Administrator of Ascension

The Administrator of Ascension is the head of government and representative of the Governor of St Helena—who is ex-officio the governor of Ascension—on Ascension Island. The role of the Administrator includes that of chairing the territory's Island council which consists of seven elected members. The Administrator of Ascension is formally referred to as "His Honour" or "Her Honour."

As a part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha the head of state is Elizabeth II, with the governor of Saint Helena appointed by the British government to act as her local representative. However, as Ascension Island is over 700 miles (1,127 km) away from Saint Helena, an Administrator is appointed as the governor's representative on the Island. The first Administrator was appointed in 1942.

Commandants, 1815–1922

Commandant	From	Until	Notes
James Kearney White	22 October 1815	March 1816
William Roberts	March 1816	August 1817
James Thorn	August 1817	September 1819
Robert Campbell	September 1819	March 1823
Edward Nicolls	March 1823	November 1828	First Royal Marines officer as commandant
William Bate	3 November 1828	15 April 1838	Died in office
Hugh Evans	April 1838	January 1839
Roger Sawrey Tinklar	January 1839	14 September 1840	Died in office
J. Wade	September 1840	December 1840	Acting
W. Lee	December 1840	April 1841	Acting
H. Bennett	April 1841	December 1841	Died in office
W. Lee	December 1841	July 1842	Acting; second time
Thomas Peard Dwyer	July 1842	April 1844
T. C. C. Moore	April 1844	May 1844
John Fraser	May 1844	11 October 1844
Arthur Fleming Morrell	11 October 1844	18 January 1847
Frederick Hutton	18 January 1847	October 1851
William Hewgill Kitchen	October 1851	June 1855
George Alexander Seymour	June 1855	March 1858
William Farquharson Burnett	March 1858	July 1861
Frederick Lamport Barnard	July 1861	March 1864
Joseph Grant Bickford	March 1864	June 1864
F. Hammond	June 1864	September 1866
Walter James Hunt-Grubbe	September 1866	March 1867
Arthur Wilmshurst	March 1867	November 1868
J. G. Mead	November 1868	May 1869
R. W. Evans	May 1869	October 1869
E. F. Kirby	October 1869	October 1872
John Brazier Creagh	October 1872	January 1874
J. W. East	January 1874	February 1877
H. B. Phillimore	February 1877	December 1878
Arthur George Robertson Roe	December 1878	September 1882
George Parsons	September 1882	October 1886
Richard Henry Napier	October 1886	June 1890
R. Evans	June 1890	May 1893
J. G. Jones	May 1893	May 1896
J. E. Blaxland	May 1896	July 1899
C. N. A. Pochard	July 1899	13 May 1902
Robert K. McAlpine	13 May 1902	13 March 1905
R. H. Morgan	13 March 1905	29 April 1908
J. Dunstan	29 April 1908	27 April 1910
G. Carpenter	27 April 1910	21 April 1913
H. C. Bennett	21 April 1913	8 June 1919
H. G. Grant	8 June 1919	15 October 1920
C. A. Tennyson	15 October 1920	31 October 1922

Resident-magistrates, 1922–1964

Resident-magistrate	From	Until	Notes
W. Haining	1922	1925
E. Lee Lander	1925	1928
Fred Wood	1928	1929
E. A. Willmott	1929	1934
Lionel Bartlett	1934	1936
Percy Edwin Bunker	1936	1938
C. Nias	1938	1938
Percy Edwin Bunker	1938	1939	Second time
Stephen Harold Cardwell	1939	1944
Maurice Campbell Clark	1944	1947
V. W. Oelrichs	1 July 1947	1949
H. L. N. Ascough	15 July 1949	1951
F. G. Eastwood	1 February 1951	1952
B. Stephens	14 April 1952	1954
A. R. Harrison	1 November 1954	1955
F. J. Atkins	10 October 1955	1956
A. R. Harrison	5 March 1956	18 May 1958	Second time
B. R. Irving	18 May 1958	4 November 1958
A. R. Harrison	4 November 1958	30 April 1961	Third time
J. R. Bruce	30 April 1961	28 June 1962
J. Markham	28 June 1962	21 December 1962
J. R. Bruce	21 December 1962	1964	Second time

Administrators, 1964–present

Administrator	From	Until	Notes
M. E. Wainwright	June 1964	September 1966
Anthony G.A. Beyts	September 1966	September 1967
H. W. D. McDonald	June 1968	September 1973
Geoffrey Colin Guy	September 1973	November 1976
G. McDonald	November 1976	June 1977
G. B. Kendal	June 1977	September 1977
Simon Gillett	September 1977	June 1979
P. Duncan	June 1979	September 1980
Bernard Edward Pauncefort	September 1980	August 1982
I. G. Thow	August 1982	August 1984
Michael T. S. Blick	August 1984	January 1989
J. J. Beale	January 1989	February 1991
Brian Norman Connelly	February 1991	June 1995
Roger C. Huxley	June 1995	23 July 1999
Geoffrey Fairhurst	23 July 1999	10 July 2002
Matt Young	10 July 2002	14 August 2002	Acting
Adam Henshaw	14 August 2002	3 September 2002	Acting
Matt Young	3 September 2002	22 September 2002	Acting; second time
Andrew Michael Kettlewell	22 September 2002	September 2005
Michael Thomas Hill	September 2005	September 2008
Ross Denny	September 2008	9 September 2011
Miles Miller	10 September 2011	18 September 2011	Acting
Joanne Yeadon	19 September 2011	14 October 2011	Acting
Miles Miller	15 October 2011	26 October 2011	Acting; second time
Colin Wells	27 October 2011	August 2014
Marc Holland[1]	26 August 2014	March 2018
Justine Allan	26 March 2018	25 November 2018
Steven Chandler	March 2019	24 November 2019
Gareth Morris [2]	25 November 2019	19 December 2019	Acting
Steven Chandler	20 December 2019	16 March 2020
Sean Burns[3]	17 March 2020	12 December 2020
Xander Halliwell	13 December 2020[4]	12 January 2021[5]	Acting
Sean Burns[6]	12 January 2021	Present

References

1. https://www.ascension.gov.ac/swearing-in-off-new-administrator
2. https://www.ascension.gov.ac/acting-administrator-sworn-in
3. https://www.ascension.gov.ac/administrator-sean-burns-begins-official-duties
4. https://www.ascension.gov.ac/acting-administrator-sworn-in-2
5. https://www.ascension.gov.ac/administrator-resumes-duties
6. https://www.ascension.gov.ac/administrator-resumes-duties

External links

• Government of Ascension Island
• Chronology and lists of commanding officers, resident-magistrates and administrators