The Governor of PitcairnWhile the territory is commonly called 'Pitcairn Islands', the official title of the office of her governor is 'Governor of Pitcairn' under section 27(1) of the Pitcairn Constitution Order, 2010 . is the representative of the British monarch in the Pitcairn Islands, the last remaining British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean.
Since its creation as a standalone office in 1970, the governorship has been held by the British high commissioner to New Zealand. Pitcairn has never had a resident governor and an equivalent role was historically held by the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific (1898–1952) and the Governor of Fiji (1952–1970). The current governor as of 2026 is Louise Cantillon.
History In 1898, the Colonial Secretary placed Pitcairn Island under the authority of the Fiji-based Western Pacific High Commission, largely for the purposes of convening a murder trial. The High Commissioner – a post held by the governor of Fiji – initially delegated his authority over Pitcairn to the British consul in Tahiti, who was appointed a deputy commissioner for that purpose. No visit to Pitcairn was undertaken by the consul until 1904. A revised law code imposed in the same year made the islands' local courts subject to the High Commissioner's Court.
Cecil Rodwell became the first and only High Commissioner to visit Pitcairn in 1921, staying for seven hours. Despite Rodwell's criticism of the local authorities, no British official visited the island again until 1936, when the British consul at Tahiti visited to hear another murder trial. In 1940, the High Commissioner despatched Henry Maude (and his wife Honor) to Pitcairn as its first resident deputy high commissioner, tasking him with imposing a new legal code and organising the Pitcairn postal service (producing souvenir postage stamps to boost the island's revenue). However, in 1951 the High Commissioner's Court declared that Maude's code had been issued ultra vires and the High Commissioner had no power under British law to create laws or courts on Pitcairn. An order-in-council was issued in 1952 to re-enact the code.
In 1952, the Western Pacific High Commission was relocated to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Pitcairn was removed from the jurisdiction of the High Commissioner and made a dependency of Fiji, administered by the governor of Fiji through the Pitcairn Office (later known as the Pitcairn and Tonga Office and the South Pacific Office). Pitcairn nonetheless remained subject to the High Commissioner's Court until 1961, when it was placed under the Supreme Court of Fiji.
On 10 October 1970, the date of Fiji's independence, the Pitcairn Order 1970 came into operation and created the new position of "Governor of the Islands" (defined as "the Islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno"). The governorship was vested in the British high commissioner to New Zealand, with the administration based in the British consulate in Auckland.
List of governors since 1970 Pitcairn Islands NameTitlePortraitTenureNotesMonarchFromUntil1Sir Arthur Norman GalsworthyGovernor of PitcairnOctober 1970January 1973Elizabeth II2Sir David Aubrey ScottGovernor of PitcairnJanuary 19731975From 1 January 1974, Sir David Aubrey Scott.3Sir Harold SmedleyGovernor of PitcairnFebruary 19761980From 31 December 1977, Sir Harold Smedley.4Richard StrattonGovernor of PitcairnSeptember 19801984From 1982, Sir Richard Stratton.5Terence Daniel O'LearyGovernor of PitcairnJuly 198419876Robin ByattGovernor of PitcairnDecember 198719907David MossGovernor of PitcairnSeptember 199019948Robert John AlstonGovernor of PitcairnAugust 199410 February 19989Martin WilliamsGovernor of PitcairnApril 1998200110Richard FellGovernor of Pitcairn10 December 2001April 200611George FergussonGovernor of Pitcairn2 May 200618 May 2010–Mike CherrettActingGovernor of Pitcairn19 May 20103 June 201012Victoria "Vicki" TreadellGovernor of Pitcairn3 June 2010July 201413Jonathan SinclairGovernor of Pitcairn15 August 20149 December 2017–Robin ShackellActingGovernor of Pitcairn9 December 201725 January 201814Laura ClarkeGovernor of Pitcairn25 January 20187 July 202215Iona ThomasGovernor of Pitcairn3 August 2022April 2026 Charles III16 Louise Cantillon Governor of Pitcairn 18 August 2026 Incumbent
See also List of rulers of the Pitcairn Islands, for local rulers since 1790 List of high commissioners of the United Kingdom to New Zealand, for governors since 1970
References