Governor of Tasmania

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Governor of Tasmania
Badge of the Governor
Flag of the Governor
Incumbent Barbara Baker since 16 June 2021
Viceregal
Style	Her Excellency The Honourable
Residence	Government House, Hobart
Seat	Hobart
Nominator	Premier of Tasmania
Appointer	Monarch of Australia on the advice of the Premier
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure (usually 5 years by convention)
Formation	8 January 1855
First holder	Sir Henry Fox Young
Website	govhouse.tas.gov.au

The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of Elizabeth II as the queen of Australia. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Government House located at the Queens Domain in Hobart. As the sovereign predominantly lives outside Tasmania, the governor's primary task is to perform the sovereign's constitutional duties on their behalf.^[1]

As with the other state governors, the governor performs similar constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as the governor-general of Australia does at the national level. The position has its origins in the positions of commandant and lieutenant-governor in the colonial administration of Van Diemen's Land. The territory was separated from the Colony of New South Wales in 1825 and the title "governor" was used from 1855, the same year in which it adopted its current name. In accordance with the conventions of the Westminster system of parliamentary government, the governor now acts solely on the advice of the head of the elected government, the Premier of Tasmania.

Tasmania retained British-born governors longer than most other states. The first Australian-born governor was Stanley Burbury (appointed 1973) and the first Tasmanian-born governor was Sir Guy Green (appointed 1995). Since Burbury, all Tasmanian governors have been Australian-born, except for Peter Underwood who was born in Britain but emigrated to Australia when a teenager.

Titles[]

Since December 2014, the incumbent and all future Tasmanian governors have been entitled to be styled as The Honourable for life.^[2]

Governor's Personal Flag[]

The personal flag of the governor of Tasmania is the same design as the British blue ensign with the Union Flag at the upper left quarter. On the right side, the State Badge of Tasmania, consisting of a white disk with a red lion passant, is surmounted by the St. Edward's crown. The flag was adopted in 1977.

If the standard is flying at Government House, on a vehicle or vessel, or at an event, this indicates that the governor is present.

Past and present flags of the governor

• 

  1875–1876

• 

  1876–1977

• 

  1977–present

Divided in two[]

Between 1804 and 1813, Van Diemen's Land was divided along the 42nd parallel, and the two sections governed as separate lieutenant-governorships under the governor of New South Wales.^[3][4] Collins was the only officially appointed lieutenant-governor—upon his death in 1810, the government in Hobart Town was administered, by the Commandants at Hobart Town (Lord, Murray and Geils). The northern settlement at Port Dalrymple (now George Town) was administered by four commandants until the settlements were merged to form the single colony under the governorship of Thomas Davey in 1813.^[5]

Lieutenant-governors and commandants in the south[]

No.	Lieutenant-Governor		From	To
1		Colonel David Collins	1804	1810
2		Lieutenant Edward Lord (Commandant at Hobart Town)	March 1810	July 1810
3		Captain John Murray (Commandant at Hobart Town)	1810	1812
4		Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Geils (Commandant at Hobart Town)	1812	1813

Commandants in the north[]

No.	Commandant at Port Dalrymple		From	To
1		Colonel William Paterson	1804	1808
2		Captain John Brabyn	1808	1810
3		Major George Alexander Gordon	1810	1812
4		Captain John Ritchie	1812	1812

List of governors of Tasmania[]

Lieutenant-governors[]

The colony was called Van Diemen's Land until 1856.

No.	Lieutenant-Governor		From	To
1		Colonel Thomas Davey	4 February 1813	9 March 1817
2		Colonel William Sorell	9 March 1817	14 May 1824
3		Sir George Arthur	14 May 1824	29 October 1836
4		Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS	5 January 1837	21 August 1843
5		Sir John Eardley-Wilmot	21 August 1843	13 October 1846
6		Sir William Denison	25 January 1847	8 January 1855

Governor-in-chief[]

No.	Governor		From	To
1		Sir Henry Young KCMG	8 January 1855	10 December 1861

Governors[]

No.	Governor		From	To
1		Colonel Sir Thomas Browne KCMG CB	11 December 1862	30 December 1868
2		Sir Charles Du Cane KCMG	15 January 1869	30 November 1874
3		The Hon. Sir Frederick Weld GCMG	13 January 1875	5 April 1880
4		The Hon. Sir John Henry Lefroy CB, GCMG	1880	1881
5		Major Sir George Strahan KCMG	7 December 1881	28 October 1886
6		Sir Robert Hamilton KCB	11 March 1887	30 November 1892
7		The Rt Hon. The Viscount Gormanston GCMG	8 August 1893	14 August 1900
8		Captain Sir Arthur Havelock GCSI GCMG GCIE	8 November 1901	16 April 1904
9		The Rt Hon. The Lord Strickland GCMG	28 October 1904	20 May 1909
10		Major-General Sir Harry Barron KCMG CVO	16 September 1909	3 March 1913
11		The Rt Hon. Sir William Ellison-Macartney KCMG	4 June 1913	31 March 1917
12		Sir Francis Newdegate GCMG KStJ	30 March 1917	22 February 1920
13		Sir William Allardyce KCMG	16 April 1920	27 January 1922
14		Sir James O'Grady KCMG	23 December 1924	23 December 1930
15		Sir Ernest Clark GCMG KCB CBE	4 August 1933	4 August 1945
16		Admiral Sir Hugh Binney KCB KCMG DSO	24 December 1945	8 May 1951
17		The Rt Hon. Sir Ronald Cross, Bt KCMG KCVO PC	22 August 1951	4 June 1958
18		The Rt Hon. The Lord Rowallan KT KBE MC TD	21 October 1959	25 March 1963
19		General Sir Charles Gairdner GBE KCMG KCVO CB	24 September 1963	11 July 1968
20		Lieutenant-General Sir Edric Bastyan KCMG KCVO KBE CB	2 December 1968	30 November 1973
21		The Hon. Sir Stanley Burbury KCMG KCVO KBE	5 December 1973	16 March 1982
22		Sir James Plimsoll AC CBE KStJ	1 October 1982	8 May 1987
23		General Sir Phillip Bennett AC KBE DSO KStJ	19 October 1987	2 October 1995
24		The Hon. Sir Guy Green AC KBE CVO	2 October 1995	3 October 2003
25		Richard Butler AC	3 October 2003	9 August 2004
26		The Hon. William Cox AC RFD ED QC	15 December 2004	2 April 2008
27		The Hon. Peter Underwood AC	2 April 2008	7 July 2014
28		The Hon. Professor Kate Warner AC	10 December 2014	9 June 2021
29		The Hon. Barbara Baker AC	16 June 2021	present

References[]

• Governors and Lieutenant Governors of Tasmania
• Parliamentary Library – Governors of Tasmania