List of colonial governors of Nauru

This article lists the colonial governors of Nauru, from the establishment of the German colonial presence in 1888 (as part of German New Guinea), through the Japanese occupation during World War II, until the independence of the Australian-administered Trust Territory of Nauru in 1968.

Annexation ceremony in Nauru, 3 October 1888.

German map of Nauru, 1897.

League of Nations mandates in the Pacific Ocean. The Trust Territory of Nauru (bordered in blue) is number 3.

Allied map of Nauru, World War II.

List

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
Reichskommissar (1888)
2 October 1888 to 3 October 1888		Franz Leopold Sonnenschein
Bezirksamtleute (1888–1905)
3 October 1888 to 14 May 1889		Robert Rasch	Acting
14 May 1889 to 1892		Christian Hermann Johannsen
1892 to 1897		Friedrich "Fritz" Jung
1898 to 1905		Ludwig Kaiser
Station chiefs (1906–1914)
1 April 1906 to 1908		Konrad Geppert
1908 to 1911		Joseph Siegwanz
1911 to 1912		Karl Warnecke
1912 to 9 September 1914		Wilhelm Wostrack	First time
British Commanding Officer of the Landing Party (1914)
9 September 1914 (hours)		Myles Aldington Blomfield
Station chief (1914)
9 September 1914 to 6 November 1914		Wilhelm Wostrack	Second time
Commanding Officer of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force [AN&MEF] (1914)
6 November 1914		Colonel William Holmes	Killed in the Battle of Messines (1917)
Commanding Officer of the Australian Garrison Nauru (1914)
6 November 1914 to 25 December 1914		Edward Creer Norrie
Administrators (1914–1942)
25 December 1914 to December 1917		Charles Rufus Marshall Workman
December 1917 to 9 June 1921		Geoffrey Whistler Bingham Smith-Rewse
10 June 1921 to 27 June 1927		Thomas Griffiths
27 June 1927 to 31 December 1932		William Augustin Newman
5 February 1929 to 1929		Unknown	Acting for Newman
1 January 1933 to 17 January 1933		Unknown	Acting
17 January 1933 to 31 August 1938		Rupert Clare Garsia
1 September 1938 to 22 October 1938		Unknown	Acting
22 October 1938 to 26 August 1942		Frederick Royden Chalmers	Japanese prisoner 26 August 1942 – 25 March 1943; murdered in captivity
Japanese Military Commanders (1942–1945)
26 August 1942 to 7 March 1943		Nakayama Hiromi
7 March 1943 to 13 July 1943		Takenouchi Takenao	Commander of the 67 Naval Guard Unit
13 July 1943 to 13 September 1945		Soeda Hisayuki	Commander of the 67 Naval Guard Unit
Australian Military Administrator (1945)
13 September 1945 to 31 October 1945		Joseph Lawrence Andrew Kelly
Administrators (1945–1968)
1 November 1945 to 30 August 1949		Mark Ridgway
31 August 1949 to 20 December 1949		Harold Reeve	Acting
20 December 1949 to 31 October 1952		Robert Stanley Richards
July 1952 to 30 June 1954		John Keith Lawrence	Acting (for Richards to 31 October 1952)
December 1953 to 30 June 1954		Keith Alan Read	Acting
1 July 1954 to 21 June 1958		Reginald Sylvester Leydin	First time
21 June 1958 to 30 April 1962		John Preston White
1 May 1962 to 31 May 1962		Frederick William McConaghy	Acting
1 June 1962 to February 1966		Reginald Sylvester Leydin	Second time
February 1966 to 2 May 1966		Unknown	Acting
3 May 1966 to 30 January 1968		Leslie Dudley King

On 30 January 1968, Nauru achieved independence. For a list of heads of state after independence, see President of Nauru.

See also

• Nauru
  • Politics of Nauru
  • President of Nauru
• Lists of office-holders
• Australia–Nauru relations
• Phosphate mining in Nauru
  • British Phosphate Commission
  • Nauru Phosphate Corporation
  • Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust

External links

• World Statesmen.org: Nauru