List of governors of the Gold Coast

This is a list of colonial administrators in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) from the start of English presence in 1621 until Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. In addition to the Gold Coast Colony, the governor of the Gold Coast was for most of the period also responsible for the administration of the Ashanti Colony, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Protectorate and the League of Nations/United Nations mandate/trust territory of British Togoland.

Governors of the Gold Coast (1621–1751)

Name	Took office	Left office
Sir William St John	1621	1623
William Greenhill	1660	Unknown
Henry Greenhill	1680	1685
Henry Nurse	1685	1695
John Bloome	1691	1697
Baggs	1697	1701
Sir Dalby Thomas	1703	1711

Governors of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast (1751–1822)

Name	Took office	Left office
Thomas Melvil	23 June 1751	23 January 1756
William Tymewell	23 January 1756	17 February 1756
Charles Bell	17 February 1756	15 October 1757
Nassau Senior	15 October 1757	10 May 1761
Charles Bell	10 May 1761	15 August 1763
William Mutter	15 August 1763	1 March 1766
John Hippersley	1 March 1766	11 August 1766
Gilbert Petrie	11 August 1766	21 April 1769
John Crossle	21 April 1769	11 August 1770
Richard Miles	20 January 1777	25 March 1780
John Roberts	25 March 1780	20 May 1781
John B. Weuves	20 May 1781	29 April 1782
Richard Miles	29 April 1782	29 January 1784
James Morgue	29 January 1784	24 January 1787
Thomas Price	24 January 1787	27 April 1787
Thomas Morris	27 April 1787	20 June 1789
William Fielde	20 June 1789	15 November 1791
John Gordon	15 November 1791	31 March 1792
Archibald Dalzel	31 March 1792	16 December 1798
Jacob Mould	16 December 1798	4 January 1799
John Gordon	4 January 1799	28 April 1800
Archibald Dalzel	28 April 1800	30 September 1802
Jacob Mould	30 September 1802	8 February 1805
George Torrane	8 February 1805	4 December 1807
Edward White	4 December 1807	21 April 1816
Joseph Dawson	21 April 1816	19 January 1817
John Hope Smith	19 January 1817	27 March 1822

Governors of the Gold Coast (1822–1828)

Sir Charles MacCarthy, 27 March 1822 – 17 May 1822, first time
James Chisholm, 17 May 1822–December 1822, first time
Sir Charles MacCarthy, December 1822–21 January 1824, second time
James Chisholm, 21 January 1824 – 17 October 1824, second time
Edward Purdon, 17 October 1824 – 22 March 1825
Major-general Sir Charles Turner, 22 March 1825 – 8 March 1826
Sir Neil Campbell, 18 May 1826 – 15 November 1826
Major Henry John Ricketts, 15 November 1826 – 11 October 1827, first time
Hugh Lumley, 11 October 1827 – 10 March 1828
George Hingston, 10 March 1828 – 5 June 1828
Major Henry John Ricketts, 5 June 1828 – 25 June 1828, second time

Governors of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast (1828–1843)

John Jackson, 25 June 1828 – 19 February 1830
George Maclean, 19 February 1830 – 26 June 1836, first time
William Topp, 26 June 1836 – 15 August 1838
George Maclean, 15 August 1838 – 1843, second time

Governors of the Gold Coast (1843–1960)

In 1843 a governor was appointed subordinate to the Governor of Sierra Leone until 1850. After the Third Anglo-Ashanti War of 1873–74, the Gold Coast was formally declared a crown colony.

