Governor of Saint Helena
Encyclopedia
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of the islands of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the Tristan da Cunha group...
. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government.
The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
as well as the de jure head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
and commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the territory, which consists of the islands of Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
and Ascension
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
and the group of islands of Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying from the nearest land, South Africa, and from South America...
. His or her responsibilities include internal security, external affairs, the administration of justice, finance, shipping, and employment and disciplinary action in respect of any public officer. The governor is represented by resident island Administrators, also appointed by the British Government, one on both Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. He or she also appoints Saint Helena's Executive Council, and, with some exceptions, is bound to seek and act in accordance with their advice.
The governor has his own flag in Saint Helena, the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
defaced with the territory's coat of arms. His official residence, Plantation House
Plantation House (Saint Helena)
Plantation House is the official residence of the Governor of Saint Helena. It is located 2 miles to the south of the capital, Jamestown, on the island of Saint Helena.-History:...
, is located near the capital Jamestown
Jamestown, Saint Helena
Jamestown is the capital and historic chief settlement of the island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. Located on the island's north-western coast, it is the island's port, with facilities for unloading goods delivered to the island, and the centre of the island's road and...
, and his office is located within The Castle
The Castle (Saint Helena)
The Castle is the main government buildings on the island of Saint Helena, located in the historic centre of the capital Jamestown, close to James Bay and the old town gate. The oldest parts of the complex date to 1710 but it was largely reconstructed in the 1860s because of termite damage...
, along with the office of the Chief Secretary, who runs the day-to-day administrative part of the government.
Before 2009 the territory was known as "Saint Helena", of which Ascension and Tristan da Cuhna were dependencies. A new constitution which came into force in 2009 changed the name of the territory to "Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha"; however, the governor's title remained as the "Governor of Saint Helena". The Governor of Saint Helena nonetheless is the British monarch's representative across the territory.
Acting governor
It is current practice to appoint an acting governor when the governor is away from the island of Saint Helena, even if visiting either Ascension Island or Tristan da Cunha. In recent years the Chief Secretary (or in his absence, the Attorney General) has taken on this temporary role in the governor's absence, the most recent times were in January 2011 when the governor travelled to Tristan da Cunha and the Chief Secretary became acting governor and then later in 2011 when Kenneth Baddon, the Attorney General, became acting governor.East India Company governors
The territory was governed by the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
from its initial colonisation in 1659 to the end of Company rule in 1834.
- Capt. John Dutton 1659-1660
- Capt. Robert Stringer 1660-1669
- Capt. Richard Coney 1669-1772
- Capt. Anthony Beal 1672-73
- Dutch East India Company interregnum - January to May 1673
- Capt. Richard Keigwin 1673-1674 (interim)
- Capt. Gregory Field 1674-1678
- Maj. John BlackmoreJohn BlackmoreJohn Blackmore was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654.Blackmore was the son of John Blackmore of Exeter, Devon. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford on 12 December 1634, aged 18...
1678-1690 - Capt. Joshua Johnson 1690-1693 - assassinated, whilst Governor, on the island
- Capt. Richard Keling 1693-1697
- Capt. Stephen Poirier 1697-1707
- Capt. John Roberts 1708-1711
- Capt. Benjamin Boucher 1711-1713
- Capt. Isaac Pike 1713-1718
- Edward Johnson 1718-1722
- Capt. John Smith 1722-1726
..this list is incomplete..
- Robert Brooke 1788-1800
- Francis Robson 13 Jul 1801 - 11 Mar 1802, Acting Governor and East India Company officer
- Colonel Robert Patton Mar 1802 - ?
- Mark WilksMark WilksColonel Mark Wilks FRS was a Manx soldier and administrator.He was born in the Isle of Man, the son of Rev. James Wilks and Margaret Woods, and came from a long lineage of Manxmen....
1813-1816 - Hudson LoweHudson LoweSir Hudson Lowe KCB, GCMG was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who is best known for his time as Governor of St Helena where he was the "gaoler" of Napoleon Bonaparte.-Early life and career:...
1816-1821 - Charles DallasCharles DallasCharles Dallas was born about 1767, in Edinburgh, was the last East India Company Governor of St. Helena.His father was William Dallas of North Newton , by his second wife, Davidona Haliburton . William Dallas, third son and heir to James Dallas of ST. MARTIN’S Charles Dallas was born about 1767,...
1828-1834
British Crown governors
Following on from St Helena becoming a crown colonyCrown colony
A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....
in 1834, the first governor was appointed in 1836.
