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The Governor of St Helena

The Crown’s representative

Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish - don’t overdo it.{b}

The representative of the British Monarch

Alphabetic index of Governors: Alford, R ⋅ Bain-Gray, W ⋅ Baker, F ⋅ Beale, A ⋅ Beatson, A ⋅ Blackmore, J ⋅ Boucher, B ⋅ Brooke, R ⋅ Browne, T ⋅ Byfield, E ⋅ Capes, M ⋅ Clancy, M ⋅ Coney, R ⋅ Coon, J ⋅ Cordeaux, H ⋅ Corneille, D ⋅ Dallas, C ⋅ Davis, S ⋅ Dunbar, D ⋅ Dutton, J ⋅ Elliot, C ⋅ Field, G ⋅ Field, J ⋅ Gallwey, H ⋅ Geus, J ⋅ Goodwin, J ⋅ Grey-Wilson, W ⋅ Gurr, A ⋅ Guy, G ⋅ Harford, J ⋅ Harper, C ⋅ Hay, E ⋅ Hollamby, D ⋅ Honan, L ⋅ Hoole, A ⋅ Hutchinson, C ⋅ Janisch, H ⋅ Jenkins, R ⋅ Johnson, E ⋅ Johnston, J ⋅ Joy, G ⋅ Keigwin, R ⋅ Kelinge, R ⋅ Lambert, T ⋅ Lowe, H ⋅ Massingham, J ⋅ Middlemore, G ⋅ Munden, R ⋅ Murphy, D ⋅ Oates, T ⋅ Patey, C ⋅ Patton, R ⋅ Peel, R ⋅ Phillips, L ⋅ Phillips, N ⋅ Pilling, H ⋅ Poirier, S ⋅ Pyke, I ⋅ Pyke, I ⋅ Roberts, J ⋅ Ross, P ⋅ Rushbrook, P ⋅ Skottowe, J ⋅ Smallman, D ⋅ Smith, J ⋅ Sterndale, R ⋅ Stimson, R ⋅ Stringer, R ⋅ Trelawney, H ⋅ Walker, A ⋅ Wilks, M

Role of The Governor

The Governor of St Helena is the British Monarch’s official representative, both here and for Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the British government. The Governor is officially titled ‘His/Her Excellency’{2}.

The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state as well as the de jure head of government and commander-in-chief of the territory. The responsibilities of the role include internal security, external affairs, the administration of justice, finance, shipping, employment and disciplinary action in respect of any public officer. The Governor also formally appoints St Helena’s Executive Council (though its voting members are chosen by Legislative Council) and, with some exceptions, is bound to seek and act in accordance with its advice{3}.

The Governor therefore has four functions:

  1. The Governor as The Monarch’s representative, which involves largely ceremonial functions;

  2. The Governor as the representative of the United Kingdom Government, which means the Governor is the channel of communications between the UK Government (FCDO) and the Government of St Helena;

  3. The Governor as head of the St Helena administration, which includes the executive powers of the governor; and

  4. The Governor as facilitator and advocate. This task includes ‘being a voice for the island’ in London, bringing forward the points of view of SHG.

The governor has an official flag in St Helena, the Union Flag defaced with the territory’s coat of arms. The official residence, Plantation House, is located near the capital Jamestown, and the governor’s office is located within The Castle, just opposite the Council Chamber.

Flag of the Governor of St Helena
Flag of the Governor of St Helena

The Governor

26. (1) There shall be a Governor of St Helena.

(2) Appointments to the office of Governor shall be made by Her Majesty by Commission under Her Sign Manual and Signet and a person appointed to the office shall hold office during Her Majesty’s pleasure.

(3) A person appointed to the office of Governor shall, before entering upon the functions of that office, make before the Sheriff of St Helena oaths or affirmations of allegiance and for the due execution of that office in the forms set out in the Schedule.

(4) The Governor shall have such functions as are conferred or imposed on him or her by this Constitution or any other law and such other functions as Her Majesty may from time to time be pleased to assign to him or her through a Secretary of State, and, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and of any other law by which any such functions are conferred or imposed, shall do and execute all things that belong to their office according to such instructions, if any, as Her Majesty may from time to time see fit to give him or her through a Secretary of State; but no court shall enquire whether or not he or she has complied with any such instructions.{c}

You can read a more detailed description.

St Helena Ordinances

The Governor gives the final seal of approval for all St Helena laws (‘Ordinances’), using the following words:

Assented to in Her Majesty’s name and on Her Majesty’s behalf this day of «date».
«Governor’s Name» Governor

Governor Hoole, 1991

In St Helena on ceremonial occasions the Governor by tradition wore the full dress Colonial Officers’ tropical ceremonial uniform, complete with dress sword and Marlborough helmet with Generals’ swan’s feather plumes. However this practice ended in 2004; since then Governors have just worn smart business attire.

Simon Winchester’s book ‘Outposts’ (1985) provides a somewhat cynical view of how a governor is selected:

A fellow works in some minor capacity in our embassy, in some remote country, pushing paper in disconsolate fashion, upsetting no one, inspiring even fewer. His fifty-fifth birthday comes up, and the Personnel Department in London decides he must be given his head-of-mission job before he leaves the Service. He can’t go to Khartoum - too tricky, too potentially important; he can’t go to Lima, or Ulan Bator, or even to Fernando Po. But how about, let’s see - St Helena? No trouble there - parish pump stuff, really, a few cocktail parties in the evening sun. Very pleasant. Fellow ought to be very glad.

The following somewhat cynical comment was posted on Social Media:

A Governor arrives and he’s basically a nice chap, but a few months of almost absolute power changes him, and not for the better{d}.

Two fishing trophies are named after Governors and awarded at the annual fishing competition: the Governor Baker’s Cup, for the best catch by a full-time boat; and the Governor Hoole’s Cup for the largest conger caught in the competition.

According to the St Helena News Review of February 1997, the newly-elected Labour Government in London was considering that the post of Governor might be abolished, and replaced with an Administrator for St Helena. This was intended as a cost-cutting measure. The Administrator would be a simple Government official with no special status. Plantation House would have been re-deployed (as a hotel, perhaps?) and there would have been no more official receptions and dinners, and no need for a Governor’s car (or driver). Clearly this plan never went forward. Some regret that…

Governors of St Helena

Here is a complete list of Governors of St Helena, and a few words on some of their more notable activities.

