Administrator of Ascension

The Administrator of Ascension is the head of government and representative of the Governor of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in Ascension Island. The role of the Administrator includes that of chairing the territory's Island Council which consists of five or seven elected members. The Administrator of Ascension is formally referred to as "His Honour" or "Her Honour."

As a part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha the head of state is Charles III, with the Governor appointed by the British government to act as her local representative. However, as Ascension Island is 809 miles (1,302 km) away from Saint Helena, an Administrator is appointed as the Governor's representative on the Island. The first Administrator was appointed in 1942.

Since 2009, the Administrator is appointed in accordance with Section 147 of the Constitution of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. They are ordinarily appointed for a period of up to three years and are usually an official of the UK Government Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Under Section 183(3) of the Constitution it is possible to appoint a person to perform the functions of an office whilst the appointed person is unable to do so "whether by reason of absence or infirmity of body or mind or any other cause", including the office of the Administrator. Under such circumstances, whilst that person will not have been appointed Administrator, the powers and duties of that role under local legislation can still be executed.

Commandants, 1815–1922

Commandant	From	Until	Notes
James Kearney White	22 October 1815	March 1816
William Roberts	March 1816	August 1817
James Thorn	August 1817	September 1819
Robert Campbell	September 1819	March 1823
Edward Nicolls	March 1823	November 1828	First Royal Marines officer as commandant
William Bate	3 November 1828	15 April 1838	Died in office
Hugh Evans	April 1838	January 1839
Roger Sawrey Tinklar	January 1839	14 September 1840	Died in office
J. Wade	September 1840	December 1840	Acting
W. Lee	December 1840	April 1841	Acting
H. Bennett	April 1841	December 1841	Died in office
W. Lee	December 1841	July 1842	Acting; second time
Thomas Peard Dwyer	July 1842	April 1844
T. C. C. Moore	April 1844	May 1844
John Fraser	May 1844	11 October 1844
Arthur Fleming Morrell	11 October 1844	18 January 1847
Frederick Hutton	18 January 1847	October 1851
William Hewgill Kitchen	October 1851	June 1855
George Alexander Seymour	June 1855	March 1858
William Farquharson Burnett	March 1858	July 1861
Frederick Lamport Barnard	July 1861	March 1864
Joseph Grant Bickford	March 1864	June 1864
F. Hammond	June 1864	September 1866
Walter James Hunt-Grubbe	September 1866	March 1867
Arthur Wilmshurst	March 1867	November 1868
J. G. Mead	November 1868	May 1869
R. W. Evans	May 1869	October 1869
E. F. Kirby	October 1869	October 1872
John Brazier Creagh	October 1872	January 1874
James Wylie East	January 1874	February 1877
Henry Bouchier Phillimore	February 1877	December 1878
Arthur George Robertson Roe	December 1878	September 1882
George Parsons	September 1882	October 1886
Richard Henry Napier	October 1886	June 1890
Richard Evans	June 1890	May 1893
J. G. Jones	May 1893	May 1896
John Edric Blaxland	May 1896	July 1899
George Northmore Arthur Pollard	July 1899	13 May 1902
Robert Kyle McAlpine	13 May 1902	13 March 1905
Reginald Hallward Morgan	13 March 1905	29 April 1908
J. W. Dunstan	29 April 1908	27 April 1910
G. Carpenter	27 April 1910	21 April 1913
Henry Cleeve Bennett	21 April 1913	8 June 1919
Harold George Grant	8 June 1919	15 October 1920
Charles Arthur Tennyson	15 October 1920	31 October 1922

Resident-magistrates, 1922–1964

Resident-magistrate	From	Until	Notes
W. Haining	1922	1925
E. Lee Lander	1925	1928
Fred Wood	1928	1929
E. A. Willmott	1929	1934
Lionel Bartlett	1934	1936
Percy Edwin Bunker	1936	1938
C. Nias	1938	1938
Percy Edwin Bunker	1938	1939	Second time
Stephen Harold Cardwell	1939	1944
Maurice Campbell Clark	1944	1947
V. W. Oelrichs	1 July 1947	1949
Herbert Louis Nicholson Ascough	15 July 1949	1951
F. G. Eastwood	1 February 1951	1952
B. Stephens	14 April 1952	1954
A. R. Harrison	1 November 1954	1955
F. J. Atkins	10 October 1955	1956
A. R. Harrison	5 March 1956	18 May 1958	Second time
B. R. Irving	18 May 1958	4 November 1958
A. R. Harrison	4 November 1958	30 April 1961	Third time
J. R. Bruce	30 April 1961	28 June 1962
J. Markham	28 June 1962	21 December 1962
J. R. Bruce	21 December 1962	1964	Second time

Administrators, 1964–present

Administrator	From	Until	Notes
M. E. Wainwright	June 1964	September 1966
Anthony Grant Ayerst Beyts	September 1966	September 1967
H. W. D. McDonald	June 1968	September 1973
Geoffrey Colin Guy	September 1973	November 1976
G. McDonald	November 1976	June 1977
G. B. Kendal	June 1977	September 1977
Simon Gillett	September 1977	June 1979
P. Duncan	June 1979	September 1980
Bernard Edward Pauncefort	September 1980	August 1982
Ian George Thow	August 1982	August 1984
Michael T. S. Blick	August 1984	January 1989
J. J. Beale	January 1989	February 1991
Brian Norman Connelly	February 1991	June 1995
Roger C. Huxley	June 1995	23 July 1999
Geoffrey Fairhurst	23 July 1999	10 July 2002
Andrew Michael Kettlewell	22 September 2002	September 2005
Michael Thomas Hill	September 2005	September 2008
Ross Denny	September 2008	9 September 2011
Colin Wells	27 October 2011	August 2014
Marc Holland	26 August 2014	March 2018
Justine Allan	26 March 2018	25 November 2018
Steven Chandler	9 March 2019	16 March 2020
Sean Burns	17 March 2020	2 November 2022
Simon Minshull	2 November 2022	Incumbent

External links

• Government of Ascension Island
• Chronology and lists of commanding officers, resident-magistrates and administrators