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; but 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

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. The lords proprietors of South Carolina appointed Hugh Wentworth as the first official Governor of the Bahamas to deal with the pirates, but he died soon afterwards and was replaced by his brother John.

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

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. The Duke was praised for negotiating a peaceful settlement to the 1942 Burma Road riot during his tenure as Governor.

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

List

+Colonial Governors of the Bahamas Image Governor From ToGovernor of Eleuthera (1648–1657) William Sayle 1648 1657Proprietary governors of the Bahama Islands (1670–1706) Hugh Wentworth 1671 December 1671 John Wentworth December 1671 1676 Charles Chillingworth 1676 1677 Robert Clarke 1677 1682 Richard Lilburne 1682 1684British rule temporarily disrupted due to joint Spanish and French raid on Charlestown Thomas Bridges 1686 1690 Cadwallader Jones (governor) 1690 1694 Nicholas Trott 1694 1697 Nicholas Webb 1697 1699 Read Elding (acting) 1699 1701 Elias Haskett 1701 1701 Ellis Lightfoot 1701 1703 Edward Birch 1704 1704Privateers' Republic (1706–1718)Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1718–1776) Woodes Rogers 26 July 1718 1721 George Phenney 1721 1728 Woodes Rogers August 1729 16 July 1732 Richard Fitzwilliam (acting) 1734 1738 John Tinker 1741 1758More 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" John Gambier (acting)17581760 William Shirley 1760Gentleman'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" 1768 Sir Thomas Shirley, 1st Baronet 1768 1775 Montfort Browne 1775 3 March 1776Commandant of the Bahama Islands (during American occupation, 1776) Samuel Nicholas 3 March 1776 17 March 1776Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1776–1782) John Gambier (acting)17761778 John Robert Maxwell 1780 8 May 1782Governors of Louisiana (during Spanish occupation) Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez 8 May 1782 19 April 1783Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1783–1969) Andrew Deveaux (acting) 19 April 1783 1783 John Robert Maxwell 1783 1784 James Edward Powell (Lieutenant-governor) 1784 1786 John Brown (acting) 1786 1787 John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore 1787 1796 Robert Hunt (acting) 1796 14 February 1797 John Forbes (Lieutenant-governor) 14 February 1797 June 1797 Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell 20 November 1797 1801 John Halkett 1801 1804 Charles Cameron 8 May 1804 1820 Lewis Grant 1821 1829 Sir James Carmichael Smyth, 1st Baronet 1829 1833 Blayney Townley Balfour 1833 1835 William MacBean George Colebrooke 1835 1837 Sir Francis Cockburn 1837 1844 George Benvenuto Mathew 1844 1849 John Gregory 1849 1853 Sir Alexander Bannerman 1854 1857 Charles John Bayley 1857 1864 Rawson William Rawson 1864 1869 Sir James Walker1869 1871 Sir George Cumine Strahan1871 1873 Sir John Pope Hennessy 13 March 1873 1874 Sir William Robinson 1874 1880 Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan 1880 1881 Sir Charles Cameron Lees 1882 January 1884 Sir Henry Arthur Blake 4 January 1884 1887 Sir Ambrose Shea 1887 1895 Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith 1895 1898 Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter 1898 1904 Sir William Grey-Wilson 1904 1912 Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith 1912 1914 Sir William Allardyce 15 June 1914 1920 Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux 8 December 1920 1926 Major Sir Charles OrrDecember 1926January 1932 Sir Bede Clifford10 January 193223 July 1937Sir Charles Dundas27 November 19371940 The Duke of Windsor18 August 194030 April 1945 Sir William Lindsay Murphy 28 July 1945 21 July 1949F. A. Evans (Acting Governor)22 July 194931 December 1949 Sir George Sandford 17 February 1950 15 September 1950 Major General Sir Robert Neville6 December 19501953 Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly 21 December 1953 19 December 1956 Sir Raynor Arthur 1 April 1957 14 June 1960 Sir Robert Stapledon 18 July 1960 April 1964 Ralph Grey, Baron Grey of Naunton 3 June 1964 1 November 1968 Sir Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce 1 November 1968 1969Governors of the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands (1969–1973) Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow 1969 1972 Sir John Paul 14 May 1972 10 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

Sources

External links

rulers.org