List of governors of the Bahamas

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 proclaimed a 'Privateers' Republic' with Edward Teach (Blackbeard) as chief magistrate in 1703. 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.

List

#	Image	Governor	From	To
Governors of Eleuthera (1648–1657):
1		William Sayle	1648	1657
Proprietary Governors of the Bahama Islands (1670–1706):
2		Hugh Wentworth	1671	December 1671
3		John Wentworth	December 1671	1676
4		Charles Chillingworth	1676	1677
5		Roger Clarke	1680	1682
6		Richard Lilburne	1684	1684
British rule temporarily disrupted due to joint Spanish and French raid on Charlestown
7		Thomas Bridges	1686	1690
8		Cadwallader Jones	1690	1693
9		Nicholas Trott	1694	1696
10		Nicholas Webb	1697	1699
11		Read Elding (acting)	1699	1700
12		Elias Haskett	1700	1701
13		Ellis Lightfoot	1701	1703
14		Edward Birch	1704	1704
Privateer's Republic (1706–1718)
Royal Governors of the Bahama Islands (1706–1776)
15		Woodes Rogers	26 July 1718	1721
16		George Phenney	1721	1728
17		Woodes Rogers	August 1729	16 July 1732
-		Richard Fitzwilliam (acting)	1734	1738
18		John Tinker	1741	1758[1]
20		William Shirley	1758[2]	1775
22		Montfort Browne	1775	3 March 1776
Commandant of the Bahama Islands (during American occupation, 1776)
-		Samuel Nicholas	3 March 1776	17 March 1776
Royal Governors of the Bahama Islands (1776–1782)
23		John Robert Maxwell	1780	8 May 1782
Governors of Louisiana (during Spanish occupation)
1		Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez	8 May 1782	19 April 1783
Royal Governors of the Bahama Islands (1783–1969)
-		Andrew de Vau (acting)	1783	1783
23		John Robert Maxwell	1783	1784
24		James Edward Powell	1784	1786
-		John Brown (acting)	1786	1787
25		John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore	1787	1796
-		Robert Hunt (acting)	1796	14 February 1797
26		John Forbes	14 February 1797	June 1797
27		Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell	20 November 1797	1801
28		John Halkett	1801	1804
28		Charles Cameron	8 May 1804	1820
30		Lewis Grant	1821	1829
31		Sir James Carmichael Smyth, 1st Baronet	1829	1833
32		Blayney Townley Balfour	1833	1835
33		William MacBean George Colebrooke	1835	1837
34		Sir Francis Cockburn	1837	1844
35		George Benvenuto Matthew	1844	1849
36		John Gregory	1849	1854
37		Sir Alexander Bannerman	1854	1857
38		Charles John Bayley	1857	1864
39		Rawson William Rawson	1864	1869
40		Sir James Walker	1869	1871
41		George Cumine Strahan KCMG	1871	1873
42		Sir John Pope Hennessy KCMG	1873	1874
43		Sir William Robinson	1874	1880
44		Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan	1880	1881
45		Sir Charles Cameron Lees KCMG	1882	January 1884
46		Sir Henry Arthur Blake GCMG, DL	4 January 1884	1887
47		Sir Ambrose Shea KCMG	1887	1895
48		Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith	1895	1898
49		Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter	1898	1904
50		Sir William Grey-Wilson	29 November 1904	1912
51		Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith	29 October 1912	1914
52		Sir William Lamond Allardyce KCMG	15 June 1914	1920
53		Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux KCMG, CB	8 December 1920	1926
54		Sir Charles William James Orr	15 March 1927	January 1932
55		Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford	10 January 1932	1934
-		Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas (acting)	1934	1940
56		HRH The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor	18 August 1940	16 March 1945
57		Sir William Lindsay Murphy	28 July 1945	1950
58		Sir George Ritchie Sandford	5 January 1950	December 1950
59		Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville	7 December 1950	1953
60		Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly	21 December 1953	1956
61		Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur	1 April 1957	1960
62		Sir Robert Stapeldon	18 July 1960	1964
63		Ralph Grey, Baron Grey of Naunton GCMG, GCVO, OBE, GCSt.J. P.C	3 June 1964	1968
64		Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow KCMG	1 November 1968	1969
Governors of the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands (1969–1973)
65		Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow KCMG	1969	1972
66		Sir John Warburton Paul GCMG, OBE, MC	14 May 1972	10 July 1973
On July 10, 1973 the Bahamas gained full independence from the United Kingdom and the viceroy became the Governor-General of the Bahamian Monarch.

See also

References

1. 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"
2. 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"

External links

• http://www.rulers.org/rulb1.html