Governor - British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations

British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations

Further information: Governor-general, Governor-in-chief, Deputy Governor, Official Secretary to the Governor, and Administrator of the Government

In the British Empire a governor was originally an official appointed by the British monarch (or in fact the cabinet) to oversee one of his colonies and was the (sometimes notional) head of the colonial administration. A governor's power could diminish as the colony gained more responsible government vested in such institutions as an Executive Council to help with the colony's administration, and in a further stage of self-government, Legislative Councils and/or Assemblies, in which the Governor often had a role.

Today crown colonies of the United Kingdom continue to be administered by a governor, who holds varying degrees of power. Because of the different constitutional histories of the former colonies of the United Kingdom, the term "Governor" now refers to officials with differing amounts of power.

Administrators, Commissioners and High Commissioners exercise similar powers to Governors. (Note: such High Commissioners are not to be confused with the High Commissioners who are the equivalent of Ambassadors between Commonwealth states).

Frequently the name 'Government House' is given to Governors' residences.

The term can also be used in a more generic sense, especially for compound titles which include it: Governor-General and Lieutenant-Governor.

Read more about this topic:  Governor

Famous quotes containing the words british, empire, commonwealth and/or nations:

    “History is made in the class struggle and not in bed.”
    —Alex Mitchell, British left-wing journalist. quoted in Sunday Times (London, 29 Dec. 1985)

    “On September 16, 1985, when the Commerce Department announced that the United States had become a debtor nation, the American Empire died.”
    —Gore Vidal (b. 1925)

    “I’the commonwealth I would by contraries
    Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
    Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
    Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
    And use of service, none; contract, succession,
    Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
    No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
    No occupation; all men idle, all,
    And women too, but innocent and pure.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” you may indeed set over you a king whom the LORD your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community.”
    —Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 17:14,15.