It will be noted that there are gaps between substantive governors. In The East India Company days this was a simple communication issue - it took some time between a Governor being appointed and his actual arrival on the island (and note that the dates shown are generally from the arrival on the island until departure). Nowadays it is Crown policy that there cannot be two Governors in the St Helena area at the same time. An individual would have been appointed as Acting Governor during these periods, and also at other times when the substantive Governor was outside the area (e.g. visiting London){4}.

It will be seen that not all of our Governors survived the experience! One died by misadventure (Governor Blackmore), one was shot during a mutiny (Governor Johnston) and eight died in office from medical problems{5}.

Below: East India Company GovernorsDutch Occupation GovernorsEast India Company GovernorsBritish Crown Governors

East India Company Governors

John Dutton, 5th May 1659 - 1661: Originally intended to be The East India Company Governor of Pollerone (Indonesia); when war prevented this he was sent instead to colonise St Helena, on a salary of £200 per annum ⋅ Built the original fort, the ‘Fort of St. John’ in what is now Jamestown ⋅ Asked in 1660 to found a new colony in Pulo Run (in modern Malaysia), handing over to Robert Stringer ⋅ Dutton House, at Prince Andrew School, is named after him

Robert Stringer, 1661 - 1670: Originally Governor Dutton’s deputy and took over when Dutton left ⋅ Divided the land into 150 parts, giving each Planter one part in return for them agreeing to defend the colony if it were attacked

Richard Coney, March 1671 - 21st August 1672: Complained the inhabitants were drunks and ne’er-do-wells. Seized by rebellious members of the island’s council and shipped back to England

Anthony Beale, 16th November 1672 - 1st January 1673: Fled the island after the Dutch invasion. Returned as Deputy to Governor Gregory Field{6}

Dutch Occupation Governors

Jacob de Geus, 1st January 1673 - February 1673: No Data

John Coon, February 1673 - 15th May 1673: No Data

East India Company Governors

Richard Munden, 15th May 1673 - September 1673: Distinguished himself in the battle to re-take St Helena from the Dutch ⋅ Mundens House, at Prince Andrew School, is named after him, as is Mundens Battery

Richard Keigwin, September 1673 - October 1674: Seized in 1674 by discontented settlers and troops; only the lucky arrival of a fleet from The East India Company freed him

Gregory Field, November 1674 - 19th June 1678: Appointed a Council, some of whom could not read ⋅ Left in 1678 but returned as an Ensign on 8th January 1684 and was put in charge of maintaining The East India Company’s buildings, a job at which he clearly failed - a letter to the island council from The East India Company directors, dated 3rd August 1687, says: Captain Gregory Field is a most useless burden to us and therefore we do hereby dismiss him from our service. Give him leave to come home at his own charge and we shall admit him into our almshouse, which he had petitioned for.

John Blackmore, 19th July 1678 - 2nd December 1690: Established a Court of Justice ⋅ An uprising by soldiers and Planters in 1684 led to the death of three mutineers in an attack on Fort James and the later execution of four others ⋅ When returning from a journey to the country, lost his footing near Putty Hill and fell to his death

Joshua Johnston, 2nd December 1690 - 21st April 1693: Prevented soldiers smuggling themselves aboard ships by ordering all outgoing ships to leave only during daylight hours. This led to a mutiny in which Johnston was shot and killed ⋅ Not to be confused with Governor Edward Johnson

Richard Kelinge, 21st April 1693 - 30th November 1697: Died in office ⋅ When his widow left the Governor’s residence she took with her most of the plate and pewter

Stephen Poirier, 30th November 1697 - 8th September 1707: In 1698 imprisoned one John Hemon for claiming that Poirier was a false Governor (as a result of Poirier’s French origins); made a similar complaint against a Captain Bright in 1701 and Dr. Kerr in 1703 ⋅ Threatened a Mr. Bowes that he would kick him like a dogg for uncivil behaviour ⋅ Imposed a 10 pm curfew in 1701 to try to limit the great increase in drunkenness ⋅ Built the original moat for Jamestown ⋅ Died in office of a dropsical distemper, having been ‘speechless’ since 27th August

John Roberts, 24th August 1708 - 7th August 1711: Built Mundens Battery ⋅ Proposed the building of The Castle and a number of irrigation schemes to improve agriculture. One of these schemes, involving flooding Prosperous Bay Plain and planting it, would have destroyed many more Endemic Species

Benjamin Boucher, 7th August 1711 - 28th June 1714: Rode asses for his amusement. Had a shed built 120m long in which he might exercise himself in wet weather (at a cost to The East India Company of £181) and turned the Plantation House gardens into pasture ⋅ Built the first Lime Kiln in Sandy Bay ⋅ Left, officially due to ill health (first reported in September 1712) but a memo from The East India Company of March 1714 says we can’t find that our Gov. Boucher and Council gave any tolerable heed to our instructions or so much as read them with attention ⋅ On his departure, stripped the Governor’s residence of all that was portable which might have been of service to him including the locks and keys ⋅ After his departure was discovered to have been involved in some illegal financial schemes

Isaac Pyke (1st time), 8th July 1714 - 13th June 1719: Dissatisfied with the attendance at church on Sundays, so ordered that all people in the company’s service who were in Jamestown on Sundays were to attend church ⋅ Commented that the moral tone of the island would be improved if certain women left the island (he named them) ⋅ Had Ladder Hill Road and Side Path built ⋅ In 1715 made the (serious) suggestion that appreciable savings could be made by moving the entire population to Mauritius

Edward Johnson, 13th June 1719 - 16th February 1723: Was the subject of a scandalous libel fixt up in the valley reflecting on the Gov. - blamed on Parson Jones, a known dissident priest ⋅ Died on 16th February 1723 of the bloody flux ⋅ Not to be confused with Governor Joshua Johnston

John Smith, 28th May 1723 - 26th February 1727: Described as a man capable of seeing others’ faults more than his own ⋅ Became critically ill and recovered only because a passing ship happened to have the right medicine for his illness. Local doctor Dr. Wignall accused of giving the Governor unsuitable medicines - claims he had nothing else to give

Edward Byfield, 26th February 1727 - 24th March 1731: Petitioned by tenant Planters to reduce the population of goats, which were causing damage to crops ⋅ Requested the supply of coffee plants (which eventually arrived in 1733)

Isaac Pyke (2nd time), 24th March 1731 - 28th July 1738: Reported on the destruction of the Great Wood ⋅ Christened ‘Bencoolen’ ⋅ Died on 28th July of violent convulsions, possibly occasioned by Gout

