# List of governors of the Bahamas

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): ||||
| | William Sayle | 1648 | 1657 |
| Proprietary governors of the Bahama Islands (1670–1706): ||||
| | Hugh Wentworth | 1671 | December 1671 |
| | John Wentworth | December 1671 | 1676 |
| | Charles Chillingworth | 1676 | 1677 |
| | Robert Clarke | 1677 | 1682 |
| | Richard Lilburne | 1682 | 1684 |
| British rule temporarily disrupted due to joint Spanish and French raid on Charlestown ||||
| | Thomas Bridges | 1686 | 1690 |
| | Cadwallader Jones | 1690 | 1694 |
| | Nicholas Trott | 1694 | 1697 |
| | Nicholas Webb | 1697 | 1699 |
| | Read Elding (acting) | 1699 | 1701 |
| | Elias Haskett | 1701 | 1701 |
| | Ellis Lightfoot | 1701 | 1703 |
| | Edward Birch | 1704 | 1704 |
| Privateer's Republic (1706–1718) ||||
| Royal governors of the Bahama Islands (1718–1776) ||||
| | Woodes Rogers | 26 July 1718 | 1721 |
| | George Phenney | 1721 | 1728 |
| | Woodes Rogers | August 1729 | 16 July 1732 |
| | Richard Fitzwilliam (acting) | 1734 | 1738 |
| | John Tinker | 1741 | 1758 |
| | John Gambier (acting) | 1758 | 1760 |
| | William Shirley | 1760 | 1775 |
| | Montfort Browne | 1775 | 3 March 1776 |
| Commandant of the Bahama Islands (during American occupation, 1776) ||||
| | Samuel Nicholas | 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 |
| | The 4th Earl of Dunmore | 1787 | 1796 |
| | Robert Hunt (acting) | 1796 | 14 February 1797 |
| | John Forbes (Lieutenant-governor) | 14 February 1797 | June 1797 |
| | Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell | 20 November 1797 | 1801 |
| | John Halkett | 1801 | 1804 |
| | Charles Cameron | 8 May 1804 | 1820 |
| | Lewis Grant | 1821 | 1829 |
| | Sir James Carmichael Smyth, 1st Baronet | 1829 | 1833 |
| | Blayney Townley Balfour | 1833 | 1835 |
| | William MacBean George Colebrooke | 1835 | 1837 |
| | Sir Francis Cockburn | 1837 | 1844 |
| | George Benvenuto Mathew | 1844 | 1849 |
| | John Gregory | 1849 | 1854 |
| | Sir Alexander Bannerman | 1854 | 1857 |
| | Charles John Bayley | 1857 | 1864 |
| | Rawson William Rawson | 1864 | 1869 |
| | Sir James Walker | 1869 | 1871 |
| | Sir George Cumine Strahan KCMG | 1871 | 1873 |
| | Sir John Pope Hennessy KCMG | 13 March 1873 | 1874 |
| | Sir William Robinson | 1874 | 1880 |
| | Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan CMG | 1880 | 1881 |
| | Sir Charles Cameron Lees KCMG | 1882 | January 1884 |
| | Sir Henry Arthur Blake GCMG, DL | 4 January 1884 | 1887 |
| | Sir Ambrose Shea KCMG | 1887 | 1895 |
| | Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith | 1895 | 1898 |
| | Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter | 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 |
| | Sir Charles William James Orr | December 1926 | January 1932 |
| | Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford | 10 January 1932 | 23 July 1937 |
| | Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas | 27 November 1937 | 1940 |
| | The Duke of Windsor | 18 August 1940 | 30 April 1945 |
| | Sir William Lindsay Murphy | 28 July 1945 | 21 July 1949 |
| | F. A. Evans (Acting Governor) | 22 July 1949 | 31 December 1949 |
| | Sir George Ritchie Sandford | 17 February 1950 | 15 September 1950 |
| | Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville | 6 December 1950 | 1953 |
| | The Earl of Ranfurly | 21 December 1953 | 19 December 1956 |
| | Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur | 1 April 1957 | 14 June 1960 |
| | Sir Robert Stapledon | 18 July 1960 | April 1964 |
| | 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. ||||