This is a list of colonial governors and administrators in the Gambia from the establishment of a British settlement on St Mary's Island, now known as Banjul Island, in 1816, through to the Gambia Colony and Protectorate's independence from the United Kingdom in 1965.
The official title of the Commandant of St Mary's Island was given as the Commandant of the British Settlement at St Mary's in 1823. In 1821, the Gambia became a British colony that formed part of Sierra Leone. In 1829, a lieutenant governor was appointed that was subordinate to the governor of Sierra Leone. Between 1843 and 1866, the Gambia had its own governor independent of Sierra Leone. It once again became subordinate in 1866, with an administrator being appointed to govern the territory. An independent governor was again appointed in 1901 that also acted as the commander-in-chief of the colony.
The Gambia achieved independence in 1965. Thereafter, the viceroy of the British Crown in the Gambia became the Governor-General of the Gambia, until it renounced Queen Elizabeth II as head of state in 1970.
Before 1816 Before 1816, the colonial presence in the Gambia was restricted to James Island (known as St Andrew's Island from 1456 to 1660, and as Kunta Kinteh Island since 2011).
Commandants of St Mary's Island (1816–1830) Commandant Term of office Prior or concurrent offices Colonial Secretary MonarchRef Lieutenant ColonelSir Alexander Grant(1775–1827) 23 April1816 1 August1826– Officer with the Royal African Corps (1804–1825) – Acting Governor of Sierra Leone (1820–1821; 1821)None George III First British colonial administrator in the Gambia since 1783. Negotiated lease of St Mary's Island in 1816. Founded town of Bathurst. Encouraged activities of Wesleyans and Quakers. Subordinated to Sierra Leone in 1821. Purchased MacCarthy Island in 1823 and founded Georgetown. Acquired Ceded Mile from the king of Barra in 1826. George IV ColonelAlexander Findlay(1784–1851) 1 August1826 8 March1829– Officer with the Royal African CorpsNone Appointed an advisory board of commerce. William Hutton(17??–18??) 8 March1829 8 August1829– Acting Consul for the Kingdom of AshantiNone Assumed role after Findlay returned to Britain. Initiated merchant-backed April 1829 expedition down the Gambia River. Signed treaties with the king of Wuli and chief of Kantalikunda, later rescinded. Dismissed for misconduct. CaptainJames Jackson(17??–18??) 8 August1829 28 January1830– Officer with the 3rd West India RegimentNone Took over from Hutton. Signed secret treaty with the king of Kombo regarding return of fugitive slaves. Treaty later repudiated by Colonies Secretary.
Lieutenant Governors of the Gambia (1830–1843) Lieutenant Governor Term of office Prior or concurrent offices Colonial Secretary MonarchRef Colonel Alexander Findlay(1784–1851) 28 January1830 3 April1830– Officer with the Royal African Corps – Commandant of St Mary's Island (1826–1829)NoneGeorge IV Almost immediately appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Sierra Leone. George Rendall(d. 1837) 3 April1830 20 September1837– Chief Justice of Sierra Leone (1829–1830)Andrew Hunter Established a Liberated Africans Department in 1831. 1831–32 Barra War, also known as the Anglo-Niumi War. Groundnuts shipped to Britain for the first time in 1834. Failed expedition against Kemintang Kamara in 1835. Died of yellow fever in office. William IVVictoria Anthony Clogstoun(1815–1851) 20 September1837 October1838– Writer in the Colonial Secretary's OfficeThomas Lewis Ingram Assumed role immediately after Rendall's death in office. MajorSir William Mackie(d. 1839) October1838 17 September1839– Officer with the 88th Regiment of FootThomas Lewis Ingram Died in office. Thomas Lewis Ingram(1807–1868) 17 September1839 10 April1840– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1837–1849)Himself Then-Acting Colonial Secretary. Appointed Acting Lieutenant Governor despite objections of Bathurst merchants. CaptainSir Henry Vere Huntley(1795–1864) 10 April1840 31 May1841– Captain of HMS LynxThomas Lewis Ingram Agreed cession of part of Kombo from king of Kombo in 1840, creating British Kombo. Left in May 1841. Thomas Lewis Ingram(1807–1868) 31 May1841 1 April1843– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1837–1849)Himself Re-appointed after Huntley left the Gambia.
Governors of the Gambia (1843–1866)
Governor Term of office Prior or concurrent offices Colonial Secretary MonarchRef Henry Froude Seagram(1802–1843) 1 April1843 26 August1843– UnknownThomas Lewis IngramVictoria First Governor as a distinct colony. Almost immediately appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Sierra Leone. Thomas Lewis Ingram(1807–1868) 26 August1843 7 August1844– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1837–1849)Himself Established a Liberated Africans Department in 1831. Failed expedition against Kemintang Kamara in 1835. Died of yellow fever in office. Edmund Nash Norcott(1794–1874) 30 October1843 15 March1844– UnknownThomas Lewis Ingram Did not take office. Sir John Iles Mantell(1813–1893) 7 August1844 9 December1844– Queen's Advocate in the Gambia (1841–1847)Himself Acting Governor while serving as Queen's Advocate. CaptainCharles Fitzgerald(1791–1887) 9 December1844 18 April1847– UnknownThomas Lewis Ingram Agreed cession of part of Kombo from king of Kombo, creating British Kombo. Left in May 1841. Thomas Lewis Ingram(1807–1868) 18 April1847 21 December1847– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1837–1849)Himself Re-appointed after Fitzgerald left the Gambia. Richard Graves MacDonnell(1814–1881) 21 December184718 August1852– Chief Justice of the Gambia (1843–1847)Thomas Lewis Ingram Daniel Robertson(1813–1892) 11 August1851 12 March1852– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1849–1865)Himself Brief period as Acting Governor in place of MacDonnell. Arthur Kennedy(1809–1883)May1852May1852– Poor Law Commission administrator (1846–1851)Daniel Robertson Before formally taking up role, was re-appointed to Governor of Sierra Leone, so never entered office. Daniel Robertson(1813–1892) 18 August1852 21 October1852– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1849–1865)Himself Appointed Acting Governor after MacDonnell left the Gambia, and after Kennedy did not take up role. Lieutenant ColonelLuke Smythe O'Connor(1806–1873) 21 October1852 23 April1859– Officer with the 1st West India RegimentDaniel Robertson Upper Kombo ceded to the British by the king of Kombo in 1853. Commanded British soldiers at both sackings of Sabbajee. Negotiated end to Soninke-Marabout War (1850–1856). Albreda ceded by the French to the British in 1857. Daniel Robertson(1813–1883) 23 April1859 6 September1859– Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1849–1865)Himself George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy(1818–1885) 6 September1859 19 February1866– Officer with the 3rd West India RegimentDaniel Robertson Ma Bah begins attacks on the Soninke at Baddibu in 1862. Death of Maba Diakhou Bâ at the Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune in 1867.