John Goodwin, 29th July 1738 - August 1740: Promoted one Duke Crisp to the Council, who promptly swindled £6,284 from the Government ⋅ Borrowed extensively from the funds of The East India Company, then died suddenly, leaving his widow with a large debt

Robert Jenkins, 9th May 1741 - 22nd March 1742: Jenkins House, at Prince Andrew School, is named after him ⋅ More famous for the War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739 to 1748) after his ear was severed by Spanish coast guards in 1731 ⋅ Uncovered the massive fraud of Duke Crispe - £6,284 was unaccounted for

Thomas Lambert, 22nd March 1742 - 9th July 1742: Created the island’s first hospital in 1742, on its present site ⋅ Died in post on 20th July 1742 after a long illness

David Dunbar, 11th March 1744 - 14th March 1747: Planted the Peepul trees in Jamestown (including those in what became the Duke of Edinburgh Playground) ⋅ Locked up a Mr. Dixon to resolve an argument between the two of them ⋅ Also got into a dispute with his Lt. Gov., Charles Hutchinson. On hearing of this The East India Company’s Directors ordered Dunbar to resign…to be replaced by Hutchinson!

Charles Hutchinson, 14th March 1747 - 10th March 1764: Asked by the Directors of The East India Company to accommodate in a suitable manner with diet and apartments at the Company’s expense Nevil Maskelyne and his party in 1761 to observe the transit of Venus ⋅ Acknowledged for good and long service

John Skottowe

John Skottowe, 13th May 1764 - 25th July 1782: Married Margaret Greentree on 30th September 1766 ⋅ His wife displayed her talents at pleasant raillery in teasing Captain Cook about the unwise description of the island attributed to him{7} ⋅ His attempt to control drunkenness amongst the garrison soldiers led to hostility and desertions and some troops stole boats and fled the island. Most were lost at sea but at least one group of seven soldiers and one of the enslaved succeeded in escaping to Brazil

Daniel Corneille, 25th July 1782 - 28th May 1787: Changed the licensing laws meaning soldiers could not obtain Arrack from the Punch Houses, only allowing them to drink at army canteens. A mutinous protest resulted in 200 soldiers, with bayonets fixed, marching on the Governor. After meeting the soldiers he withdrew the new regulations

Robert Brooke

Robert Brooke, 28th May 1787 - 13th July 1801: Instigated several important irrigation projects ⋅ Sent 11 officers and 400 men together with ordnance and money to assist Admiral Elphinstone in South Africa, and was later congratulated for the part he and his men played in securing victory for British forces at Cape Colony ⋅ Built Plantation House ⋅ Received Captain Bligh on his visit in December 1792 ⋅ Revised the ‘Slave Laws’ in 1792, giving the enslaved for the first time some legal protections ⋅ Saved The East India Company nearly £2,200 and then, in retirement, was harassed to account for a discrepancy of just under £12

Robert Patton

Robert Patton, 11th March 1802 - 13th July 1807: Recommended the Company import Chinese labour to grow the rural workforce ⋅ His daughters’ fondness for walking led to the naming of ‘Sisters Walk’ ⋅ Built Patton’s Battery, above West Rocks, Jamestown

Alexander Beatson

Alexander Beatson, 4th July 1808 - 22nd June 1813: Forced the closure of the St Helena Register because its owner, Saul Solomon, had printed ‘objectionable remarks’. It reopened seven months later under the supervision of Rev. Boys who was obliged to let the governor inspect any editorial copy which might be considered a ‘doubtful communication’ ⋅ Also tried to control drunkenness, with similar results to his predecessors: a mutiny by about 250 troops in December 1811 ⋅ An early environmentalist. Rid the island of most of the wild goats ⋅ Valued his beer - when a soldier stole six bottles from one of the Plantation House cellars, he sentenced him to be hanged (the criminal was later pardoned by the Council) ⋅ Increased the number of Chinese labourers to 300 ⋅ His sword was presented to our Museum in 2006

Mark Wilks

Mark Wilks, 22nd June 1813 - 15th April 1816: Established the St Helena Library and the Post Office ⋅ Napoleon arrived during his term

Hudson Lowe

Hudson Lowe, 15th April 1816 - 25th July 1821: Appointed specifically to handle the exile of Napoleon ⋅ Napoleon said of him You are a bigger scourge for us than all the miseries of this frightful rock! ⋅ A reformer of the island’s slave laws, moving towards emancipation

Alexander Walker

Alexander Walker, 11th March 1823 - 5th December 1827: Ended corporal punishment for non-serious offences ⋅ Proposed that Longwood House be appropriated for use as a farm ⋅ Rejected the proposal for a tax on ‘free Blacks’ because the law cannot recognise distinctions of colour ⋅ Made church attendance by the enslaved mandatory with fines for owners ⋅ Instituted agricultural fairs and ploughing matches to encourage the inhabitants to rely more upon the produce of the soil ⋅ Created the island’s short-lived Silk production industry ⋅ Built the Ladder Hill Observatory ⋅ Helved the number of Chinese labourers on the island

Charles Dallas, 5th December 1827 - 24th February 1836: Proposed the building of Jacob’s Ladder, which was completed in January 1830 ⋅ Tidied up Main Street, Macadamised it and had a channel made underneath it to carry waste and water away ⋅ Moved the entrance gate of the town to the present position ⋅ Moved out of Plantation House because the poor drains gave his family a type of typhoid ⋅ Continued as Governor after the takeover by the Crown on 22nd April 1834, pending the arrival of the first Crown Governor

British Crown Governors

George Middlemore, 24th February 1836 - 6th January 1842: Levelled and macadamised what is now known as Napoleon Street ⋅ Paid £2,200 per annum, only around a quarter of what his predecessors from The East India Company had received (Governor Lowe received £12,000 per annum)

Hamelin Trelawney, 6th January 1842 - 3rd May 1846: Established The Market, on The Bridge in Jamestown ⋅ Died in office on 3rd May 1846

Patrick Ross, 23rd November 1846 - 28th August 1850: Built Barnes Road, from upper Jamestown round Peak Hill to Francis Plain (remnants still remain but it is no longer useable as a road) ⋅ In 1847 built the original civilian hospital (replaced in 1956 by the current one)

Thomas Gore Browne

Thomas Gore Browne, 18th July 1851 - 15th December 1854: Established the first village in Ruperts (later completed by Edward Hay Drummond Hay)

