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.
| Image | Governor | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governors of Eleuthera (1648–1657): | ||||
| 1648 | 1657 | |||
| Proprietary governors of the Bahama Islands (1670–1706): | ||||
| 1671 | December 1671 | |||
| December 1671 | 1676 | |||
| Charles Chillingworth | 1676 | 1677 | ||
| 1677 | 1682 | |||
| 1682 | 1684 | |||
| British rule temporarily disrupted due to joint Spanish and French raid on Charlestown | ||||
| 1686 | 1690 | |||
| 1690 | 1694 | |||
| 1694 | 1697 | |||
| 1697 | 1699 | |||
| Read Elding (acting) | 1699 | 1701 | ||
| 1701 | 1701 | |||
| 1701 | 1703 | |||
| 1704 | 1704 | |||
| Privateer's Republic (1706–1718) | ||||
| Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1718–1776) | ||||
| 26 July 1718 | 1721 | |||
| 1721 | 1728 | |||
| August 1729 | 16 July 1732 | |||
| Richard Fitzwilliam (acting) | 1734 | 1738 | ||
| 1741 | 1758[1] | |||
| John Gambier (acting) | 1758 | 1760 | ||
| 1760[2] | 1775 | |||
| 1775 | 3 March 1776 | |||
| Commandant of the Bahama Islands (during American occupation, 1776) | ||||
| 3 March 1776 | 17 March 1776 | |||
| Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1776–1782) | ||||
| John Gambier (acting) | 1776 | 1778 | ||
| John Robert Maxwell | 1780 | 8 May 1782 | ||
| Governors of Louisiana (during Spanish occupation) | ||||
| 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 | ||
| John Robert Maxwell | 1783 | 1784 | ||
| James Edward Powell (Lieutenant-governor) | 1784 | 1786 | ||
| John Brown (acting) | 1786 | 1787 | ||
| 1787 | 1796 | |||
| Robert Hunt (acting) | 1796 | 14 February 1797 | ||
| John Forbes (Lieutenant-governor) | 14 February 1797 | June 1797 | ||
| 20 November 1797 | 1801 | |||
| John Halkett | 1801 | 1804 | ||
| Charles Cameron | 8 May 1804 | 1820 | ||
| 1821 | 1829 | |||
| 1829 | 1833 | |||
| 1833 | 1835 | |||
| 1835 | 1837 | |||
| 1837 | 1844 | |||
| George Mathew | 1844 | 1849 | ||
| John Gregory | 1849 | 1854 | ||
| 1854 | 1857 | |||
| Charles John Bayley | 1857 | 1864 | ||
| 1864 | 1869 | |||
| Sir James Walker | 1869 | 1871 | ||
| Sir George Cumine Strahan KCMG | 1871 | 1873 | ||
| Sir John Pope Hennessy KCMG | 13 March 1873[3] | 1874 | ||
| 1874 | 1880 | |||
| Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan | 1880 | 1881 | ||
| Sir Charles Cameron Lees KCMG | 1882 | January 1884 | ||
| Sir Henry Arthur Blake GCMG, DL | 4 January 1884 | 1887 | ||
| Sir Ambrose Shea KCMG | 1887 | 1895 | ||
| 1895 | 1898 | |||
| 1898 | 1904 | |||
| Sir William Grey-Wilson | 29 November 1904 | 1912 | ||
| Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith | 29 October 1912 | 1914 | ||
| Sir William Lamond Allardyce KCMG | 15 June 1914 | 1920 | ||
| Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux KCMG, CB | 8 December 1920 | 1926 | ||
| December 1926 | January 1932 | |||
| 10 January 1932 | 1937 | |||
| Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas | 1936 | 1940 | ||
| 18 August 1940 | 16 March 1945 | |||
| Sir William Lindsay Murphy | 28 July 1945 | 1950 | ||
| Sir George Ritchie Sandford | 5 January 1950 | December 1950 | ||
| Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville | 7 December 1950 | 1953 | ||
| The Earl of Ranfurly | 21 December 1953 | 1956 | ||
| Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur | 1 April 1957 | 1960 | ||
| Sir Robert Stapledon | 18 July 1960 | 1964 | ||
| Sir Ralph Grey, GCMG, GCVO, OBE, GCSt.J. P.C | 3 June 1964 | 1968 | ||
| Sir Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, KCMG | 1 November 1968 | 1969 | ||
| Governors of the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands (1969–1973) | ||||
| Sir Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce (The Lord Thurlow from 1971), KCMG | 1969 | 1972 | ||
| Sir John Warburton Paul GCMG, OBE, MC | 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. | ||||