This is a list of viceroys in Saint Lucia from the first French settlement in 1650, until the island gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1979. Saint Lucia was colonized by the British and French in the 17th century and was the subject of several possession changes until 1814, when it was ceded to the British by France for the final time. In 1958, St. Lucia joined the short-lived semi-autonomous West Indies Federation. Saint Lucia was an associated state of the United Kingdom from 1967 to 1979 and then gained full independence on February 22, 1979.
Timeline of Saint Lucia
Documented Control of Saint Lucia
Date Range |
Country or people |
200/400–800 |
Arawak people settle Saint Lucia |
800– |
Kalinago (Caribs) settle Saint Lucia |
1550s |
French Pirate François le Clerc sets up camp on Pigeon Island |
1605 |
First English settlement |
1626 |
First French claim to Saint Lucia, appointed first Saint Lucia governor in 1652 |
1638–1640 |
English Major Judge settlement until driven away by Caribs |
1635 |
French settlements |
1654 |
Dutch settlement at Vieux Fort Bay |
1659 |
French drive off English invasion |
1663 |
Caribs sell Saint Lucia to English governor and defeat French |
1664–1666 |
English occupation |
1667 |
Treaty of Breda (1667) gives control back to French |
1674–1722 |
Annexed to the domain of the French Crown and made a dependency of Martinique |
1686–1687 |
English raid and control |
1687 |
English relinquish control to French |
1697 |
Peace of Ryswick recognizes French control |
1723–1743 |
Neutral territory (agreed by Britain and France) |
1743–1747 |
French colony (Sainte Lucie) |
1748–1755 |
Neutral territory (de jure agreed by Britain and France) |
1756–1761 |
French colony (Sainte Lucie) |
1762–1763 |
British occupation |
1763–1777 |
France |
1778 |
Britain |
1781–1783 |
British occupation |
1783–1793 |
France |
1794–1795 |
British occupation |
1796–1802 |
British occupation |
1802 |
France |
1803–1838 |
British colony |
1814 |
British possession confirmed |
1958–1962 |
Province of West Indies Federation |
1962–1967 |
Crown colony of the United Kingdom |
1967–1979 |
Associated state of the United Kingdom |
1979– |
Independent state, part of the Commonwealth of Nations |
Governors of the colony of Sainte Lucie, 1651–1802
Governors of Saint Lucia 1651-1802
Jacques Dyel du Parquet, 1651
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Thomas-Claude Renart de Fuchsamberg Amblimont, 1697
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George Brydges Rodney, 1762-1763
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Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse, 1792-1793
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George Prévost, 1798–1802
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Governors of the British colony of Saint Lucia 1803–1834
- General Robert Brereton 1803–1807, Commandant
- General Alexander Wood 1807–1814, Commandant
- Major Jacob Jordan 1814 (acting)
- General Francis Delaval 1814–1815, Commandant
- General Edward Stehelin 1815–1816, Commandant
- General Robert Douglas, Commandant 1816
- General Richard Augustus Seymour 1816–1817, Governor
- Colonel Edward O'Hara 1817–1818
- General Sir John Keane 1818–1819, Governor
- Major John Joseph Winkler 1819–1821 (acting Governor)
- General John Montagu Mainwaring 1821–1824, Governor
- Colonel Nathaniel Shepherd Blackwell 1824–1826
- General John Montagu Mainwaring 1826–1827, Governor
- Colonel Lorenzo Moore 1827–1829
- General David Stewart 1829, Governor
- Captain G.A.E. Delboate 1829 (acting Governor)
- Captain Robert Mullen 1829 (acting Governor)
- Major Francis Power 1829–1830 (acting Governor)
- James Alexander Farquharson 1830–1831, Governor
- George Mackie 1831, Governor
- Mark Anthony Bozon 1831–1832
- Colonel John Carter 1832 (acting Governor)
- James Alexander Farquharson 1832–1834 (second time)
Lieutenant-Governors of Saint Lucia, 1834–1857
The following Lieutenant-Governors of Saint Lucia were subordinate to the Governor of the British Windward Islands:
- Colonel Sir Dudley St. Leger Hill 1834–1837
- Colonel Thomas Bunbury 1837–1838
- Colonel John Alexander Mein 1838–1839
- Colonel Mathias Everard 1839–1841
- Captain George Murray 1841 (acting governor)
- Colonel George Graydon 1841–1843
- Captain William Caldwell 1841 (acting governor)
- Colonel Andrew Clarke 1843–1844
- Arthur Wellesley Torrens 1844–1848
- Sir Charles Henry Darling 1848–1852
- Henry Clermont Cobbe 1852
- Maurice Power 1852–1857
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Administrators of Saint Lucia 1857–1889
- Henry Heggart Breen 1857–1862
- James Mayer Grant 1862–1869
- Sir William Des Vœux 1869–1878
- Arthur Elibank Havelock 1878–1879
- Sir Roger Goldsworthy 1881–1884
- Edward Laborde 1885–1889
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Commissioners of Saint Lucia 1889–1958
Government House, Saint Lucia
- Robert Baxter Llewelyn 1889–1891
- Valesius Skipton Gouldsbury 1891–1896
- Charles Anthony King-Harman 1896–1899
- Sir Harry Langhorne Thompson 1900–1902
- Sir George Melville 1902–1905
- Philip Clark Cork 1905–1909
- Sir Edward John Cameron 1909–1914
- William Douglas Young 1914–1915
- Gideon Oliphant-Murray 1915–1918
- Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston 1918–1927
- Charles William Doorly 1927–1935
- Edward William Baynes 1935–1938
- Arthur Alban Wright 1938–1944
- Edward Francis Twining 1944–1946
- John Montague Stow 1947–1953
- John Kingsmill Thorp 1953–1958
Administrators of Saint Lucia 1958–1967
After incorporation into the Federation of the West Indies:
Governors of Saint Lucia 1967–1979
On 27 February 1967, Saint Lucia became an associated state of the United Kingdom, responsible for its own internal affairs. Sir Frederick Joseph Clarke was the first native Saint Lucian governor.
- Sir Frederick Joseph Clarke 1967–1973, Governor
- Sir Ira Marcus Simmons 1973–1974, Governor
- Sir Allen Lewis 1974–1979, Governor
On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia achieved independence from the United Kingdom. For a list of viceroys in Saint Lucia after independence, see Governor-General of Saint Lucia.
See also