- 1836 – Major General George MiddlemoreGeorge MiddlemoreGeneral George Middlemore was a British Army officer. He was the first governor of Saint Helena from 1836 to 1842 after its handover from the British East India Company to the Crown and oversaw the repatriation of Napoleon's remains from there in 1840...
- 1842 – Colonel Hamelin Trelawney
- 1846 – Major General Sir Patrick Ross
- 1851 – Colonel Sir Thomas Gore BrowneThomas Gore BrowneColonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne KCMG CB was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda.-Early life:...
- 1856 – Sir Edward Hay Drummond HayEdward Hay Drummond HaySir Edward Hay Drummond-Hay was a British naval officer, diplomat and colonial administrator.He was born in England, son of Captain Edward Drummond Hay, who was a nephew of the ninth Earl of Kinnoul, and educated at Charterhouse and was a Colonel of the 5th West India Regiment from 6 November 1854...
- 1863 – Admiral Sir Charles ElliotCharles ElliotSir Charles Elliot, KCB , was a British naval officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China...
- 1870 – Vice Admiral Charles George Edward PateyCharles George Edward PateyCharles George Edward Patey CMG was born at Chivelstone in Devon, England on 27 February 1811. The eldest son of Commander Charles Patey RN, the young Charles followed his father into the navy at the age of 13, passing through every commissioned rank in the service to eventually be made an Admiral...
- 1873 – Hudson Ralph Janisch
- 1890 – W. Grey Wilson
- 1897 – Robert Armitage SterndaleRobert Armitage SterndaleSir Robert Armitage Sterndale was a naturalist and statesman. He was governor general of St. Helena in 1897.He wrote several books on natural history including on the mammals of India. He was one of the first editors of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society...
- 1903 – Lieutenant Colonel Henry GalwayHenry GalwayLieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Galway, KCMG, DSO was the Governor of South Australia from 18 April 1914 until 30 April 1920....
- 1912 – Major Sir Harry Cordeaux
- 1920 – Colonel Sir Robert PeelRobert Francis PeelRobert Francis Peel was an English soldier, Conservative politician and Governor of Saint Helena.Peel joined the Coldstream Guards in 1898, serving in South Africa and retiring in 1909. He then became Conservative Member of Parliament for Woodbridge, Suffolk from 1910 to 1920...
- 1925 - Lieutenant-Colonel Harold IremongerHarold IremongerLieutenant-Colonel Harold Iremonger, DSO was an officer in the Royal Marine Artillery who later served as acting Governor of Saint Helena.-Early life:...
(Acting Governor) - 1925 – Sir Charles HarperCharles Harper (colonial administrator)Sir Charles Harper , OBE KBE CMG , was born on the 24 February 1876 in Barnstaple, Devon, England. He was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, and Exeter College, Oxford, and played rugby football for Oxford University and England.In 1900 Harper entered the Colonial Service as a Cadet in...
- 1932 – Sir Spencer Davis
- 1938 – Sir Guy Pilling
- 1941 – Major William Bain Gray
- 1947 – Sir George Joy
- 1954 – Sir James HarfordJames HarfordSir James Dundas Harford KBE CMG was a British diplomat who served as Governor of Saint Helena from 1954 to 1958....
- 1958 - George Albert Lewis (acting to 1959)
- 1960 – Sir Robert Alford
- 1963 – Sir John Field
- 1969 – Sir Dermod Murphy
- 1971 – Sir Thomas Oates
- 1976 – Geoffrey Colin GuyGeoffrey Colin GuyGeoffrey Colin Guy CMG, CVO, OBE was the last Commissioner and the first Administrator of the Turks and Caicos from 1958 to 1959 and 1959 to 1965 respectively. Mr. Guy was succeeded by John Anthony Golding in 1965. He was administrator during Hurricane Donna, which in 106 devastated agriculture on...
- 1981 – Sir John Dudley Massingham
- 1984 – Francis Eustace Baker
- 1988 – Robert F Stimson
- 1991 – Alan Hoole
- 1995 – David Leslie Smallman
- 1999 – David Hollamby
- 2004 – Michael ClancyMichael ClancyMichael Clancy was Chief Secretary from 1997 to 2000, and later Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Saint Helena and its Dependencies from 2004 to 2007....
- 2007 – Andrew GurrAndrew Gurr (governor)Andrew Murray Gurr is the current Governor of Saint Helena. He took up office on 11 November 2007 in a ceremony in Jamestown at which he declared his commitment to Saint Helena and dependencies in his inaugural speech...
- 2011 - Mark Andrew Capes