Edward Hay Drummond Hay, 10th October 1856 - 3rd July 1863: Gave his name to ‘Hay Town’, an area of Ruperts first built up in his time ⋅ Built dwellings for the poor in Jamestown, which still retain the name of Drummond Hay Square ⋅ Welcomed the island’s first royal visitor, H.R.H. Prince Alfred

Charles Elliot

Charles Elliot, 3rd July 1863 - 29th January 1870: Issued an Ordinance setting up the St Helena Savings Bank (now Bank of St Helena) ⋅ Introduced Cinchona plants in 1868 with a view to exporting quinine ⋅ Declared ‘war’ on the White Ants, reconstructing public buildings in iron and teak

Charles George Edward Patey, 4th February 1870 - 1873: Abandoned the quinine project set up by Charles Elliot ⋅ Set up a Commission to report on the state of the island (no definite results are recorded)

Hudson Ralph Janisch

Hudson Ralph Janisch, 11th December 1873 - 10th March 1884: The only St Helenian to have held the post of Governor since the Colony came under the Crown in 1834 ⋅ To cut expenditure, received a salary of only £900 a year and lived in his own house: Palm Villa, in Jamestown, not Plantation House ⋅ During his time Jonathan the tortoise arrived on St Helena ⋅ Built the Baptist Chapel at Knollcombes ⋅ Died, just after leaving office but while still on the island, on 19th March 1884 ⋅ Became a Baptist some time after the first Baptist Missionary, Reverend Bertram, came to the island in 1854, so his impressive memorial was erected by the inhabitants of the island in the Baptist Cemetery at Knollcombes

William Grey-Wilson

William Grey-Wilson, 18th July 1890 - 7th June 1897: {8}Dramatically improved St Helena’s finances, from deficit into (small) surplus ⋅ ‘Opened’ the fountain in Main Street built to commemorate those who died in the 1890 rockfall (it was removed in 1945)

Robert Armitage Sterndale

Robert Armitage Sterndale, 7th June 1897 - 25th July 1902: Installed the fountain in Castle Gardens ⋅ Celebrated Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee ⋅ Re-built ‘The Run’ in Jamestown ⋅ Oversaw the arrival of the Boer PoWs

Henry Lionel Gallwey

Henry Lionel Gallwey, 2nd February 1903 - 1912: Agreed to accept the Zulu Poll Tax Prisoners ⋅ Opened the Golf Club ⋅ Worked with Mr. Alfred Mosely to improve the island’s economy (unsuccessfully) ⋅ Frequently expressed frustration at the ‘laid back’ attitude of the islanders ⋅ Arranged the planting of many trees, to replace those cut down for fuel during the stay of the Boer PoWs, but most were eaten by goats ⋅ Tried to stamp out superstition.{27}

Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux

Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux, 21st February 1912 - June 1920: Married on the island around 6 months after his arrival. ⋅ Established Martial Law throughout the island as a result of the outbreak of World War 1. It lasted until 1918 ⋅ Spent 2½ years away from the island, from March 1917 to October 1919, working in London at the Board of Trade, to much local disquiet.{26}

Robert Francis Peel

Robert Francis Peel, August 1920 - 10th August 1924: Died in office on 10th August 1924

Charles Henry Harper

Charles Henry Harper, 2nd February 1925 - 8th August 1932: Repealed an Ordinance (passed in 1919) prohibiting motor transport{11} ⋅ Unveiled the monument to Dr. Arnold

Stewart Spencer Davis

Stewart Spencer Davis, 13th October 1932 - 25th October 1937: Credited with naming Jonathan the tortoise ⋅ Instrumental in the setting up of the St Helena Cricket Club in 1934

Henry Guy Pilling, 16th March 1938 - 17th July 1941: Pilling School in Jamestown is named after him ⋅ Re-formed the St Helena Rifles as a result of the outbreak of World War 2 ⋅ Introduced an ‘Advisory Council’, an initial step towards democracy on St Helena

William Bain-Gray

William Bain-Gray, November 1941 - 14th August 1946: Oversaw the winding down of the island’s World War 2 defences ⋅ Probably did other things but they would have been classified due to the war

George Andrew Joy

George Andrew Joy, 31st May 1947 - 22 September 1953: Increased wages for all Government workers by One Shilling{12} ⋅ Reportedly used to have a glass of Champagne and a slice of Plum Cake every day at 11am ⋅ Also said to have been a spiritualist who sat at Plantation House with a tape recorder, waiting for astral messages from his son.

James Dundas Harford

James Dundas Harford, 11th January 1954 - 1st January 1958: Harford School in Longwood is named after him. He also opened it ⋅ He also opened most of the island’s Community Centres ⋅ Opened the new General Hospital (the one we have today) ⋅ Entertained the Duke of Edinburgh in 1957 ⋅ Accepted the Bahraini Prisoners ⋅ Described by a Saint on his departure as a werry nice gentleman; a werry nice gentleman indeed

Robert Edmund Alford

Robert Edmund Alford, 26th February 1958 - 2nd March 1962: Challenged by all of the Bahraini Prisoners to show that their imprisonment was lawful. This time the prisoners’ challenge succeeded ⋅ Organised the issue of the infamous overprinted Tristan postage stamps

John Osbaldiston Field

John Osbaldiston Field, 13th May 1962 - 25th May 1968: Introduced the first democratic elections in St Helena’s history ⋅ Presided over the opening of Radio St Helena on Christmas Day, 25th December 1967 ⋅ The new road into Ruperts was named after him: Field Road

Dermod Murphy
{e}

Dermod Murphy, 27th May 1968 - 26th June 1971: Commemorated the 150th Anniversary of the death of Napoleon ⋅ Arranged the arrival of tortoises David & Emma (a.k.a. Emily) to keep Jonathan company ⋅ Acted when Tony Thornton took control of Solomons, nationalising the company

Thomas Oates

Thomas Oates, 1st October 1971 - 5th November 1976: Positioned the two cannons in front of the Courthouse ⋅ Oversaw the taking of Solomons into Government ownership{13} ⋅ Issued an Exclusion Order against G A D (‘Tony’) Thornton (former owner of Solomons)

