This article lists the colonial governors and administrators of British Cyprus.

Hitherto Ottoman Cyprus, a territory of the Ottoman Empire, a British protectorate under Ottoman suzerainty was established over Cyprus by the Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878. The United Kingdom declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 5 November 1914 and annexed Cyprus. Turkey recognised British possession of Cyprus by the Treaty of Lausanne on 24 July 1923 and the island became a Crown Colony on 10 March 1925. Following the London and Zürich Agreements of 19 February 1959 Cyprus became an independent republic on 16 August 1960, and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1961.

List of high commissioners (1878–1925)

Name PortraitTerm of office Lord John Hay(acting) 12 July 1878 22 July 1878 Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley 22 July 1878 23 June 1879 Sir Robert Biddulph 23 June 1879 9 March 1886 Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer 9 March 1886 5 April 1892 Sir Walter Joseph Sendall 5 April 1892 23 April 1898 Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith 23 April 1898 17 October 1904 Sir Charles Anthony King-Harman 17 October 1904 12 October 1911 Hamilton Goold-Adams 12 October 1911 8 January 1915 Sir John Eugene Clauson 8 January 1915 31 December 1918 † Sir Malcolm Stevenson 31 December 1918 10 March 1925

List of governors (1925–1960)

Name PortraitTerm of office Sir Malcolm Stevenson 10 March 1925 30 November 1926 Sir Ronald Storrs 30 November 1926 29 October 1932 Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs 29 October 1932 8 November 1933 Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer 8 November 1933 4 July 1939 William Denis Battershill 4 July 1939 3 October 1941 Charles Campbell Woolley 3 October 1941 24 October 1946 Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster 24 October 1946 4 August 1949 Sir Andrew Barkworth Wright 4 August 1949 February 1954 Sir Robert Perceval Armitage February 1954 25 September 1955 Sir John Alan Francis Harding 3 October 1955 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot 3 December 1957 16 August 1960

Deputy governors

Sir George Evelyn Sinclair: 1955–1960

Commanders

The following officers have been in command of British Forces Cyprus:V: Ministry of Defence and Tri-service senior appointments: Cyprus, Commander, British Forces . page 31. gulabin.com. Retrieved 2011-12-28.

General Officer Commanding Cyprus District 18 March 1955 — Major-General Abdy Ricketts 19 October 1956 — Major-General Douglas Kendrew 11 October 1958 — Major-General Kenneth Darling

Commander, British Forces in Cyprus 16 August 1960 — Air Marshal Sir William MacDonald (Administrator of the SBAs from 1960) 16 July 1962 — Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Barnett, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East and Commander British Forces in Cyprus. 25 September 1964 — Air Marshal T. O. Prickett; Air Vice-Marshal T. O. Prickett CB, DSO, DFC, was "appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force and Commander, British Forces in Cyprus, with the acting rank of Air Marshal in succession to" Air Chief Marshal Barnett, 25 Sept 1964. 21 November 1966 — Air Marshal E. G. Jones "appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force and Commander, British Forces in Cyprus, with the acting rank of Air Marshal in succession to Air Marshal Sir Thomas Prickett" 6 May 1969 — Air Marshal D. G. Smallwood 2 July 1970 — Air Marshal W. D. Hodgkinson, Commander, British Forces Near East; AOC in C, Near East Air Force; Administrator, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and "Air of Authority." 25 June 1973 — Air Marshal Sir John Aiken as Commander, British Forces Near East and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force Still Commander British Forces Near East in 1974.Henn, Francis. A Business of Some Heat: The United Nations Force in Cyprus Before and During the 1974 Turkish Invasion, Casemate Publishers, 2004, 244.

Commander, British Forces Cyprus 1 April 1976 — Air Vice-Marshal R. D. Austen-Smith as Commander, British Forces Cyprus/Air Commander, Cyprus and, Administrator, British Sovereign Base Areas - Cyprus on 1 April 1976; 28 April 1978 — Major-General W. R. Taylor 3 October 1980 — Air Vice-Marshal R. L. Davis 31 March 1983 — Major-General Sir Desmond Langley 29 October 1985 — Air Vice-Marshal K. W. Hayr 21 April 1988 — Major-General J. P. W. Friedberger 1990 — Air Vice-Marshal A. F. C. Hunter 25 March 1993 — Major-General A. G. H. Harley 17 February 1995 — Air Vice-Marshal P. Millar 16 January 1998 — Major-General A. I. Ramsay{07} New commander for British Bases. Cyprus Mail. 15 January 1998. Hellenic Resources Network. Retrieved 2011-12-28. 5 September 2000 — Air Vice-Marshal T. W. Rimmer 5 September 2003 — Major-General P. T. C. Pearson 26 April 2006 — Air Vice-Marshal R. H. Lacey 16 October 2008 — Major-General J. H. Gordon 4 November 2010 — Air Vice-Marshal G. E. Stacey 3 January 2012 — Major-General R. Cripwell 20 January 2015 — Air Vice-Marshal M. Wigston February 2017 — Major-General J. T. E. Illingworth 25 September 2019 – Major-General R. J. Thomson 1 September 2022 – Air Vice-Marshal P. J. M. Squires 11 April 2025 – Major-General T. H. Bewick

Flags

See also

President of Cyprus Vilayet of the Archipelago

References

World Statesmen – Cyprus