Administrators of the Gambia (1866–1901) Administrator Term of office Prior or concurrent offices Colonial Secretary MonarchRef George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy(1818–1885) 19 February1866 18 December1866– Officer with the 3rd West India Regiment– Governor of the Gambia (1859–1866) UnknownVictoria Rear AdmiralCharles George Edward Patey(1811–1881)18 December186621 April1869– Administrator of Lagos (1866) MajorAlexander Bravo(18??–18??)21 April186912 September1870– Unknown Acting Administrator during a major cholera outbreak in 1869. British government accepts proposals on cession to France in principle. Native petitions and opposition in the House of Commons leads to the abandonment of the proposal.Lieutenant ColonelHenry Anton(1824–1871)12 September18707 August1871– Acting Administrator. Thomas F. Callaghan(1827–1881)7 August187121 April1872– Governor of Labuan (1861–1866) Henry William John Fowler(1842–1893)21 April18727 October1872– Acting Administrator. CaptainHenry T. M. Cooper(1838–1877)7 October18722 October1873– Unknown Cornelius Hendricksen Kortright(1817–1897)2 October187312 February1875– Lieutenant Governor of Tobago (1864–1872) CaptainHenry T. M. Cooper(1838–1877)12 February18752 July1875– Unknown Brigade SurgeonSamuel Rowe(retd)(1835–1888) 2 July18753 July1875– Colonial Surgeon of the Gold Coast (1875) – Governor of Sierra Leone (1875–1881)Day after arrival, was re-assigned as Acting Governor of Sierra Leone.CaptainHenry T. M. Cooper(1838–1877)3 July18759 January1877– UnknownTomani Bojang, last Soninke king of Kombo, surrenders to Fodi Silla. British government proposes cession to France again, but abandons the idea in 1876. Died in office.William Hamilton Berkeley(18??–18??)9 January187730 March1877– Unknown Acting Administrator until the arrival of Gouldsbury.Surgeon Lieutenant ColonelValesius Skipton GouldsburyCMG(1839–1896)30 March18773 March1884– Civil Commandant at AccraCivil war in Baddibu begins in 1877. First issue of The Bathurst Observer and West African Gazette in 1883. J. D. Richards appointed as first African member of the Legislative Council in 1883.Cornelius Alfred Moloney(1848–1913) 3 March1884 December1885– Colonial Secretary of Lagos (1879–1884) Gilbert Thomas Carter(1848–1927) December1885 8 February1886– Treasurer and Postmaster of the Gambia (1882–1888) James Shaw Hay(1839–1924) 8 February188612 June1886– Unknown Gilbert Thomas Carter(1848–1927)12 June1886 29 April1887– Treasurer and Postmaster of the Gambia (1882–1888) From 1886 to December 1888, Carter was the Acting Administrator.Brigade SurgeonSamuel Rowe(retd)(1835–1888) 29 April188727 November1887– Governor of British West Africa (1885–1888) Effectively acting in this role from Sierra Leone.Thomas Risely Griffith(1848–1???) 27 November18876 June1888– Unknown – Governor of Sierra Leone (1875–1881) Acting Administrator from 6 June 1888 to 29 November 1888.Gilbert Thomas Carter(1848–1927)6 June1888 2 March1891– Treasurer and Postmaster of the Gambia (1882–1888) Acting Administrator from 6 June 1888 to 29 November 1888. The Gambia becomes separate colony for the last time in 1888 as administrative link with Sierra Leone is severed. Anglo-French agreement in 1889 fixes border of The Gambia.Charles Herbert Harley Moseley(1857–1933)16 March1891 19 April1891– Unknown Robert Baxter Llewelyn(1845–1919) 19 April1891 21 March1900– Commissioner of Saint Lucia (1889–1891)Fodi Kabba driven into Casamance by British forces in 1892. First Travelling Commissioners, J. H. Ozanne and C. F. Sitwell, appointed in 1893. First comprehensive ordnance for governing the colony in 1894.Horace Major Brandford Griffith(1863–1909)21 March1900 10 January1901– Unknown Killing of Travelling Commissioners Sitwell and Silva in June 1900.Sir George Chardin Denton(1851–1928)10 January19014 March1901– Lieutenant Governor of Lagos (1900)Upgraded to Governor in March 1901. Edward VII
Governors of the Gambia (1901–1965)