Geoffrey Colin Guy

Geoffrey Colin Guy, 5th December 1976 - 5th January 1981: Set up the St Helena Shipping Company in August 1977 to own and operate the RMS St Helena (1978-1990) ⋅ Promoted various projects to improve island agriculture, including a windmill at French’s Gut ⋅ Helped the St Helena Preservation Action Committee set up the Broadway House museum ⋅ Opened all the ‘Project Bonaparte’ (Royal Engineers) projects ⋅ Inaugurated the St Helena’s Day celebrations ⋅ Retired on the island, at Farm Lodge

John Dudley Massingham

John Dudley Massingham, 10th March 1981 - 26th April 1984: Instigated an experiment with Daylight Saving Time, starting 18th October 1981 - it was deemed a failure and abandoned ⋅ Improved island education, including announcing the plan to build Prince Andrew School ⋅ Released much Government land for housing plots including in the Sapper Way, Kunjie Field and Sea View areas ⋅ Escorted Prince Andrew during the latter’s visit to the island in April 1984 (and widely remembered for his accident at the landing stage)

Francis Eustace Baker
{f}

Francis Eustace Baker, 3rd August 1984 - 6th April 1988: Implemented the ‘3 day working scheme’ to deal with unemployment ⋅ Introduced the roundabout at the top of Main Street, outside The Cannister - the island’s first ⋅ Announced the plan to build the RMS St Helena (1990-2018)

Robert Frederick Stimson
{g}

Robert Frederick Stimson, 21st April 1988 - 16th April 1991: Presided over the opening of Prince Andrew School{14}⋅ Reorganised the electoral districts, creating Alarm Forest ⋅ Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 ⋅ Contracted the island’s telephone system to Cable & Wireless

Alan Norman Hoole
{h}

Alan Norman Hoole, 17th May 1991 - 17th April 1995: Former Attorney General of St Helena from 1978 ⋅ An early promoter of ‘openness & transparency’{15} ⋅ Issued an Exclusion Order against Mr. & Mrs. Horst Timmreck{16}

David Leslie Smallman

David Leslie Smallman, 8th September 1995 - 7th May 1999: Obtained from London a promise to restore British Citizenship (which happened in 2002) ⋅ Introduced The Governor’s Cup yacht race ⋅ Negotiated the first three-year aid agreement with London, giving the Government of St Helena greater strategic freedom ⋅ Faced several rebellions from Legislative Council, forcing him to use the Governor’s override powers, and in 1996 was cornered in his Office for several hours by a crowd of some sixty Islanders, led by Bobby Robertson, protesting about unemployment and low incomes - an incident reported by the UK Daily Telegraph as a riot ⋅ Vetoed Bobby Robertson’s appointment to Executive Council ⋅ The first Governor to actually land on Gough Island (Tristan da Cunha)

David J. Hollamby

David J. Hollamby, 24th June 1999 - 29th September 2004: Oversaw the return of British Citizenship, and the resulting loss of half the island’s working-age population ⋅ Responsible (with the FCO/DFID) for rejecting SHELCO’s airport proposals which led to massed protests ⋅ Approved the licence for the first non-Government radio station SaintFM ⋅ Fell out with Legislative Council - most of them boycotted his departure ceremony ⋅ Last Governor to wear The Governor’s Hat

Michael Clancy

Michael Clancy, 15th October 2004 - 28th October 2007: Announced the first plan to build an airport on St Helena (which was ‘paused’ in 2008) ⋅ Presided over the opening of SaintFM in January 2005 ⋅ Overrode the Immigration Control Board’s refusal to allow immigrants to start new businesses

Andrew Murray Gurr

Andrew Murray Gurr, 11th November 2007 - 23rd September 2011: Introduced reporting of a summary of Executive Council meetings ⋅ Had to handle the ‘Pause’ in the Airport project in 2008 ⋅ Introduced a new Constitution for St Helena in 2009 ⋅ Faced a massed protest in April 2011 over tax reforms and increases in charges for services, including electricity and water ⋅ Regularly used Jacob’s Ladder and was often seen jogging home through Half Tree Hollow ⋅ Thought by some to have been responsible for the death of Speedy the tortoise

Mark Andrew Capes

Mark Andrew Capes, 29th October 2011 - 24th March 2016: Announced the second plan to build an airport on St Helena ⋅ Perceived as aloof ⋅ Heavily criticised by the Wass Inquiry into child sexual abuse in St Helena for being not a hands-on manager ⋅ Planned term cut short in January 2016

Lisa Kathleen Phillips/Honan

Lisa Kathleen Phillips / Honan, 25th April 2016 - 4th May 2019: Island’s first female Governor ⋅ Seen as approachable, unlike her predecessor ⋅ Re-opened Plantation House for island events ⋅ Encouraged legalisation of equality in marriage ⋅ Put Saints into top Government posts previously held by ex-pats ⋅ Promoted openness and transparency but Freedom of Information legislation did not progress in her term{17} ⋅ Married police officer Detective Sergeant Dave Honan on 24th February 2018, adopting his surname{18}; he kept his job and she retained responsibility for the police, which was widely seen as a conflict

Philip Edward Rushbrook

Philip Edward Rushbrook, 11th May 2019 - 20 June 2022: First Governor to arrive by air ⋅ Promised economic development and greater prosperity ⋅ In his term island population fell to lowest since 2008 ⋅ Implemented a new form of government without true democratic support ⋅ Changed Our Constitution without proper public consultation ⋅ Criticised for insisting a monument to Zulus imprisoned here must bear the names of British soldiers who died while oppressing them ⋅ Allowed the island’s fishing industry to be put in the hands of an overseas ‘investor’ & the widescale sale of land to another overseas ‘investor’ ⋅ Publicly harangued Councillor Jeffrey Ellick (Governors should be ‘above politics’){19}

Nigel Phillips

Nigel Phillips, 13th August 2022 -: Sworn in on 13thAugust 2022{20} in a reduced ceremony due to the removal of Covid‑19 quarantine requirements shortly before, stating I am in no doubt that it is the people who live in the three Islands who are best able to judge the path ahead and I look forward to learning from you. ⋅ It is our policy not to comment in detail on a Governor’s activities while they are still in office Twitter/X™: @Gov_Phillips

Governor statistics{21}: East India Company Governors 32; Dutch Occupation Governors 2; British Crown Governors 36
The longest serving Governor was John Skottowe, The East India Company, 1764-1782 (19 years)
The shortest serving Governor was Jacob de Geus, Dutch Occupation, 1673-1673 (1 years)
The average term for a Governor is 5.9 years

Opinion of past Governors is varied:

