The Governor of Saint Helena is the representative of the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

, a constituent part of the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory located in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and the archipelago of Tri ...

. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. The current governor of Saint Helena has been

Nigel Phillips Air Commodore Nigel James Phillips, (born 10 May 1963) is a British diplomat, former Royal Air Force officer and former Governor of the Falkland Islands, Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich ...

since 13 August 2022. The role of the governor is to act as the '' de facto''

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and commander-in-chief of Saint Helena. The governor's responsibilities include internal security, external affairs, the administration of justice, finance, shipping and employment, as well as disciplinary action in respect of any public officer. The governor appoints the

Chief Minister of Saint Helena The Chief Minister of Saint Helena is the head of the Saint Helena Government. The chief minister is elected by the Legislative Council of Saint Helena, and is formally appointed by the Governor of Saint Helena, the representative of the Briti ...

and four other members of the Executive Council; the officeholder, with some exceptions, is bound to seek and act in accordance with their advice. The governor is based on Saint Helena and appointed by the British

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. The governor also appoints three members to Saint Helena's Executive Council (the balance being popularly elected) The governor's flag in Saint Helena is the

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

defaced with the territory's coat of arms. The official residence,

Plantation House A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

, is located near the capital Jamestown. The Governor's Office is located within The Castle, along with the office of the chief secretary of Saint Helena, who runs the day-to-day administrative part of the government. Prior to 2009, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha were dependencies of Saint Helena and therefore directly represented by the Governor of Saint Helena. The ''St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009'' made Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha equal constituent parts of the territory. Each constituent part has its own government; however, the constitution order states that the Governor of Saint Helena is ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' also the Governor of Ascension and the

Governor of Tristan da Cunha The governor of Tristan de Cunha is the representative of the monarch in Tristan da Cunha, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advic ...

Acting governor and the governor's deputy

Under the St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009, an acting governor is appointed when the office of governor is vacant or the governor is unable to fulfill his or her duties long term. The acting governor is appointed by the King. If the governor is off the island for a short time (including visits to Ascension or Tristan da Cunha) or is ill for a short period, the governor may appoint anyone on St Helena to be deputy. The deputy must follow any instructions issued by the governor. It is current practice to appoint an acting governor when the governor is away from the island of Saint Helena, even if visiting either Ascension Island or Tristan da Cunha. In recent years the chief secretary (or the attorney general) has taken on this temporary role in the governor's absence, the most recent times being in January 2011 when the governor travelled to Tristan da Cunha and the chief secretary became deputy governor and then later in 2011 when Kenneth Baddon, the attorney general, became deputy governor.

List of governors of Saint Helena

East India Company governors

The territory was governed by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

from its initial colonization in 1659 to the end of company rule in 1834. * Capt. John Dutton 1659–1660 * Capt. Robert Stringer 1660–1669 * Capt.

Richard Coney Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

1669–1672 * Capt.

Anthony Beal Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants ...

1672–73 * ''Dutch East India Company interregnum'' – ''January to May 1673'' * Capt. Richard Keigwin 1673–1674 (interim) * Capt. Gregory Field 1674–1678 * Maj. John Blackmore 1678–1690 * Capt. Joshua Johnson 1690–1693 – ''assassinated, whilst Governor, on the island'' * Capt. Richard Keling 1693–1697 * Capt. Stephen Poirier 1697–1707 * Capt.

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...

1708–1711 * Capt. Benjamin Boucher 1711–1713 * Capt. Isaac Pike 1713–1718 * Edward Johnson 1718–1722 * Capt. John Smith 1722–1726 * Edward Byfield 1727–1731 * Capt. Isaac Pyke - 1731–1738 * John Goodwin - 1738–1741 * Capt. Robert Jenkins - 1741–1742 * Maj. Thomas Lambert - 1742–1744 * Col. David Dunbar - 1744-1746 * Capt. Charles Hutchinson 1746–1764 * John Skottowe - 1764–1782 * Daniel Corneille - 1782–1787 * Sir Robert Brooke 1788–1800 * Francis Robson 13 Jul 1801 – 11 Mar 1802, Acting Governor and East India Company officer * Colonel Robert Patton Mar 1802 – July 1807 * Colonel William Lane July 1807 - July 1808 * Beatson July 1808 - 1813 * Mark Wilks 1813–1816 * Major-General Sir Hudson Lowe 1816–1821 * John Pine Coffin 1821–1823 * Brigadier General Alexander Walker 1823–1828 * Charles Dallas 1828–1834

