The Leader of Alderney is the civil leader of Alderney. Alderney is a dependency of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Its leader has traditionally been appointed by the British Crown and has been known by various titles including Lord of Alderney, Governor of Alderney, and the current President of the States of Alderney. The President of the States of Alderney is directly elected every four years and there is no constitutional limit to the number of terms served. The current president, William Tate has held the post since 2019.[1] [2]
The Leader of Alderney is the highest civil figure in Alderney. The President as leader currently is elected by all of Alderney for a four-year term. The President is also the chairman of the States of Alderney and entitled to vote; however, this is usually only done in the event of a tied vote, where he has the deciding vote.[3]
Alderney was initially part of the Duchy of Normandy from 933 AD. In 1042, possession of Alderney passed to Mont Saint Michel Abbey and from there, passed to the Bishop of Coutances. In 1182, the first individual leader of Alderney was William L'Ingenieur who was ennobled as Lord of Alderney. During L'Ingenieur's time as Lord of Alderney, possession was granted to him as a fief. As a result of this, Alderney was invaded and occupied by the French twice in 1204 and 1205 before being reclaimed by England each time. Under his successor as Lord of Alderney, Peter L'Ingenieur, ownership of Alderney was divided between the King of England (as the Duke of Normandy) and the Bishop of Coutances. In 1228, the title of the Lord of Alderney became extinct as Peter L'Ingenieur had no lawfully begotten male heirs. During this time France invaded Alderney again before being expelled by English forces, with King Henry III of England stripping the Bishop of the rights to Alderney and taking sole ownership as a result of the French actions. Under the Treaty of Brétigny in 1260, the Bishop's rights in Alderney were restored.[4]
In 1559, George Chamberlain was appointed as the Lieutenant-Governor of Alderney and later bought the title and lease of Alderney from the Crown. In 1586 Queen Elizabeth I of England ordered the Bishop of Coutances surrender the rights to Alderney to the Bishop of Winchester, which was done shortly after the leadership of Alderney had passed to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex despite the Earl of Essex never visiting Alderney.[5] During the English Civil War and the Commonwealth of England, leadership of Alderney changed hands several times between the Royalists and Parliamentarians with Nicholas Ling being appointed as the Lieutenant-Governor of Alderney by Oliver Cromwell. In 1660, during the Restoration of the Monarchy, Edward de Carteret was granted the title of Governor of Alderney by King Charles II of England as a reward for loyalty to the Crown and became the leader of Alderney as a result, with Ling remaining as Lieutenant-Governor.[6] Alderney was also separated from Guernsey as a result of the creation of the governorship. The governorship went into abeyance after the death of his son, Edward de Carteret, before being sold to Sir Edmund Andros by de Carteret's widow. Andros then was granted the governorship on a 99-year lease from the Crown in exchange for an annual 13 shillings payment of rent to the Crown. The Governor of Alderney became a hereditary position and later passed to the Le Mesurier family through marriage with the Andros family. The lease was later extended by King George III of Great Britain.[7] In 1825 the governor, John Le Mesurier III, resigned the grant of the island and returned it to the Crown in exchange for an annual pension of £700 (approximately £). This agreement eventually expired in 1862.[8]
After the office of Governor of Alderney was abolished, the Judge of Alderney assumed the role of leader of Alderney as the highest ranking appointed representative of the Crown on the island. The Judge of Alderney was the leader of Alderney as well as the head of Alderney's judiciary.[9] This lasted until the Second World War when Alderney and the rest of the Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany and the leadership of Alderney was assumed by German officials. Most of Alderney's population had been evacuated and the Nazis used Alderney as a base to build the Atlantic Wall and the Alderney camps. Thus during the war, the concentration camp commandants and administrators took over as leaders of Alderney.
When the Channel Islands were liberated, the Judge of Alderney regained leadership of Alderney. However, by 1947 less than 50% of Alderney's population had returned to the island. This led to the Parliament of the United Kingdom discussing what to do with Alderney as land ownership markers and official papers had been destroyed in the war and Alderney's economy was stagnating as a result of more than half of the islanders not returning. The United Kingdom's Home Secretary, Chuter Ede recommended "Guernseyfication" of Alderney. In 1948 His Majesty's Privy Council decided that Alderney would become a part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey again. Later in the year, both the States of Alderney and the States of Guernsey voted through the Alderney (Application of Legislation) Law which gave powers to the States of Guernsey in respect of certain "transferred services" in 1949.[10] The law also provided for a democratically elected President of the States of Alderney to be the Leader of Alderney as the Judge of Alderney had been superseded as the representative of the Crown on Alderney by the Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey.[11]