From the time the Island was transferred to the Crown up to 1872 its affairs were administered by (with a few exceptions) old Major Generals, worn out Colonels, and pensioned Admirals, whom the British Government delighted to honour, and the Island had to pay £2,000 a year, besides £200 allowances, and a splendid mansion to reside in! They knew nothing of, or were wholly indifferent to, the requirements of the place and its Inhabitants; therefore did naught but receive their salaries and expend the Revenue on what they deemed most advisable; while the Inhabitants themselves had no voice in the management of their internal affairs.{i}

And until 1981 new Governors were greeted with a 17-gun salute but for the arrival of Governor Massingham it was announced:

As a result of concern expressed by residents of Upper Jamestown as to the effect the explosions might have, there will not be a 17-gun salute for our new Governor when he arrives next month.{j}

Governors: Audio

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If you have an audio clip of one of our Governors you can contribute to this collection, please contact us

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All of the above are Governors in-office acting in their official capacity. Governor Geoffrey Guy, however, retired on St Helena (living in Farm Lodge) and during that retirement he made some programmes for Radio St Helena under the title ‘From My Collection’. The clip (right) comes from his very first programme…honestly!

(In 2007 Governor Gurr did a radio programme in which he played inter alia The Goons.)

Governor Janisch Memorial

Hudson Janisch Memorial
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Hudson Ralph Janisch was born at Teutonic Hall on 20th December 1824 and was christened at St. James’ Church on the 1st March 1825 by Rev. Richard Boys. He was Colonial Secretary at the time Governor Vice Admiral Patey was sent here in 1870 to make drastic cuts in the expenditure of the island. These Patey did without tact, care or judgement. On his departure in 1873 it was decided to try having an island-born person for Governor, Hudson Janisch.

To keep expenditure low he received a salary of only £900 a year and lived in his own house: Palm Villa, in Jamestown, not Plantation House. During his time Jonathan the tortoise arrived on St Helena.

Hudson Janisch died, just after leaving office but while still on the island, on 19th March 1884.

He had become a Baptist some time after the first Baptist Missionary, Reverend Bertram, came to the island in 1854, so his impressive memorial was erected by the inhabitants of the island in the Baptist Cemetery at Knollcombes. It is seen in the 1980s in the photo (right). The inscription reads:

IN MEMORY OF HUDSON RALPH JANISCH C.M.G. F.R.A.S.
DIED MARCH 10th 1884 AGED 59 YEARS
This memorial is erected by the inhabitants to commemorate the
high respect and esteem in which the late Governor was universally held
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord{22}

That could have gone better…

Governors are human{23} and like all humans they are subject to the occasional mishap…

Below: Be careful to keep your temper…Be careful where you stand…Be careful what you say…Be careful with boats…Be careful how you are perceived…And also…

Be careful to keep your temper…

While being driven to the Airport to depart for the UK on 2nd December 2020 Governor Rushbrook encountered some protestors by the roadside, demonstrating about the Government’s new Covid‑19 policies. Unwisely, as it turned out, he asked his driver to stop; got out and engaged with the protesters, clearly losing his temper in the process. The full video can be seen on www.youtube.com/‌watch?v=FgHmWLSSBgo or fb.watch/‌27kL6c-fff. Here is an excerpt where he insults Councillor Geoffrey Ellick:

As a Councillor you are a disgrace

Be careful where you stand…

When you’re having your photo taken, it’s a good idea to check what’s behind you…

Incidentally, Mark Capes obviously had a thing about being photographed, as can be seen from this image{n}, taken in Paris just after the end of his term.

Be careful what you say…

Population Graphic

Governor Gurr once made a speech in which he wished to draw the audience’s attention to the peculiarities of our population’s age distribution (we have children; we have older, retired people; but we have fewer young and middle-aged adults than we should because they are working overseas.) He meant to say we had an imbalanced population but actually referred to our unbalanced population. Oddly, the number of mental health professionals has since been increased…

Be careful with boats…

It’s also a good idea to be careful how you get onto shore from a boat, as Governor Massingham found when he escorted Prince Andrew ashore in 1984 (clip, below)

Fortunately he was not hurt, and showing the fortitude expected in the role, bravely carried on as if nothing had happened, though he later admitted that his trousers shrank as they dried, giving him quite an uncomfortable day showing the Prince around. He even made a joking reference to it in his farewell speech, delivered at his departure on 26th April 1984: My visit to St Helena has passed so rapidly that it seems hardly possible that it was three years ago when first I stepped ashore - without slipping that time I recall.

Be careful how you are perceived…

Governor Geoffrey Guy
Governor Geoffrey Guy

Governor Geoffrey Colin Guy was a reasonably popular Governor, and when in 1981 he finished his term he did not sail away into the sunset as most have, he retired to the island, buying Farm Lodge. Perhaps missing St Helena political life, in 1984 he stood for election to the Legislative Council in the St Pauls West district. This is the election report from the St Helena News Review of 11th May 1984:

Wednesday was Polling Day in the St Pauls West Electoral Area. Voting commenced that morning at 10 o’clock and continued throughout the day until the Polling Station closed at 6 p.m. The counting of votes began at 7,30 p.m. and at 8.15 the Returning Officer announced the following results:

Geoffrey Colin Guy - 25 votes

Isaac Douglas Hudson - 38 votes

The Returning Officer accordingly declared Mr Hudson to have been duly elected to serve as a Member of the Legislative Council for the St Pauls West Electoral Area.

40% of the vote is respectable, but this perhaps tells us a lot about the relationship between Saints and their Governor. However well liked they may be, the Governor is imposed on St Helena - its people have no influence over who is appointed. But in a by-election they get to choose who speaks for them…

And also…

Governor Benjamin Boucher behaved in such an extraordinary way throughout his time here he earned himself an entry on our page Characters of St Helena.

Read More

Below: Article: The first colonial GovernorsArticle: The forgotten Governors of the British EmpireArticle: Governor Underpaid

Article: The first colonial Governors

The following appears in a document ‘A few notes on St Helena’ by one Benjamin Grant, an island resident, writing in 1881 to Governor Janisch{10}.

From the time (1836) the island was transferred to the Crown up to 1872, its affairs have been administered by (with exception of one) old Major-Generals, worn out Colonels, and two pensioned Admirals, whom the British Government delighted to honour, and the Island had to pay £2,000 a year besides £200 allowances, and a splendid mansion to reside in! They knew nothing of, or were wholly indifferent to, the requirements of the place and its Inhabitants; therefore did naught but receive their salaries and expend the Revenue on what they deemed most advisable; while the Inhabitants themselves have no voice in the management of their internal affairs.

