Governor of Tasmania facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Governor of Tasmania
Flag of the Governor
Badge of the Governor
Incumbent Barbara Baker since 16 June 2021
Viceregal
Style	Her Excellency The Honourable
Residence	Government House, Hobart
Seat	Hobart
Nominator	Premier of Tasmania
Appointer	Monarch of Australia on the advice of the Premier
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure (usually 5 years by convention)
Formation	8 January 1855
First holder	Sir Henry Fox Young

The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of Elizabeth II as the queen of Australia. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Government House located at the Queens Domain in Hobart. As the sovereign predominantly lives outside Tasmania, the governor's primary task is to perform the sovereign's constitutional duties on their behalf.

As with the other state governors, the governor performs similar constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as the governor-general of Australia does at the national level. The position has its origins in the positions of commandant and lieutenant-governor in the colonial administration of Van Diemen's Land. The territory was separated from the Colony of New South Wales in 1825 and the title "governor" was used from 1855, the same year in which it adopted its current name. In accordance with the conventions of the Westminster system of parliamentary government, the governor now acts solely on the advice of the head of the elected government, the Premier of Tasmania.

Tasmania retained British-born governors longer than most other states. The first Australian-born governor was Stanley Burbury (appointed 1973) and the first Tasmanian-born governor was Sir Guy Green (appointed 1995). Since Burbury, all Tasmanian governors have been Australian-born, except for Peter Underwood who was born in Britain but emigrated to Australia when a teenager.

Divided in two

Between 1804 and 1813, Van Diemen's Land was divided along the 42nd parallel, and the two sections governed as separate "Lieutenant-Governorships" under the Governor of New South Wales. Collins was the only officially appointed Lieutenant-Governor—upon his death in 1810, the government in Hobart Town was administered, by the Commandants at Hobart Town (Lord, Murray and Geils). The northern settlement at Port Dalrymple (now George Town) was administered by four Commandants until the settlements were merged to form the single colony under the governorship of Thomas Davey in 1813.

Lieutenant-Governor and Commandants in the south

No.	Lieutenant-Governor		From	To
1		Colonel David Collins	1804	1810
2		Lieutenant Edward Lord (Commandant at Hobart Town)	March 1810	July 1810
3		Captain John Murray (Commandant at Hobart Town)	1810	1812
4		Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Geils (Commandant at Hobart Town)	1812	1813

Commandants in the north

No.	Commandant at Port Dalrymple		From	To
1		Colonel William Paterson	1804	1808
2		Captain John Brabyn	1808	1810
3		Major George Alexander Gordon	1810	1812
4		Captain John Ritchie	1812	1812