List of colonial governors of the Gambia

Flag of the Governor of the Gambia.

This is a list of colonial governors and administrators in the Gambia from the establishment of a British settlement on St Mary's Island (now Banjul Island) in 1816, through to the Gambia Colony and Protectorate's independence from the United Kingdom in 1965.

The official title of the Commandant of St Mary's Island was given as the Commandant of the British Settlement at St Mary's in 1823. In 1821, the Gambia became a British colony that formed part of Sierra Leone. In 1829, a Lieutenant Governor was appointed that was subordinate to the Governor of Sierra Leone. Between 1843 and 1866, the Gambia had its own Governor independent of Sierra Leone. It once again became subordinate in 1866, with an Administrator being appointed to govern the territory. An independent Governor was again appointed in 1901 that also acted as the Commander-in-Chief of the colony.

The Gambia achieved independence in 1965. Thereafter, the viceroy of the British Crown in the Gambia became the Governor-General of the Gambia, until it renounced the Queen as head of state in 1970.

Commandants of St Mary's Island (1816–1830)

Lieutenant Governors of the Gambia (1830–1843)

Portrait	Term of office	Period	Name	Previous position	Monarch
	28 January 1830 – 17 April 1830	7001480000000000000♠48 days	Colonel Alexander Findlay, KH	Commandant of St Mary's Island (1826–1829)	George IV William IV
	17 April 1830 – 20 September 1837	7003274400000000000♠7 years, 187 days	George Rendall		William IV Victoria
	21 September 1837 – 2 February 1839	7002499000000000000♠1 year, 134 days	Anthony Clogstoun (acting Lieutenant Governor)		Victoria
	2 February 1839 – 17 September 1839	7002227000000000000♠227 days	Major Sir William Mackie	Officer with the 88th Regiment of Foot	Victoria
	17 September 1839 – 9 April 1840	7002174000000000000♠174 days	Thomas Lewis Ingram (acting Lieutenant Governor)	Acting Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1837–1839	Victoria
	9 April 1840 – 31 May 1841	7002448000000000000♠1 year, 83 days	Captain Sir Henry Vere Huntley, RN	Captain of the HMS Lynx	Victoria
	31 May 1841 – 1 April 1843	7002670000000000000♠1 year, 305 days	Thomas Lewis Ingram (acting Lieutenant Governor)	Colonial Secretary of the Gambia (1840–1841)	Victoria

Governors of the Gambia (1843–1866)

Portrait	Term of office	Period	Name	Previous position	Monarch
	1 April 1843 – 26 August 1843	7002147000000000000♠147 days	Henry Froude Seagram		Victoria
	26 August 1843 – 1 October 1843	7001360000000000000♠36 days	Thomas Lewis Ingram (acting Governor)	Acting Lieutenant Governor of the Gambia (1841–1843)	Victoria
	1 October 1843 – 1 March 1844	7002152000000000000♠152 days	Edmund Nash Norcott		Victoria
	1 March 1844 – 7 August 1844	7002159000000000000♠159 days	Thomas Lewis Ingram (acting Governor)	Acting Governor of the Gambia (1843)	Victoria
	7 August 1844 – 10 December 1844	7002125000000000000♠125 days	John Isles Mantell		Victoria
	10 December 1844 – 19 April 1847	7002860000000000000♠2 years, 130 days	Captain Charles Fitzgerald, RN		Victoria
	19 April 1847 – 22 December 1847	7002217000000000000♠217 days	Thomas Lewis Ingram (acting Governor)	Acting Governor of the Gambia (1844)	Victoria
	22 December 1847 – 1851	4 years	Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell	Chief Justice of the Gambia (1843–1847)	Victoria
	1851 – 1852	1 year	Arthur Kennedy	Poor Law Commission administrator	Victoria
	1852 – 1 April 1859	7 years	Luke Smythe O'Connor		Victoria
	1 April 1859 – 1 September 1859	7002153000000000000♠153 days	D. Robertson (acting Governor)		Victoria
	1 September 1859 – 19 February 1866	7003236300000000000♠6 years, 171 days	Colonel George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy	Officer with the 3rd West India Regiment	Victoria

Administrators of the Gambia (1866–1901)