Article: The forgotten Governors of the British Empire

Reprinted in The Independent 26th August 2011{10}.

Governors of the British Empire received a handsome salary, but overseas postings could also bring loneliness and danger.

Consider the assignment: a generous salary, abundant overseas travel, opportunities for exploration, great power and huge responsibilities. £750,000 a year the going rate for a top post in say, Australia, or even £350,000 for the Falklands Islands. The rewards: a knighthood, and position at the top of society, heartbreaking loneliness, and a lifetime of ill health. When you’re next considering the terms of your ex-pat contract, spare a thought for those who governed a British colony at the height of Empire.

By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne Britain had over 50 colonies - not including India - around the world. Apart from Canada, Australia and South Africa, lands of opportunity to be settled by white men, most places were beyond the pale of civilisation - if anyone had heard of them at all.

Where, for example, was Heligoland? A tiny island off the north coast of Germany. Or Labuan? Today, a popular diving destination in northern Borneo. There were governors in the Ionian Islands, and in the Gold Coast (today’s Ghana), Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Lagos on the west coast of Africa; Singapore, Hong Kong, the Falkland Islands and strange-sounding provinces in Malaysia.

Victorian Governors

Everywhere the peoples and the climates were different. An assignment to the tropics, dangerous, ‘uncivilised’, disease-ridden and full of malaria, could mean a death sentence.

Governors were given no training. Only the most basic information was given about where they were going. For example, Uganda, at the turn of the 20th century, was described ‘as about the size of France’, while nowhere in Nigeria had been explored further than 50 miles from trading posts along the river banks. Yet, here a governor would be expected to maintain law and order, control revenues and expenditure, and lead a civil society.

Vast preparations were made for leaving England. Appointed to govern Tasmania in 1846, William Denison prepared to spend five years in a colony where virtually nothing could be purchased. He took his entire library of over 2,000 books, and every article of furniture, plate, crockery and glass, saddlery and harness the family possessed - and all their servants.

Partings from England were anguished. Accounts of sea voyages were often terrible. Sailing for the Gold Coast in 1892, Henry Hesketh Bell was shipwrecked. He landed on shore in his dressing gown, pyjamas and one shoe. The Gold Coast was so infested with fevers, dysentery and malaria that the expression, ‘How do you do?’ is not a mere formality, he quipped. But it wasn’t funny. He lost 12 colleagues from fever in less than four years.

And spare a thought for their wives. Rachael Gordon went with two children to join her husband, Arthur, the first governor of Fiji in 1875. Government House was built of reeds and thatch. While her husband cut off his trousers and went around barefoot with a towel flung round his shoulders in case he fancied a dip in the sea, Rachael was bound in tight stays, hooped crinolines and heavy black gabardine. She possessed only two light cotton sprigged dresses. How she longed, she wrote her sister, for everything clean and white, to be changed two times a day.

Meanwhile, Ellen Douglas was serving with her husband, the founding administrator of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territories. Surrounded by Larrakia, the local aborigines, she and her seven children - five under 10 - lived in a thin walled timber hut with windows made of calico, with no nearby water, a camping stove to cook on, no fresh fruit, vegetables or meat, on the edge of a beach infested with crocodiles. For half the year the heat was terrible, and for the rest it rained torrentially. For 11 months no ship called with either letters or supplies.

The career of Thomas Callaghan was typical. Like many Victorian governors he grew up in modest circumstances, the son of an Irish woollen draper from County Cork. After training as a lawyer Callaghan was dispatched to Hong Kong in 1860. The place was so riddled with corruption it nearly broke him. He was moved to govern Labuan and on to the Gambia where fever almost killed him. Like so many of his colleagues, Callaghan had no time to find a wife until he was well over 40.

Loneliness, recurring illnesses and fear of disease is a constant theme in memoirs and letters of the period. No one knew what caused malaria or other tropical fevers. A large dose of quinine, the remedy of the time, induced terrible ringing in the ears and sickness that was almost as painful as the fever it attacked. After the Gambia, Callaghan was assigned to the favourite post for diseased governors: the bitter cold and isolation of the Falkland Islands. Less than six months after he was at last transferred to the gentle climes of the Bahamas, Callaghan was dead, aged 54.

As communications with London took weeks, a governor’s power to put his own stamp on a country was enormous. Many left legacies that endure to this day. Frank Swettenham began his working life as a translator of Malay languages. By the age of 24 he was the only white man in a remote Malay state, living alongside the sultan as an assistant resident. Wearing sarongs and living in a Malay house, he wove himself into village life, talking cock-fighting with the men and seduced by their women. Within 30 years he had overseen changes that transformed impenetrable jungle and simple villages into a British-run country on the brink of modernity with railways, roads, hospitals and grandiose public buildings.

But the work carried a cost - to both the countries, and to those who tried to govern them. It broke Arthur Gordon’s heart to leave his beloved Fiji. Frank Swettenham’s friend and colleague, Hugh Clifford, who also began his career as a governor in a lonely post in the Malay States, was haunted throughout his life by the destruction Britain had waged on the traditional Malay way of life.

Many other governors had doubts about their missions, wondering whether they were not doing more harm than good. And when at last they came home to retire, in the green and pleasant land they had so often dreamed of, governors found the nation had changed. From high command and travel around the Empire, their worlds had shrunk. Few in England cared who they had been or what they had done. Most died forgotten.

From ‘Running the Show, Governors of the British Empire’, by Stephanie Williams, published by Viking/Penguin.

Article: Governor Underpaid

Published in The Independent 19th November 2010{10}.

