Governor of Saint Helena

Governor of Saint Helena
Governor of Saint Helena
	Coat of arms of Saint Helena
	Standard of the Governor of Saint Helena
	Incumbent; Nigel Phillips; since 13 August 2022
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Plantation House, St Helena
Appointer	Monarch of the United Kingdom
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1659
First holder	John Dutton
Website	Government of St Helena

The Governor of Saint Helena is the representative of the monarch in Saint Helena, 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 advice of the British government. The current governor of Saint Helena has been Nigel Phillips since 13 August 2022.

The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state 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 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 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 defaced with the territory's coat of arms. The official residence, Plantation House, 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 also the Governor of Ascension and the Governor of Tristan da Cunha.^[1]

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.^[2]

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^[3] 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 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 1669–1672
Capt. Anthony Beal 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 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 ^[4]
Capt. Charles Hutchinson 1746–1764^[5]
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^[6]
Colonel William Lane July 1807 - July 1808^[7]
Beatson July 1808 - 1813^[8]
Mark Wilks 1813–1816
Major-General Sir Hudson Lowe 1816–1821
John Pine Coffin 1821–1823^[9]
Brigadier General Alexander Walker 1823–1828
Charles Dallas 1828–1834

British Crown governors

Following on from St Helena becoming a crown colony 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
1856 – Sir Edward Drummond-Hay
1863 – Admiral Sir Charles Elliot
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
1912 – Major Sir Harry Cordeaux
1920 – Colonel Robert Peel
1925 – Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Iremonger (Acting Governor)
1925 – Sir Charles Harper
1932 – Sir Spencer Davis
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
1969 – Sir Dermod Murphy
1971 – Sir Thomas Oates
1976 – Geoffrey Colin Guy
1981 – John Dudley Massingham
1984 – Francis Eustace Baker
1988 – Robert F. Stimson
1991 – Alan Hoole
1995 – David Leslie Smallman
1996 - Brian Walter Money
1999 – David Hollamby
2004 – Michael Clancy
2004 – Martin Hallam (Acting Governor)
2007 – Andrew Gurr
2011 - Andrew Wells (Acting Governor)^[10]
2011 – Kevin Baddon (Acting Governor)
2011 – Mark Andrew Capes
2016 – Lisa Honan^[11]
2019 – Louise MacMorran (Acting Governor)
2019 – Dr Philip Rushbrook^[12]
2022 – Greg Gibson (Acting Governor)
2022 – Nigel Phillips^[13]

References

^ "Constitution of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Order 2009". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
^ "St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009, Schedule sections 27 and 28". Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ St Helena Independent Archived 2012-03-17 at the Wayback Machine 21 January 2011, see page 8
^ A framed handwritten calligraphic record on the wall in the Governor's House indicates 1747.
^ British Magazine 1st Dec 1746, p402
^ Maj. V. C. P. Hodson, List of the Officers of the Bengal Army, 1758-1834, part III (London: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 1946), 481.
^ Brooke, T. H. (1824). History of the Island of St. Helena from its discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1823 (PDF) (second ed.). East-India Company. pp. 336–337. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ Brooke, T. H. (1824). History of the Island of St. Helena from its discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1823 (PDF) (second ed.). East-India Company. pp. 336–337. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ Stearn, Roger T. "Coffin, John Pine". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5809. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Andrew Wells Sworn in as Acting Governor" (PDF). The St Helena Independent. 21 January 2011. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
^ "Foreign & Commonwealth Office – Change of Her Majesty's Governor of St Helena". Retrieved 23 January 2016.
^ "Change of Governor of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha". Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 4 December 2018.
^ "Arrival of new Governor of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha". St Helena Government. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.

External links

Saint Helena Government
Ben Cahoon (ed.). "Saint Helena". World Statesmen. Retrieved 23 April 2006.
A complete list of the Governors of St. Helena

[1] "Constitution of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Order 2009". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

[The_St_Helena,_Ascension_and_Tristan_da_Cunha_Constitution_Order_2009-2] "St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009, Schedule sections 27 and 28". Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[3] St Helena Independent Archived 2012-03-17 at the Wayback Machine 21 January 2011, see page 8

[4] A framed handwritten calligraphic record on the wall in the Governor's House indicates 1747.

[5] British Magazine 1st Dec 1746, p402

[6] Maj. V. C. P. Hodson, List of the Officers of the Bengal Army, 1758-1834, part III (London: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 1946), 481.

[7] Brooke, T. H. (1824). History of the Island of St. Helena from its discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1823 (PDF) (second ed.). East-India Company. pp. 336–337. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

[8] Brooke, T. H. (1824). History of the Island of St. Helena from its discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1823 (PDF) (second ed.). East-India Company. pp. 336–337. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

[9] Stearn, Roger T. "Coffin, John Pine". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5809. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[10] "Andrew Wells Sworn in as Acting Governor" (PDF). The St Helena Independent. 21 January 2011. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2023.

[11] "Foreign & Commonwealth Office – Change of Her Majesty's Governor of St Helena". Retrieved 23 January 2016.

[12] "Change of Governor of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha". Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 4 December 2018.

[13] "Arrival of new Governor of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha". St Helena Government. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.

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v t e Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Capital: Jamestown
Saint Helena	Governor Chief Minister Legislative Council Flag Coat of arms Jamestown Alarm Forest Barren Ground Blue Hill Half Tree Hollow Levelwood Longwood Ruperts Saint Paul's Sandy Bay Saint Helena Airport
Ascension Island	Governor (Administrator) Island Council Flag Coat of arms Georgetown Cat Hill Travellers Hill Two Boats RAF Ascension Island Green Mountain
Tristan da Cunha	Governor (Administrator) Island Council Flag Coat of arms Edinburgh of the Seven Seas Potato Patches Inaccessible Island Nightingale Islands Nightingale Island Middle Island Stoltenhoff Island Gough Island Sandy Point
Other	Constitution

Governor of Saint Helena
Coat of arms of Saint Helena
Standard of the Governor of Saint Helena
Incumbent Nigel Phillips since 13 August 2022
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Plantation House, St Helena
Appointer	Monarch of the United Kingdom
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1659
First holder	John Dutton
Website	Government of St Helena