Governor of Pitcairn

The Governor of Pitcairn[1] is the representative of the British monarch in the Pitcairn Islands, the last remaining British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. Pitcairn has considerable local autonomy, but is under the authority of the colonial governor.

Flag of the Governor of Pitcairn

Because of the dependency's small population (it peaked at 233 in the 1930s, and has since dwindled to 50), the British never considered it worthwhile to station a resident governor on Pitcairn. Instead, the Governor of Fiji doubled as governor of Pitcairn from 1898 onward. When Fiji became independent in 1970, the governorship of Pitcairn was transferred to the British high commissioner to New Zealand. The office is currently held by Laura Clarke.

Throughout most of its history, the authority of the British governor was, in practice, nominal. However, Richard Fell, Governor of the Pitcairn Islands between 2001 and 2006, used the authority vested in him to dismiss the mayor Steve Christian, involved in the Pitcairn rape trial of 2004.

List of Governors since 1970

Pitcairn Islands
No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Title	Portrait	Tenure		Notes	Monarch
				From	Until
1	Sir Arthur Norman Galsworthy (1916-1986)	Governor of Pitcairn		October 1970	January 1973		Elizabeth II
2	Sir David Aubrey Scott (1919–2010)	Governor of Pitcairn		January 1973	1975	[2]
3	Sir Harold Smedley (1920–2004)	Governor of Pitcairn		February 1976	1980	[3]
4	Richard Stratton (?–?)	Governor of Pitcairn		September 1980	1984	[4]
5	Terence Daniel O'Leary (?–?)	Governor of Pitcairn		July 1984	1987
6	Robin Byatt (?–?)	Governor of Pitcairn		December 1987	1990
7	David Moss (born 1938)	Governor of Pitcairn		September 1990	1994
8	Robert John Alston (born 1938)	Governor of Pitcairn		August 1994	10 February 1998
9	Martin Williams (born 1941)	Governor of Pitcairn		April 1998	2001
10	Richard Fell (born 1948)	Governor of Pitcairn		10 December 2001	April 2006
11	George Fergusson (born 1955)	Governor of Pitcairn		2 May 2006	18 May 2010
–	Mike Cherrett (?–?)	Acting Governor of Pitcairn		19 May 2010	3 June 2010
12	Victoria "Vicki" Treadell (born 1959)	Governor of Pitcairn		3 June 2010	July 2014
13	Jonathan Sinclair (born 1970)	Governor of Pitcairn		15 August 2014	9 December 2017
–	Robin Shackell (?–?)	Acting Governor of Pitcairn		9 December 2017	January 2018
14	Laura Clarke (born 1978)	Governor of Pitcairn		January 2018	Incumbent

See also

• List of rulers of the Pitcairn Islands, for local rulers since 1790
• List of governors of Fiji, for governors from 1898 until 1970
• List of high commissioners of the United Kingdom to New Zealand, for governors since 1970

References

1. While the territory is commonly called 'Pitcairn Islands', the official title of the office of her governor is 'Governor of Pitcairn' under section 27(1) of the Pitcairn Constitution Order, 2010 Archived 10 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
2. From 1 January 1974, Sir David Aubrey Scott.
3. From 31 December 1977, Sir Harold Smedley.
4. From 1982, Sir Richard Stratton.