SaintFM held a phone-in on Tuesday morning about what people wanted to see from a new Governor of St Helena. Governor Andrew Gurr will be leaving the island on completion of contract in the middle of next year. There was a huge response from the public with dozens of suggestions and comments. After the phone-in, we invited Governor Andrew Gurr to tell us about what it was like to be Governor of St Helena:

I did hear some of the programme this morning and I think people are free to say what they think and I welcome that, but there’s clearly a lot of misunderstanding out there in the population as to what a Governor actually does and that’s not surprising. Until I was sent to an overseas territory I don’t think I understood it at all and just to read through the Constitution is a very dull thing to do. Most of the comments, I think, were very familiar to me, I’ve heard most of them before and, indeed, responded to them, but I was concerned over the criticism of our Councillors because I do regard this Council as being very professional, they work hard. If I thought for one moment they were in my pocket, I think I would be surprised and rather shocked. They’re certainly not in my pocket and they do their job very well and they do it in the best way they know how, but I think what was missing this morning was the fact that a Governor, above all, needs a very tough hide, you have to be able to take the understandable criticism and you have to step back from it. If you, as a Governor, indeed, as any senior person involved in politics, start answering every criticism I think you’d end up doing nothing else and I’ve seen that happen, it certainly happened to politicians when I was there in the Falklands, so you have to be able to take criticism and not respond and another thing a Governor needs that nobody actually said this morning, I think, is a good wife, or if the Governor is a woman, a good husband, because I think there are real difficulties by a person being here, if they’re all by themselves and they go into that big house at night and dwell on their thoughts, they’ve nobody to unload the baggage of the day on, and I think that’s important. I think the Governor here needs to respect democracy because it would be easy under the Constitution for a Governor to get carried away and start trying to rule by dictate and I don’t think that would be advisable. But what a Governor does, just to, sort of, say in a very few words, he represents Her Majesty’s Government to the island and he also represents the island to Her Majesty’s Government and in a sense he’s standing half way between both and if I’m in London I’m arguing the St Helena case and if I’m here I’m often arguing the London case, in fact, probably London would say not enough, but that’s the role and that’s what one has to do and, of course, it’s remarkably complicated as you rightly say. And as well as doing that here, the Governor does have a constitutional role and it’s almost a management role, a leadership role, in trying to take the island and the civil service in the right direction. Now, somebody said this morning that I’m always looking for change and I think if you’re going to improve then you do need to look for change, otherwise you’re just going to stay the same. A lot of people also said, you know, nothing’s happening and we’re in a mess, I think was said several times. I don’t think that’s true, I think over the last few months in particular we’ve moved forward quite a long way. But a Governor does need to be a good communicator, needs to be honest, needs to have manners, which was said this morning, and needs to have integrity. And one of the things that is important, particularly here, because of the nature of our isolation, is that we are cut off, probably more than any society of this size and therefore if there is a crisis the buck stops with the Governor. It doesn’t often happen, in fact, one hopes it never happens, but occasionally there’s something where a Governor does have to make some pretty rapid decisions and so there’s a real heavy responsibility, I think, on a Governor’s shoulders under those circumstances. So it is a complicated job, it’s a wonderful job, a big job and an underpaid job{24}.

LOL

One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is ‘to be prepared’{o}

Credits:
{a} The Independent{b} Lao Tzu{c} Our Constitution, 1st September 2009{10}{d} Social Media User{25}{e} John Coyle{f} Andrew / Peter Neaum{g} From the St Helena News, 15th April 1988, and yes we know this is a poor picture, but it’s the best we’ve come across. If you can help please contact us{h} Copyright © 1991 Film Unit, used with permission{i} ‘A Few Notes on St Helena and Descriptive Guide’ by Benjamin Grant, 1883{10}{j} St Helena News Review, 27th February 1981{10}{k} Copyright © 1962 Film Unit, used with permission{l} Radio St Helena/Museum of St Helena, digitised by Burgh House Media Productions{m} The Historic Environment Record{n} John Tyrrell’s blog{o} George W. Bush

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Footnotes:
{1} Governor Hollamby, 24th June 1999-29th September 2004, on the telephone.{2} We do not know what the title would be for a Governor who did not identify with a specific gender. Perhaps ‘Their Excellency’? When it happens we’ll let you know.{3} More about the politics of St Helena on our page Government on St Helena.{4} There is a probably-incomplete list of governors including acting governors here: www.worldstatesmen.org/‌Saint‌_‌Helena.htm.{5} Some might suggest that a few of the more recent ones were also lucky also to have survived{6} We are intrigued by a note in The East India Company records from 10th February 1688: Anthony Beale, carpenter in the Return, is given 10/.(£0.50) for good service in the late fight with the Dutch, and for his pains in repairing the Company’s model. Can this be the same person who only 4 years later was made Governor?{7} See our page Famous Visitors for a detailed explanation.{8} During the interregnum after the death of Hudson Janisch, William Grey-Wilson appears to have ‘administered’ the island for at least two years, 1888 and 1889. From 1885 to 1887 control seems to have been with one Lieut.-Colonel Grant Blunt, who in The ‘Blue Book’ for 1886 signs himself Governor Grant Blunt though we can find no record of him actually being appointed to the substantive post.{9} The four ‘Wirebird’ publications should not be confused.{10} @@RepDis@@{11} The first motor car was imported in 1929.{12} £0.05.{13} The Government had 62% of the shares; the remainder remained in private hands, as it still does.{14} The actual opening was performed by John Mark Taylor, Conservative MP for Solihull, but we don’t know why he was here or what was his connection with the school. Please enlighten us!{15} Still largely lacking from Government of St Helena.{16} Their (alleged) crime was importing goods on their own vessel - legally the RMS St Helena (1990-2018) had a monopoly over goods transport to and from the island.{17} She was also involved in what many saw as a cover-up. Her dog killed a sheep, and normally when this happens the dog is destroyed and its owner publicly prosecuted. Neither of these happened. After the story came out it was announced that she had paid the owner for the animal (‘Restorative Justice’). This did not satisfy her critics.{18} Governors changing their name during their term is novel. Governor Gallwey changed his name to ‘Gallway’, but not until after he had left St Helena, so Saint Helena Island Info always refers to his original name. This site’s policy is to refer to her by whichever name she had at the time of the event reported.{19} It is generally believed that, as a result of this, his request for an extension to his term was denied by the FCDO.{20} The first flight after the removal of Covid‑19 quarantine requirements.{21} Note that where a Governor served twice, on separate occasions, this is counted as two Governors.{22} Quote from The Bible, Revelation 15 v13.{23} Normally. As far as we can tell…{24} We don’t know what current governors are paid, but the Records show that when the Crown took over the island in 1834 the salary of the Governor was reduced to a quarter of The East India Company levels.{25} Posted on Social Media and used with the poster’s permission but they wish to remain anonymous.{26} You can read a more detailed article about the Cordeaux period (1912-1920) by Ian Bruce, serialised in The Sentinel, September/October 2017{10}.{27} You can read a more detailed article about 1900-1912 by Ian Bruce, originally published in ‘Wirebird’, the magazine of Friends of St Helena{9}, September 2016{10}.

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