British governors of Ceylon

The Governor of Ceylon was a British official who ruled Ceylon (currently Sri Lanka) during the colonial period between 1798 and 1948.

Upon the end of British rule and the creation of Dominion of Ceylon in 1948, this office was replaced by the Governor-General, who represented the British Monarch and not the Government of the United Kingdom as did the Governor. The office of Governor-General was it self was abolished in 1972 and replace by the post of President when Sri Lanka became a Republic.

The Governor

The Governor, appointed by the British monarch (on the advice of the prime minister), maintained executive power in Ceylon throughout British rule. He was head of the executive council and the pre-independence government of Ceylon.

The Governor was the most powerful official in Ceylon and only during world war 2 when Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon with power exceeding the Governor.

List of Governors (1798–1937)

Between 1796, when British forces first arrived on the island and the appointing of the first Governor of Ceylon in 1798, Ceylon was governed by the Governor of Madras.

* Frederick North, 12 October 1798–19 July 1805
* Thomas Maitland 19 July 1805–19 March 1811
* Robert Brownrigg, 11 March 1812–1 February, 1820
* Edward Paget, 2 February 1822–6 November 1822
* Edward Barnes, 18 January 1824–13 October 1831
* Robert Wilmot-Horton, 23 October 1831–7 November 1837
* James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie, 7 November 1837–15 April 1841
* Colin Campbell, 15 April 1841–19 April 1847
* The Viscount Torrington, 29 May 1847–18 October 1850
* Sir George William Anderson, 27 November 1850–18 January 1855
* Henry George Ward, 11 May 1855–30 June 1860
* Charles Justin MacCarthy, 22 October 1860–1 December 1863
* Sir Hercules Robinson, 21 March 1865–4 January 1872, "acting to 16 May 1865"
* William Henry Gregory, 4 March 1872–4 September 1877
* Sir James Robert Longdon, 4 September 1877–10 July 1883
* Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 3 December 1883–28 May 1890
* Arthur Elibank Havelock, 28 May 1890–24 October 1895
* Joseph West Ridgeway, 10 February 1896–19 November 1903
* Sir Henry Arthur Blake, 3 December 1903–11 July 1907
* Sir Henry Edward McCallum, 24 August 1907–24 January 1913
* Robert Chalmers, 18 October 1913–4 December 1915
* Sir John Anderson, 15 April 1916–24 March 1918
* Sir William Henry Manning, 10 September 1918–1 April 1925
* Sir Hugh Clifford, 30 November 1925–1927
* Sir Herbert Stanley, 20 August 1928–11 February 1931
* Sir Graeme Thompson, 11 April 1931–20 September 1933
* Reginald Edward Stubbs, 23 December 1933–30 June 1937
* Sir Andrew Caldecott, 16 October 1937–19 September 1944
* Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, 19 September 1944–4 February 1948

Acting Governors

* "John Wilson, 19 March 1811–11 March 1812, acting, first time"
* "Edward Barnes, 1 February 1820–2 February 1822"
* "James Campbell, 6 November 1822–18 January 1824"
* "John Wilson, 13 October 1831–23 October 1831, acting, second time"
* "James Emerson Tennent, 19 April 1847–29 May 1847"
* "Charles Justin MacCarthy, 18 October 1850–27 November 1850, acting, first time"
* "Charles Justin MacCarthy, 18 January 1855–11 May 1855, second time"
* "Henry Frederick Lockyer, 30 June 1860–30 July 1860"
* "Charles Edmund Wilkinson, 30 July 1860–22 October 1860"
* "Terence O'Brien, 1 December 1863–21 March 1865"
*" Sir Hercules Robinson, 21 March 1865–4 January 1872, acting to 16 May 1865"
* "Henry Turner Irving, 4 January 1872–4 March 1872"
* "John Douglas, 10 July 1883–3 December 1883"
* "Edward Noël Walker, 24 October 1895–10 February 1896"
* "Everard F. im Thurn, 19 November 1903–3 December 1903"
* "Hugh Clifford, 11 July 1907–24 August 1907"
* "Reginald Edward Stubbs, 24 January 1913–18 October 1913, acting, first time"
* "Reginald Edward Stubbs, 4 December 1915–15 April 1916, acting, second time"
* "Reginald Edward Stubbs, 24 March 1918–10 September 1918, acting, third time"
* "Cecil Clementi, 1 April 1925–18 October 1925"
* "Edward Bruce Alexander, 18 October 1925–30 November 1925"
* "Bernard Henry Bourdillon, 11 February 1931–11 April 1931"
* "Francis Graeme Tyrrell, 20 September 1933–23 December 1933"
* "Maxwell MacLagan Wedderburn, 30 June 1937–16 October 1937"

References

* [http://www.rulers.org/ruls3.html#sri_lanka Governors of Ceylon]
* [http://www.constitution.gov.lk/Constitutional_Evolution_3.shtml CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, Ministry Constitutional Change and National Integration]

ee also

*Governor-General of Ceylon
*History of Sri Lanka