The Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands was the colonial head of the

Gilbert and Ellice Islands The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...

civil service from 1892 until 1979. The post was established in 1892 with the title 'Resident Commissioner' by

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice his or her functions were normally exercised loca ...

John Bates Thurston Sir John Bates Thurston (31 January 1836 – 7 February 1897) was a British colonial official who served Fiji in a variety of capacities, including Premier of the Kingdom of Viti (before the islands were ceded to the United Kingdom) and later ...

after the islands were made a British protectorate, having previously been under the supervision of the

High Commissioner for the Western Pacific The High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was the chief executive officer of the British Western Pacific Territories, a British colonial entity, which existed from 1877 until 1976. Numerous colonial possessions were attached to the Territori ...

.David P. Henige (1970) ''Colonial governors from the Fifteenth Century to the Present'', p119Barrie Macdonald (1971) ''Policy and Practice in an Atoll Territory: British Rule in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, 1892-1970'', Canberra, ANU The Commissioner initially had jurisdiction over only the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

Charles Richard Swayne Charles Richard Swayne (1843 - 1921), born in Dublin, was the first Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands protectorate, from 1892 to 1895. Swayne had spent more than 20 years as a Magistrate at Lomaloma and then in Lau in Fi ...

was appointed as the first Commissioner, arriving in the islands the same year. In 1893 the responsibilities of Resident were extended to cover the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...

, with the title becoming Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Swayne arrived in the islands in October 1893. His salary was £500 a year, which was covered by local revenue. In 1895, the headquarters of the protectorate were established in

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Ocean Island in 1908, which remained the headquarters until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands The Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands was the period in the history of Kiribati between 1941 and 1945 when Imperial Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands during World War II, in the Pacific War theatre. From 1941 to 1943, Imper ...

. At the beginning of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, Cyril George Fox Cartwright was acting Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony on Ocean Island from December 1941 to August 1942. He was acting on behalf of

Vivian Fox-Strangways Vivian Fox-Strangways (born 29 July 1898, died 21 November 1974) was a British officer (Colonel, British Army), Resident Commissioner of the partly occupied by Japan Gilbert and Ellice Islands, from 1941 to 1946. Because of the Pacific War ...

, who had been appointed as Resident Commissioner, but because of the Pacific War, Fox-Strangways had been seconded into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

with the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and was located on

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 18 ...

in the

British Solomon Islands The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part o ...

. Following the occupation of Ocean Island by Japanese forces on 26 August 1942, Fox-Strangways established his office and headquarters on

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of la ...

in the Ellice Islands. On 22 November 1943 Fox-Strangways landed on

Betio Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll. Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. ...

islet at the end of

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, an ...

, and began to establish the administrative centre of the colony on Tarawa, first on Betio islet and subsequently on

Bairiki Bairiki is a settlement in South Tarawa of Kiribati. The State House, the National Stadium, the High Commissions of Australia and New Zealand as well as the embassy of China, and most of the Government Ministries are based in Bairiki. Bairiki is a ...

islet. The provisional headquarters of the colony stayed in Funafuti until 1946 and the rebuilding of Tarawa. The Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands became separate colonies in 1976, but remained under a single governor. After the independence of

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...

(Ellice Islands) in 1978, the post was renamed the Governor of the Gilbert Islands until the independence of

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

the following year.

List of governors

References

{{reflist Lists of governors