Colonial Titles

Submitted by RenoTommy on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 11:51

Moddsey:

TX for your info about Governor May. 

I started this thread because I didn't want to "hijack" the "Rolls" thread. Governor May was once a British Colonial Administrator, I am wondering what kind of position was that........something like an Assistant Governor?  Did that position exit in the modern days, like just before the "handover" in 1997?

Why did some British colonies have Governors while others (especially down in the Caribbean) have Viceroys?  What were the differences?

I believe that "British Colonial Administrator" is a term like "civil servant", not a title.  In Hong Kong, when the Governor was away, his position could be filled by several different people depending on who was available and in town.  That person's was described as the "Officer Administering the Government" since is could be filled by the Colonial Secretary or even the head of the Army or Navy. There has never been an official "assistant Governor" position, merely a chain of people who move up to take on the job as needed.

The terms seem interchangeable, as this definition of viceroy says: the governor of a country or province who rules as the representative of a king or sovereign.

Could it just be down to which word was in fashion when the colony was formed?

Perhaps you're right.  Indeed, when I too looked up the definitions, they were very similar....... so like you said, Viceroy and Governor might be interchangeable depending on the period of time.  How about in Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Australia, New Zeland.......what were their Colonial "heads" called?  And in the Caribbean,  like in Jamica and the British Virgin Island, I believe there was where the word "Viceroy" was used but not in Asia. I may be totally wrong though............

Hi there,

Some facts that I found while googling:

-    You have the 'Last Viceroy of India (the 24th)' back in 1947, which was in fact, the last Viceroy of the British Empire;

-    Canada still have a Governor today despite the position is basically ceremonial;

-    This bloke who was the local Transport Secretary back in the 1980's went on to become the Governor of the Cayman Islands in 1987;

There should be much more information out there waiting to be dug up.

Best Regards,

T

There should be much more information out there waiting to be dug up.

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That's for sure.  Thanks for your info.  Frankly, I am surprised to hear that there is still a Governor in Canada.  How about Australia, New Zeland and other former colonies - now they are in the  British Commonwealth?

The post of "Governor-General" will be found in any country which has Queen Elizabeth as Queen. The post is held by a local citizen, not a UK expatriate, appointed by the Queen and the duties of the Governor-General are to stand in for the Queen when she is not there herself, i.e. to function as the Sovereign's Deputy. This involves a good deal of cutting tapes, laying foundation stones and handing out medals but it does also include the constitutional duties of the Sovereign including calling and dissolving Parliament. It's a different function to the office of Governor of a colony. In alphabetical order, the following nations have Governors-General:

Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados,Belize, Canada, Grenada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Tuvalu.

 

Pardon me for asking so many questions but my acknowledge about the British Commonwealth system is "O". 

Apparently, the "head" of Australia is the Prime Minister, then where does the "Governor-General" fall in?  If, God forbids, that something happens to the Prime Minister and his deputy, will the "GG" have the authorities to run the country until the next election is held? 

As the Queen's representative, I believe GG's role is very specific much like the Queen in UK. If something happens to the sitting PM, the governing party in Parliament will select another person to replace the vacant PM position until the next election is called.

Others can correct me if I am wrong.