# Leader of Alderney

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.

## Current function

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.

## Historical role

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.
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. 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. 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. 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 £51,300). This agreement eventually expired in 1862.
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. 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. 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.

## List of Leaders of Alderney

| Ruler | Reigns of rulers |
| Lord of Alderney ||
| William L'Ingenieur | 1182–c. 1222 |
| Peter L'Ingenieur and Mayn L'Ingenieur | c. 1222–1238 |
| Vacant | 1238–1290 |
| Guardian ||
| Raoul Eudes (Guardian) | 1290–1302 or after |
| Vacant | 1302 or after–1376 |
| Governor ||
| Thomas Porteman | 1376–1379 |
| Vacant | 1379–1546 |
| Marshal ||
| Robert de Turberville | 1546–1559 |
| Lieutenant governor ||
| George Chamberlaine, Baron of Guernsey | 1559–1584 |
| John Chamberlain of Longcombe, Baron Oxfordshire | 29 May 1584 – 30 September 1585 |
| Vacant | 30 September 1585 – 26 March 1590 |
| Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex | 26 March 1590 – 25 February 1601 |
| Vacant | 25 February 1601 – 1604 |
| Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex | 1604–1607 |
| William Chamberlain I | 1607–1608 |
| John Chamberlain I | 1608 |
| William Chamberlain II | 1608 – c. November 1615 |
| John Chamberlain II | 1615 – c. March 1618 |
| Chamberlain | 1618–1630s |
| Mary Colles (1st time) | 1630s–1639 |
| John Colles | 3 March 1639 – 27 October 1639 |
| William Colles | 27 October 1639 – 1642 |
| Mary Colles (2nd time) | 1642–1646 |
| Peter Le Febvre, surier de L'Epine (pretender) | 3 November 1643 – 1646 |
| Peter de Beauvoir de Bosq | 25 March 1646 – 1648 |
| Benjamin Lemprière | 11 March 1648 – 1651 |
| George Mishaw (1st time) | June 1651 – 1651 |
| John Ring | 1651–1654 |
| George Mishaw (2nd time) | 23 June 1654 – 1650s |
| Sir William Essex | 1650s–1658 |
| Nicholas Ling | 21 May 1658 – 1659 |
| William Andros | 13 July 1659 – 1660 |
| Governor ||
| Edward de Carteret | 5 May 1660 – 1660 |
| Sir George Carteret | 1660 – 14 January 1679 |
| Nicholas Ling (interim for Carteret) | 16 August 1661 – 6 January 1679 |
| George Mishaw (interim for Carteret) | 6 January 1679 – 14 January 1680 |
| Elizabeth de Carteret | 14 January 1680 – 1682 |
| Edward Le Breton (1st time) (interim for de Carteret to 1682) | 1682 – 29 August 1683 |
| Sir Edmund Andros | 29 August 1683 – 24 February 1714 |
| Edward Le Breton (2nd time) (interim for Andros) | 29 August 1683 – 3 March 1684 |
| Thomas Le Mesurier (1st time) (interim for Andros) | 31 March 1684 – 1 September 1690 |
| Thomas Le Marchant (interim for Andros) | 1 September 1690 – 1 September 1696 |
| Charles Le Marchant (interim for Andros) | 1 September 1696 – 21 July 1703 |
| Thomas Le Mesurier (2nd time) (interim for Andros) | 21 July 1703 – 1714 |
| George Andros | 1714 |
| Thomas Le Mesurier (interim) (3rd time) | 1713 – 22 July 1714 |
| John Le Mesurier I (interim) (1st time) | 22 July 1714 – 1714 |
| Ann Andros | February 1714–1721 |
| John Le Mesurier I (2nd time) (interim [for Andros to 1721]) | 1714–1722 |
| Anne Le Mesurier | 1722–1729 |
| Nicholas Reserson (interim for Ann Le Mesurier) | 17 February 1728 – 1729 |
| Thomas Le Cocq (pretender until 1729) | 26 March 1726 – 1730 |
| Henry Le Mesurier | 6 February 1730 – 1744 |
| John Le Mesurier II | 1744 – 12 March 1793 |
| John Le Cocq (acting for Le Mesurier) | 2 November 1745 – 1763 |
| Peter Le Mesurier (3 December 1770 – 16 March 1793 acting for John Le Mesurier) | 16 March 1793 – 9 January 1803 |
| John Le Mesurier III | 21 January 1803 – 13 April 1825 |
| Judge ||
| Pierre Gauvin | 1 August 1807 – 2 April 1836 |
| Jean Gauvain (interim) | 2 April 1836 – 11 April 1836 |
| Thomas Le Cocq (interim) | 11 April 1836 – 28 April 1836 |
| Nicholas Barbenson (1st time) (interim) | 28 April 1836 – 26 November 1836 |
| Jean Gaudion | 26 November 1836 – 21 September 1856 |
| Nicholas Barbenson (2nd time) (interim) | 29 November 1836 – 15 December 1856 |
| Thomas Clucas | 15 December 1856 – 30 April 1876 |
| Jean Pezet (interim) | 1 May 1876 – 9 October 1876 |
| Thomas Nicholas Barbenson | 9 October 1876 – October 1892 |
| Peter Herivel (interim) | October 1892 – 17 December 1892 |
| John A. Le Cocq | 17 December 1892 – May 1897 |
| Nicholas Peter Barbenson | 5 June 1897 – 1912 |
| Robert Walter Mellish | 12 April 1913 – 15 March 1938 |
| A.C. Tourgis (interim) | March 1938 – 16 July 1938 |
| Frederick G. French | 16 July 1938 – November 1947 |
| Inselkommandant Alderney (Military) ||
| Hauptmann Karl Hoffman | 27 July 1941 – December 1941 |
| Gleden | December 1941 – January 1942 |
| Oberstleutnant Rohde | January 1942 |
| Oberst Zuske | February 1942 – November 1943 |
| Oberstleutnant Schwalm | November 1943 – May 1945 |
| Sonderführer von Alderney (Civil) ||
| Schmidt | 2 July 1940 – 1940 |
| Koch | 1940–1941 |
| Heinz Herzog | 1941 – April 1942 |
| Hans Spann | April 1942 – March 1944 |
| Wilhelm Richter | March 1944 – 16 May 1945 |
| Judge ||
| Daniel Le Cocq (interim) | November 1947 – 15 December 1947 |
| Sir Frank Henry Cafande Wiltshire | 15 December 1947 – 31 December 1948 |
| President of Alderney ||
| Sydney Peck Herivel | 1 January 1949 – 26 August 1970 |
| George William Baron (1st time) | 1970–1977 |
| Jon Kay-Mouat (1st time) | 1977–1994 |
| George William Baron (2nd time) | 1994–1997 |
| Jon Kay-Mouat (2nd time) | 1997 – 19 January 2002 |
| Sir Norman Browse | 19 January 2002 – 22 June 2011 |
| Stuart Trought | 22 June 2011 – 15 May 2019 |
| James Dent - Interim President | 15 May 2019 - 28 June 2019 |
| William Tate | 28 June 2019 – present |