List of governors of the Bahamas explained

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; 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):
		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 Benvenuto 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^[4]	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	23 July 1937^[5]
	Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas	27 November 1937	1940
		18 August 1940	30 April 1945^[6]
	Sir William Lindsay Murphy	28 July 1945	21 July 1949^[7]
	F. A. Evans (Acting Governor)	22 July 1949	31 December 1949
	Sir George Ritchie Sandford	17 February 1950^[8]	15 September 1950
	Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville	6 December 1950	1953
	The Earl of Ranfurly	21 December 1953	19 December 1956^[9]
	Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur	1 April 1957	14 June 1960^[10]
	Sir Robert Stapledon	18 July 1960	April 1964^[11]
	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.

Sources

• Web site: Wettenhall . R. L. . Gregory, John (1795–1853) . Australian Dictionary of Biography . Natl Centre of Biography, Australian Natl University . 15 March 2020.

External links

• rulers.org

Notes and 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"
3. 18 March 1873 . Appointment of John Pope Hennessy as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahama Islands . The Edinburgh Gazette . 8355 . 165.
4. Book: The Dominion Office and Colonial Office List 1939 . 1939 . London . 242 . en.
5. Book: Colonial Office . Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of the Bahamas for 1937 . H M Stationery Offiice . 1939 . London, England . 29 . en . 18 January 2025.
6. News: 1 May 1945 . Duke of Windsor: Bids Farewell to Bahamas . subscription . 17 January 2025 . The Daily Advertiser . 1 . Monday: Farewelling the people of the Bahamas in a three-minute broadcast, the Duke of Windsor assured them "you have not seen the last of us"..
7. Book: Colonial Office . 1950 . Annual Report on the Bahamas for the Year 1949 . 2024-12-27 . HM Stationery Office, London . 4 . en.
8. Book: Colonial Office . 1952 . Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1950 and 1951 . 2024-12-22 . HM Stationery Office, London . 4 . en.
9. Book: Colonial Office . Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1956 and 1957 . 1959 . H M Stationery Office . 1959 . London, England . 3 . en . the Earl of Ranfurly, K. C. M. G., Governor of the Bahamas, left the colony on leave on the 19th December, 1956 on the completion of his tenure in office. He was succeeded on 1st April, 1957 by Sir Raynor Arthur, K. C. M. G., C. V. O. . 2 January 2025.
10. Book: Colonial Office . Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1958 and 1959 . H M Stationery Office . 1961 . London, England . 5 . en.
11. Book: Colonial Office . Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1964-1965 . H M Stationery Office . 1966 . London, England . 6 . en.