At first the Captains, as they were usually called, were heads of the civil administration as well as the military, but gradually the Bailiffs secured more power, until in 1617 Bailiff Herault obtained an Order in Council declaring that military matters were the province of the Governor and civil affairs of the Bailiff. The office often for long periods became a sinecure, the Governor seldom visiting Jersey, and leaving his duties to a Lieut-Governor. It was abolished in 1854, since when only Lieut-Governors have been appointed.
Holders of Office
15th Century
- Richard Harliston 1470 - 1486
- Matthew Baker 1486-1494
- Thomas Ovray 1497 - 1501
16th Century
- Sir Hugh Vaughan 1503 - 1531
- Sir Anthony Ughtred 1532 - 1534
- Sir Arthur Darcy 1534 - 1536
- Thomas, Lord Vaux 1536 - 1537
- Sir Edward Seymour 1537 - 1550
- Sir Hugh Paulet 1550 - 1578, Governor and then joint-Governor with his son
- Sir Amias Paulet 1571 - 1590, joint-Governor with his father and then Governor
- Sir Anthony Paulet 1590 - 1600
17th Century
- Sir Walter Raleigh 1600–1603
- Sir John Peyton 1603-1630
- Sir Thomas Jermyn 1631-1643, 1643-1644
- Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick 1643
- Henry, Lord Jermyn of Saint Albans 1644-1650 1650-1651, 1660-1666
- James, Duke of York 1649-1650
- Colonel James Heane 1651
- Robert Gibbon 1651-1657
- John Mason 1659-1660
- Sir Thomas Morgan 1666-1679
- Sir John Lanier 1679-1684
- Thomas, Lord Jermyn (1684-1704): Sable, a crescent silver between two silver stars in pile
18th Century
- Henry Lumley 1703 - 1722
- Richard Temple 1723 - 1749
- John Huske 1749 - 1761
- George Keppel, Earl of Albemarle 1761 - 1772
- Henry Seymour Conway 1772 - 1795
- Sir George Howard 1795 - 1796
- George Townshend 1796 - 1807
19th Century
- John Pitt, Earl of Chatham 1807 - 1820
- William Carr Beresford 1820 - 1854
No further Governors were appointed after Beresford. Lieut-Governors have been appointed as the Monarch's representative in Jersey since then.