# List of colonial governors and administrators of British Honduras

This is a list of viceroys in British Honduras and Belize from the start of British settlement in the area until the colony's independence in 1981. Until 1862, the territory was under the vice-regency of the Governor of Jamaica, and administered by a Superintendent. After this it was a colony in its own right, and administered by a Lieutenant Governor, still subordinate to Jamaica. In 1884, the colony gained its own governor, independent of Jamaica.
In 1973 the colony's name was changed to Belize and in 1981 it gained independence. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Belize.

## Superintendents of British Honduras (1749–1862)

* Robert Hodgson Sr., 1749–1758
* Richard Jones, 1758–1760
* Joseph Otway, 1760–1767
* Robert Hodgson Jr., 1767–1775
* John Ferguson, 1776
* James Lawrie, 1776–10 March 1787
* Edward Despard, 1787 – June 1790
* Lt Gen Peter Hunter (acting), June 1790 – March 1791
* Thomas Potts (chief magistrate), March 1791 – January 1797
* Thomas Barrow, January 1797 – 1800, first time
* Richard Basset, 1800–1802
* Thomas Barrow, January 1803 – 1805, second time
* Gabriel Gordon, 1805–1806
* Alexander Mark Kerr Hamilton, 1806–1809
* John Nugent Smyth, 1809–1814
* Sir George Arthur, 1814–1822
* Allan Hampden Pye, 1822–1823
* Edward Codd, 1823–1829
* Alexander MacDonald, 1829–1830, first time
* Sir Francis Cockburn, 1830–1837
* Alexander MacDonald, 1837–1843, second time
* Charles St. John Fancourt, 1843–1851
* Sir Philip Wodehouse, 1851–1854
* Sir William Stevenson, 1854–1857
* Frederick Seymour, 1857–1862

## Lieutenant Governors of British Honduras (1862–1884)

In 1862, the territory became a crown colony, and was subsequently administered by a Lieutenant Governor, subordinate to the Governor of Jamaica.
* Frederick Seymour, 1862–1864, continued
* John Gardiner Austin, 1864–1867
* Sir James Robert Longden, 1867–1870
* Sir William Wellington Cairns, 1870–1874
* Sir Robert Miller Mundy, 1874–1877
* Sir Frederick Palgrave Barlee, 1877–1883
* Col Sir Robert William Harley, 13 May 1883 – 1884

## Governors of British Honduras (1884–1973)

In 1884, the colony was severed from its dependency to Jamaica and gained its own Governor.
* Sir Roger Tuckfield Goldsworthy, 1884–1891
* Sir Cornelius Alfred Moloney, 1891–1897
* Sir David Wilson, 1897–1904
* Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott, 15 April 1904 – 1906
* Sir Eric John Eagles Swayne, 13 August 1906 – 9 May 1913
* Sir Wilfred Collet 19 May 1913 – January 1918
* William Hart-Bennett, 29 January 1918 – 4 September 1918
* Sir Eyre Hutson, 22 March 1919 – 1925
* Sir John Alder Burdon, 16 April 1925 – 1932
* Sir Harold Baxter Kittermaster, 9 March 1932 – 1934
* Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns, 2 November 1934 – 1939
* Sir John Adams Hunter, 24 February 1940 – 1 July 1946
* Sir Arthur Norman Wolffsohn, 1 July 1946 – 14 January 1947, acting
* Sir Edward Gerald Hawkesworth, 14 January 1947 – 1948
* Sir Ronald Herbert Garvey, 28 February 1949 – 1952
* Sir Patrick Muir Renison, 21 October 1952 – 1955
* Sir Colin Hardwick Thornley, 17 January 1956 – 1961
* Sir Peter Hyla Gawne Stallard, 9 December 1961 – 1966
* Sir John Warburton Paul, 11 July 1966 – January 1972
* Sir Richard Neil Posnett, 26 January 1972 – 31 May 1973

## Governors of Belize (1973–1981)

On 1 June 1973, the colony of British Honduras was renamed Belize.
* Sir Richard Neil Posnett, 1 June 1973 – 1976, continued
* Peter Donovan McEntee, 1 June 1976 – 1980
* Sir James Hennessy, 1980 – 21 September 1981
On 21 September 1981 Belize gained independence from the United Kingdom. For viceroys of Belize after independence, see Governor-General of Belize.