Henry Worsley Hill, 1843–8 March 1845
James Lelley, 8 March 1845 – 15 April 1846
William Winniett, 15 April 1846 – 31 January 1849, first time
James Coleman Fitzpatrick, 31 January 1849 – 13 January 1850
Sir William Winniett, 13 January 1850 – 4 December 1850, second time
James Bannerman, 4 December 1850 – 14 October 1851
Stephen John Hill, 14 October 1851–December 1854
Henry Connor, December 1854–March 1857, acting
Sir Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine, March 1857–April 1858
Henry Bird, April 1858–20 April 1860, acting
Edward B. Andrews, 20 April 1860 – 14 April 1862
William A. Ross, 14 April 1862 – 20 September 1862, acting
Richard Pine, 20 September 1862 – 1865
Rokeby Jones, 1865, acting
William Elliot Mockler, 1865, acting
Edward Conran, April 1865–February 1867
Herbert Taylor Ussher, February 1867–April 1872, first time
John Pope Hennessy, April 1872 – 1872
Charles Spencer Salmon, 1872–September 1872, acting
Robert William Keate 7 Mar 1873 – 17 Mar 1873
Robert William Harley, September 1872–2 October 1873
Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 2 October 1873 – 4 March 1874
James Maxwell, 4 March 1874 – 30 March 1874, acting
Charles Lees, 30 March 1874–June 1874, acting, first time
George Cumine Strahan, June 1874–7 April 1876
Charles Lees, 7 April 1876–December 1876, acting, second time
Sanford Freeling, December 1876–13 May 1878, acting to 5 June 1877
Charles Lees, 13 May 1878–June 1879, acting, third time
Herbert Taylor Ussher, June 1879–1 December 1880, second time
William Brandford Griffith, 1 December 1880 – 4 March 1881, acting, first time
Sir Samuel Rowe, 4 March 1881 – 29 April 1884
W. A. G. Young, 29 April 1884 – 24 April 1885
William Brandford Griffith, 24 April 1885 – 7 April 1895, second time
William Edward Maxwell, 7 April 1895 – 6 December 1897
Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, 6 December 1897 – 29 August 1900, acting to 29 May 1898
W. Low, 29 August 1900 – 17 December 1900, acting
Sir Matthew Nathan, 17 December 1900 – 9 February 1904^[1]
Herbert Bryan, 9 February 1904 – 3 March 1904, acting, first time
John Pickersgill Rodger, 3 March 1904 – 19 September 1910
Herbert Bryan, 19 September 1910 – 20 November 1910, acting, second time
James Jamieson Thorburn, 21 November 1910 – 29 June 1912
Herbert Bryan, 29 June 1912 – 26 December 1912, acting, third time
Sir Hugh Charles Clifford, 26 December 1912 – 1 April 1919
Alexander Ransford Slater, 1 April 1919 – 8 October 1919, acting, first time
Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, 9 October 1919 – 24 April 1927
Sir James Crawford Maxwell, 24 April 1927 – 5 June 1927, acting
John Maxwell, 5 June 1927–July 1927, acting
Sir Alexander Ransford Slater, July 1927–5 April 1932, second time
Geoffry Northcote, 5 April 1932 – 29 November 1932, acting, first time
Sir Shenton Thomas, 30 November 1932 – 13 May 1934
Geoffry Northcote, 13 May 1934 – 23 October 1934, acting, second time
Sir Arnold Weinholt Hodson, 24 October 1934 – 24 October 1941
Sir George Ernest London, 24 October 1941 – 29 June 1942, acting, first time
Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns, 29 June 1942 – 2 August 1947
Sir George Ernest London, 2 August 1947 – 12 January 1948, acting, second time
Sir Gerald Hallen Creasy, 12 January 1948 – 15 February 1949
Sir Robert Scott, 15 February 1949 – 28 March 1949, acting, first time
Thorleif Rattray Orde Mangin, 28 March 1949 – 11 June 1949, acting
Sir Robert Scott, 11 June 1949 – 11 August 1949, acting, second time
Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, 11 August 1949 – 6 March 1957.

Governor-General of Ghana (1957–1960)

Lord Listowel, March 1957 – July 1960

In 1957, the Gold Coast Colony, the Ashanti Colony, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Protectorate and the British Togoland Trust Territory, became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations called Ghana. The Governor-General of Ghana served as the representative of the Queen of Ghana, whose formal title in Ghana was ‘Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Ghana and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth’. The entire dominion formed part of Her Majesty's dominions until the country became a republic in 1960.

References

^ "No. 27245". The London Gazette. 9 November 1900. p. 6854.

Sources

[1] "No. 27245". The London Gazette. 9 November 1900. p. 6854.

[1]