| style=background:#aadead; | Ruler | style=background:#dfdead; | Reigns of rulers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord of Alderney | |||
| William L'Ingenieur | 1182 | ||
| Peter L'Ingenieur and Mayn L'Ingenieur | 1238 | ||
| Vacant | 12381290 | ||
| Guardian | |||
| Raoul Eudes (Guardian) | 12901302 or after | ||
| Vacant | 1302 or after1376 | ||
| Governor | |||
| Thomas Porteman | 13761379 | ||
| Vacant | 13791546 | ||
| Marshal | |||
| Robert de Turberville | 15461559 | ||
| Lieutenant governor | |||
| George Chamberlaine, Baron of Guernsey | 15591584 | ||
| John Chamberlain of Longcombe, Baron Oxfordshire | 29 May 158430 September 1585 | ||
| Vacant | 30 September 158526 March 1590 | ||
| 26 March 159025 February 1601[12] | |||
| Vacant | 25 February 16011604 | ||
| 16041607 | |||
| William Chamberlain I | 16071608 | ||
| John Chamberlain I | 1608 | ||
| William Chamberlain II | 1608 | ||
| John Chamberlain II | 1615 | ||
| Chamberlain | 16181630s | ||
| Mary Colles (1st time) | 1630s1639 | ||
| John Colles | 3 March 163927 October 1639 | ||
| William Colles | 27 October 16391642[13] | ||
| Mary Colles (2nd time) | 16421646 | ||
| Peter Le Febvre, surier de L'Epine (pretender) | 3 November 16431646 | ||
| Peter de Beauvoir de Bosq | 25 March 16461648 | ||
| Benjamin Lemprière | 11 March 16481651 | ||
| George Mishaw (1st time) | June 16511651 | ||
| John Ring | 16511654 | ||
| George Mishaw (2nd time) | 23 June 16541650s | ||
| Sir William Essex | 1650s1658 | ||
| 21 May 16581659 | |||
| William Andros | 13 July 16591660 | ||
| Governor | |||
| Edward de Carteret | 5 May 16601660[14] | ||
| Sir George Carteret | 166014 January 1679 | ||
| Nicholas Ling (interim for Carteret) | 16 August 16616 January 1679 | ||
| George Mishaw (interim for Carteret) | 6 January 167914 January 1680 | ||
| Elizabeth de Carteret | 14 January 16801682 | ||
| Edward Le Breton (1st time) (interim for de Carteret to 1682) | 168229 August 1683 | ||
| 29 August 168324 February 1714[15] | |||
| Edward Le Breton (2nd time) (interim for Andros) | 29 August 16833 March 1684 | ||
| Thomas Le Mesurier (1st time) (interim for Andros) | 31 March 16841 September 1690 | ||
| Thomas Le Marchant (interim for Andros) | 1 September 16901 September 1696 | ||
| Charles Le Marchant (interim for Andros) | 1 September 169621 July 1703 | ||
| Thomas Le Mesurier (2nd time) (interim for Andros) | 21 July 17031714 | ||
| George Andros | 1714 | ||
| Thomas Le Mesurier (interim) (3rd time) | 171322 July 1714 | ||
| John Le Mesurier I (interim) (1st time) | 22 July 17141714 | ||
| Ann Andros | February 17141721 | ||
| John Le Mesurier I (2nd time) (interim [for Andros to 1721]) | 17141722 | ||
| Anne Le Mesurier | 17221729 | ||
| Nicholas Reserson (interim for Ann Le Mesurier) | 17 February 17281729 | ||
| Thomas Le Cocq (pretender until 1729) | 26 March 17261730 | ||
| Henry Le Mesurier | 6 February 17301744 | ||
| John Le Mesurier II | 174412 March 1793 | ||
| John Le Cocq (acting for Le Mesurier) | 2 November 17451763 | ||
| Peter Le Mesurier (3 December 177016 March 1793 acting for John Le Mesurier) | 16 March 17939 January 1803 | ||
| 21 January 180313 April 1825 | |||
| Judge | |||
| Pierre Gauvin | 1 August 18072 April 1836 | ||
| Jean Gauvain (interim) | 2 April 183611 April 1836 | ||
| Thomas Le Cocq (interim) | 11 April 183628 April 1836 | ||
| Nicholas Barbenson (1st time) (interim) | 28 April 183626 November 1836 | ||
| Jean Gaudion | 26 November 183621 September 1856 | ||
| Nicholas Barbenson (2nd time) (interim) | 29 November 183615 December 1856 | ||
| Thomas Clucas | 15 December 185630 April 1876 | ||
| Jean Pezet (interim) | 1 May 18769 October 1876 | ||
| Thomas Nicholas Barbenson | 9 October 1876October 1892 | ||
| Peter Herivel (interim) | October 189217 December 1892 | ||
| John A. Le Cocq | 17 December 1892May 1897 | ||
| Nicholas Peter Barbenson | 5 June 18971912 | ||
| Robert Walter Mellish | 12 April 191315 March 1938 | ||
| A.C. Tourgis (interim) | March 193816 July 1938 | ||
| Frederick G. French | 16 July 1938November 1947 | ||
| Inselkommandant Alderney (Military)[16] | |||
| Hauptmann Karl Hoffman | 27 July 1941December 1941 | ||
| Gleden | December 1941January 1942 | ||
| Oberstleutnant Rohde | January 1942 | ||
| Oberst Zuske | February 1942November 1943 | ||
| Oberstleutnant Schwalm | November 1943May 1945 | ||
| Sonderführer von Alderney (Civil) | |||
| Schmidt | 2 July 19401940 | ||
| Koch | 19401941 | ||
| Heinz Herzog | 1941April 1942 | ||
| Hans Spann | April 1942March 1944 | ||
| March 194416 May 1945 | |||
| Judge | |||
| Daniel Le Cocq (interim) | November 194715 December 1947 | ||
| Sir Frank Henry Cafande Wiltshire | 15 December 194731 December 1948 | ||
| President of Alderney | |||
| Sydney Peck Herivel | 1 January 194926 August 1970 | ||
| George William Baron (1st time) | 19701977 | ||
| Jon Kay-Mouat (1st time) | 19771994 | ||
| George William Baron (2nd time) | 19941997 | ||
| Jon Kay-Mouat (2nd time) | 199719 January 2002 | ||
| 19 January 200222 June 2011 | |||
| 22 June 201128 June 2019 | |||
| William Tate | 28 June 2019present | ||