Portrait	Term of office	Period	Name	Previous position	Monarch
	19 February 1866 – 1869	3 years	Rear Admiral Charles George Edward Patey, RN (retd)	Administrator of Lagos (1866)	Victoria
	1869 – 1871	3 years	Alexander Bravo (acting Administrator)		Victoria
	1871 – 1873	2 years	Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan	Governor of Labuan (1861–1866)	Victoria
	1873 – 12 February 1875	2 years	Cornelius Hendricksen Kortright	Lieutenant Governor of Tobago (1864-1872)	Victoria
	1 June 1875 – 30 March 1877	7002668000000000000♠1 year, 302 days	Brigade Surgeon Samuel Rowe, CMG (retd)	Colonial Surgeon of the Gold Coast Colony (1875)	Victoria
	12 February 1875 – 9 January 1877	7002697000000000000♠1 year, 332 days	Captain Henry T. M. Cooper (acting Administrator)		Victoria
	30 March 1877 – 1884	7 years	Brigade Surgeon Valesius Skipton Gouldsbury, CMG (retd)		Victoria
	1884 – 1886	2 years	Cornelius Alfred Moloney CMG		Victoria
	1886 – 1 December 1888	2 years	James Shaw Hay	Officer with the 89th Punjabis	Victoria
	1 December 1888 – 1891	3 years	Gilbert Thomas Carter	Treasurer and Postmaster of the Gambia (1882–1888)	Victoria
	1891 – 1900	9 years	Robert Baxter Llewelyn	Commissioner of Saint Lucia (1889–1891)	Victoria
	1900 – 11 January 1901	1 year	Sir George Chardin Denton, KCMG	Colonial Secretary of Lagos (1900)	Victoria

Governors of the Gambia (1901–1965)

Portrait	Term of office	Period	Name	Previous position	Monarch
	11 January 1901 – 21 December 1911	7003399600000000000♠10 years, 344 days	Sir George Chardin Denton, KCMG	Administrator of the Gambia (1900–1901)	Victoria Edward VII George V
	21 December 1911 – 11 April 1914	7002842000000000000♠2 years, 111 days	Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Galway, KCMG DSO	Governor of Saint Helena (1903–1911)	George V
	11 April 1914 – July 1920	6 years	Sir Edward John Cameron	Administrator of St. Lucia (1909-1914)	George V
	1920 – 1921	1 year	Herbert Henniker-Heaton (acting Governor)		George V
	3 January 1921 – 10 March 1927	7003225700000000000♠6 years, 66 days	Sir Cecil Hamilton Armitage, KBE CMG DSO		George V
	10 March 1927 – 29 November 1928	7002630000000000000♠1 year, 264 days	Sir John Middleton, KBE CMG	Governor of the Falkland Islands (1920–1927)	George V
	29 November 1928 – 11 September 1930	7002651000000000000♠1 year, 286 days	Sir Edward Brandis Denham, GCMG KBE	Acting Governor of Kenya (1925)	George V
	11 September 1930 – 12 April 1934	7003130900000000000♠3 years, 213 days	Richmond Palmer, CMG CBE	Lieutenant Governor of Northern Nigeria (1925–1930)	George V
	12 April 1934 – 22 October 1936	7002924000000000000♠2 years, 193 days	Sir Arthur Richards, KCMG	Governor of North Borneo (1930–1933)	George V Edward VIII
	22 October 1936 – 23 March 1942	7003198900000000000♠5 years, 163 days	Sir Thomas Southorn, KCMG KBE	Colonial Secretary for Hong Kong (1925–1936)	Edward VIII George VI
	23 March 1942 – 29 March 1947	7003183200000000000♠5 years, 6 days	Sir Hilary Blood, GBE KCMG	Administrator of Grenada (1930–1935)	George VI
	29 March 1947 – 1 December 1949	7002978000000000000♠2 years, 247 days	Lieutenant Colonel Sir Andrew Barkworth Wright, KCMG CBE MC with Bar (retd)	Colonial Secretary of Trinidad (1943–1947)	George VI
	1 December 1949 – 19 June 1958	7003312200000000000♠8 years, 200 days	Sir Percy Wyn-Harris, KCMG MBE KStJ	Chief Native Commissioner and Minister for African Affairs of Kenya (19??–1949)	George VI Elizabeth II
	19 June 1958 – 29 March 1962	7003137900000000000♠3 years, 283 days	Sir Edward Henry Windley, KCVO KCMG	Chief Native Commissioner and Minister for African Affairs of Kenya (1953–1958)	Elizabeth II
	29 March 1962 – 18 February 1965	7003105700000000000♠2 years, 326 days	Captain Sir John Paul, GCMG OBE MC (retd)	Secretary to the Cabinet of Sierra Leone (1960–1962)	Elizabeth II

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Colonial heads of The Gambia.

• History of the Gambia
• List of heads of state of the Gambia
• List of heads of government of the Gambia
• Lists of office-holders

References

• http://www.rulers.org/rulg1.html#gambia
• Guinness Book of Kings, Rulers & Statesmen, Clive Carpenter, Guinness Superlatives Ltd
• African States and Rulers, John Stewart, McFarland