British Crown governors

Following on from St Helena becoming a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

in 1834, the first governor was appointed in 1836. * 1836 – Major General George Middlemore * 1842 – Colonel Hamelin Trelawny * 1846 – Major General Sir Patrick Ross * 1851 – Colonel Sir

Thomas Gore Browne Colonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne (3 July 1807 – 17 April 1887) was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda. Early life Browne was born on ...

* 1856 – Sir Edward Drummond-Hay * 1863 – Admiral Sir

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Su ...

* 1870 – Vice Admiral Charles George Edward Patey * 1873 – Hudson Ralph Janisch, CMG * 1884 – Lieutenant-Colonel Grant Blunt, RE (acting) * 1887 – William Grey-Wilson (acting) * 1889 – R. L. Antrobus (acting) * 1890 – William Grey-Wilson, CMG * 1897 – Robert Armitage Sterndale, CMG * 1902 – Lieutenant-Colonel Sir

Henry Galway Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Galway, (25 September 1859 – 17 June 1949) was a British Army officer and served as the Governor of South Australia from 18 April 1914 to 30 April 1920. His name was Henr ...

* 1912 – Major Sir Harry Cordeaux * 1920 – Colonel

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

* 1925 – Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Iremonger (Acting Governor) * 1925 – Sir Charles Harper * 1932 – Sir

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh musician. He founded the Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", " Somebody Help Me", "Gimme Some Lov ...

* 1938 – Sir Guy Pilling * 1941 – Major William Bain Gray * 1947 – Sir George Joy * 1954 – Sir James Harford * 1958 – George Albert Lewis (Acting Governor) * 1960 – Sir Robert Alford * 1963 – Sir

John Field John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

* 1969 – Sir Dermod Murphy * 1971 – Sir Thomas Oates * 1976 – Geoffrey Colin Guy * 1981 – John Dudley Massingham * 1984 –

Francis Eustace Baker Francis Eustace Baker (19 April 1933 – 16 December 2023) was a British businessman who was the Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha between 1984 and 1988. While he was Governor, he implemented a '3 day working scheme' to h ...

* 1988 –

Robert F. Stimson Robert Frederick Stimson CBE was the Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha between 1988 and 1991. While he was Governor, he presided over the opening of St. Andrew's School on the island, and made several constitutional and ele ...

* 1991 –

Alan Hoole Alan Norman Hoole (25 April 1942 – 8 May 2000) was the Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha between 1991 and 1995, he then served as Governor of Anguilla between 1995 and 1996. He was educated at Sheffield University ...

* 1995 – David Leslie Smallman * 1996 - Brian Walter Money * 1999 – David Hollamby * 2004 – Michael Clancy * 2004 – Martin Hallam (Acting Governor) * 2007 –

Andrew Gurr Andrew John Gurr (born 23 December 1936) is a contemporary literary scholar who specializes in William Shakespeare and English Renaissance theatre. Life and work Born in Leicester, Gurr was raised in New Zealand, and educated at the Univers ...

* 2011 - Andrew Wells (Acting Governor) * 2011 – Kevin Baddon (Acting Governor) * 2011 –

Mark Andrew Capes Mark Andrew Capes (born 19 February 1954) is a British diplomat who served as the Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha from 2011 to 2016. He was replaced by Lisa Phillips. His previous roles have included diplomatic appoint ...

* 2016 – Lisa Honan * 2019 – Louise MacMorran (Acting Governor) * 2019 – Dr Philip Rushbrook * 2022 – Greg Gibson (Acting Governor) * 2022 –

References

External links