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 proclaimed a 'Privateers' Republic' with Edward Teach (Blackbeard) as chief magistrate in 1703. 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.
| # | Image | Governor | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governors of Eleuthera (1648–1657): | ||||
| 1 | William Sayle | 1648 | 1657 | |
| Proprietary Governors of the Bahama Islands (1670–1706): | ||||
| 2 | Hugh Wentworth | 1671 | December 1671 | |
| 3 | John Wentworth | December 1671 | 1676 | |
| 4 | Charles Chillingworth | 1676 | 1677 | |
| 5 | Roger Clarke | 1677 | 1682 | |
| 6 | Richard Lilburne | 1684 | 1684 | |
| British rule temporarily disrupted due to joint Spanish and French raid on Charlestown | ||||
| 7 | Thomas Bridges | 1687 | 1690 | |
| 8 | Cadwallader Jones | 1690 | 1693 | |
| 9 | Nicholas Trott | 1694 | 1696 | |
| 10 | Nicholas Webb | 1697 | 1699 | |
| - | Read Elding (acting) |
1699 | 1700 | |
| 11 | Elias Haskett | 1700 | 1701 | |
| 12 | Ellis Lightfoot | 1701 | 1705 | |
| 13 | Edward Birch | 1706 | 1706 | |
| 14 | Thomas Walker | 1706 | 1706 | |
| Privateer's Republic (1706-1718) | ||||
| Royal Governors of the Bahama Islands (1706-1776) | ||||
| 15 | Woodes Rogers | 26 July 1718 | 1721 | |
| 16 | George Phenney | 1721 | 1728 | |
| 17 | Woodes Rogers | August 1729 | 16 July 1732 | |
| - | Richard Thompson (acting) |
1732 | 1733 | |
| 18 | Richard Fitzwilliams | November 1733 | 1740 | |
| 19 | John Tinker | 1740 | 1758 | |
| - | John Gambier (acting) |
1758 | 1760 | |
| 20 | William Shirley | 1760 | 1768 | |
| 21 | Sir Thomas Shirley, 1st Baronet | 28 November 1768 | 1774 | |
| 22 | Montfort Browne | 1774 | 3 March 1776 | |
| Commandant of the Bahama Islands (during American occupation, 1776) | ||||
| 1 | Samuel Nicholas | 3 March 1776 | 17 March 1776 | |
| Royal Governors of the Bahama Islands(1776-1782) | ||||
| - | John Gambier (acting) |
17 March 1776 | 1778 | |
| 22 | Montfort Browne | 1778 | 1779 | |
| 23 | John Robert Maxwell | 1780 | 8 May 1782 | |
| Governors of Louisiana (during Spanish occupation) | ||||
| 1 | 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 | |
| 23 | John Robert Maxwell | 1783 | 1784 | |
| 24 | James Edward Powell | 1784 | 1786 | |
| - | John Brown (acting) |
1786 | 1787 | |
| 25 | John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore | 1787 | 1796 | |
| - | Robert Hunt (acting) |
1796 | 14 February 1797 | |
| 26 | John Forbes | 14 February 1797 | June 1797 | |
| 27 | Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell | 20 November 1797 | 1801 | |
| 28 | John Halkett | 1801 | 1804 | |
| 28 | Charles Cameron | 8 May 1804 | 1820 | |
| 30 | Lewis Grant | 1821 | 1829 | |
| 31 | Sir James Carmichael Smyth, 1st Baronet | 1829 | 1833 | |
| 32 | Blayney Townley Balfour | 1833 | 1835 | |
| 33 | William MacBean George Colebrooke | 1835 | 1837 | |
| 34 | Sir Francis Cockburn | 1837 | 1844 | |
| 35 | George Benvenuto Matthew | 1844 | 1849 | |
| 36 | John Gregory | 1849 | 1854 | |
| 37 | Sir Alexander Bannerman | 1854 | 1857 | |
| 38 | Charles John Bayley | 1857 | 1864 | |
| 39 | Rawson William Rawson | 1864 | 1869 | |
| 40 | Sir James Walker | 1869 | 1871 | |
| 41 | George Cumine Strahan KCMG |
1871 | 1873 | |
| 42 | Sir John Pope Hennessy KCMG |
1873 | 1874 | |
| 43 | Sir William Robinson | 1874 | 1880 | |
| 44 | Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan | 1880 | 1881 | |
| 45 | Sir Charles Cameron Lees KCMG |
1882 | January 1884 | |
| 46 | Sir Henry Arthur Blake GCMG, DL |
4 January 1884 | 1887 | |
| 47 | Sir Ambrose Shea KCMG |
1887 | 1895 | |
| 48 | Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith | 1895 | 1898 | |
| 49 | Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter | 1898 | 1904 | |
| 50 | Sir William Grey-Wilson | 29 November 1904 | 1912 | |
| 51 | Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith | 29 October 1912 | 1914 | |
| 52 | Sir William Lamond Allardyce KCMG |
15 June 1914 | 1920 | |
| 53 | Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux KCMG, CB |
8 December 1920 | 1926 | |
| 54 | Sir Charles William James Orr | 15 March 1927 | January 1932 | |
| 55 | Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford | 10 January 1932 | 1934 | |
| - | Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas (acting) |
1934 | 1940 | |
| 56 | HRH The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor | 18 August 1940 | 1945 | |
| 57 | Sir William Lindsay Murphy | 28 July 1945 | 1950 | |
| 58 | Sir George Ritchie Sandford | 5 January 1950 | December 1950 | |
| 59 | Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville | 7 December 1950 | 1953 | |
| 60 | Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly | 21 December 1953 | 1956 | |
| 61 | Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur | 1 April 1957 | 1960 | |
| 62 | Sir Robert Stapeldon | 18 July 1960 | 1964 | |
| 63 | Ralph Grey, Baron Grey of Naunton GCMG, GCVO, OBE, GCSt.J. P.C |
3 June 1964 | 1968 | |
| 64 | Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce KCMG |
1 November 1968 | 1969 | |
| Governors of the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands (1969–1973) | ||||
| 65 | Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce KCMG |
1969 | 1972 | |
| 66 | Sir John Warburton Paul GCMG, OBE, MC |
14 May 1972 | 10 July 1973 | |
| On the 10 July 1973 the Bahamas gained full independance from the United Kingdom and the Governor-General became the viceregal representative of the Bahamian Monarch |
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