 and 1951. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 4. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  18. 1 2 Colonial Office (1959). Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1956 and 1957. London, England: H M Stationery Office. p. 3. Retrieved 2 January 2025. the Earl of Ranfurly, K. C. M. G., Governor of the Bahamas, left the colony on leave on the 19th December, 1956 on the completion of his tenure in office. He was succeeded on 1st April, 1957 by Sir Raynor Arthur, K. C. M. G., C. V. O.
  19. 1 2 Colonial Office (1961). Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1958 and 1959. London, England: H M Stationery Office. p. 5.
  20. ↑ Colonial Office (1966). Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1964-1965. London, England: H M Stationery Office. p. 6.

Sources

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  • Wettenhall, R. L. "Gregory, John (1795–1853)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Natl Centre of Biography, Australian Natl University. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
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