Governor of Pitcairn

File:Flag of the Governor of the Pitcairn Islands.svg

Flag of the governor of Pitcairn

The Governor of Pitcairn<ref>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 Template:Webarchive.</ref> is the representative of the British monarch in the Pitcairn Islands, the last remaining British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. Despite technically being under the authority of the colonial governor, Pitcairn has local autonomy.

Because of the dependency's small population (it peaked at 233 in the 1930s, and has since dwindled to 35 in 2023<ref>https://www.immigration.pn/life-on-pitcairn-island</ref>), 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 Iona Thomas.

Throughout the island's history, the authority of the British governor was almost never used. An exception was Governor Richard Fell's dismissal of Mayor Steve Christian, who was convicted in the Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004.

List of governors since 1970

File:Flag of the Pitcairn Islands.svg Pitcairn Islands File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Template:Abbr	Name Template:Small	Title	Portrait	Tenure		Notes	Monarch
				From	Until
1	Sir Arthur Norman Galsworthy Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	October 1970	January 1973		File:Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour (retouched) (cropped) (3-to-4 aspect ratio).jpg Elizabeth II
2	Sir David Aubrey Scott Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	January 1973	1975	<ref>From 1 January 1974, Sir David Aubrey Scott.</ref>
3	Sir Harold Smedley Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	February 1976	1980	<ref>From 31 December 1977, Sir Harold Smedley.</ref>
4	Richard Stratton Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	September 1980	1984	<ref>From 1982, Sir Richard Stratton.</ref>
5	Terence Daniel O'Leary Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	July 1984	1987
6	Robin Byatt Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	December 1987	1990
7	David Moss Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	September 1990	1994
8	Robert John Alston Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	August 1994	10 February 1998
9	Martin Williams Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	April 1998	2001
10	Richard Fell Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	10 December 2001	April 2006
11	George Fergusson Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:George Fergusson (cropped).jpg	2 May 2006	18 May 2010
–	Mike Cherrett Template:Small	Acting Governor of PitcairnTemplate:Citation needed	File:Coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands.svg	19 May 2010	3 June 2010
12	Victoria "Vicki" Treadell Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Victoria Treadell (cropped).jpg	3 June 2010	July 2014
13	Jonathan Sinclair Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Jonathan Sinclair (diplomat) (cropped).jpeg	15 August 2014	9 December 2017
–	Robin Shackell Template:Small	Acting Governor of PitcairnTemplate:Citation needed	File:Robin Shackell (cropped).jpg	9 December 2017	25 January 2018
14	Laura Clarke Template:Small	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Laura Clarke 2018 (cropped).jpg	25 January 2018	7 July 2022
15	Iona Thomas	Governor of Pitcairn	File:Iona Thomas 2021.jpg	9 August 2022	Incumbent
							File:King Charles III (July 2023).jpg Charles III

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