The Governors of Bombay

All the states and union territories in India have their own appointed Governors. Bombay once was itself a state known as Bombay Presidency included the places from Karachi till Hyderabad and it was having its own Governor.

British India had three Presidencies, namely Bombay, Madras and Bengal Presidencies. During the British rule, a Governor was the chief administrative and political officer of Bombay and he was administered as the executive Government of the Presidency. Governors of Bombay and Madras Presidencies were appointed by the British Kingdom and they were the most important officials after the Viceroy. The official residence of Governor Bombay was the Bombay Castle till the 1770s, then it was moved to Parel, and in 1883, it moved to Malabar Hill.

Some of the events relating to Governors during the early rule of Britishers:

• In 1662 Abraham Shipman was appointed as the first Royal Governor of Bombay in the year 1662.
• At the Beginning of 1668, Charles II let out the islands to the British East India Company.
• Then on 23rd September 1668, George Oxiden was appointed as the first Company Governor of Bombay.
• Then in the year 1687, the Company moved its headquarters from Surat to Bombay.
• After the Company was dispersed in 1862, the British retook possession of the territory.
• After India’s Independence in 1947, the territory was built again as the State of Bombay.

After independence, the first Indian Governor of Bombay was Raja Sir Maharaj Singh.

On 1^st May,  the State of Bombay planned to strengthen the terms of relating to regional Languages. Gujarati speaking areas were separated into the state of Gujarat and Marathi speaking areas of Bombay State. Central Provinces and Berar Hyderabad State were united as the state of Maharashtra. In 1960 Shri Prakasa was the last person to hold the title of “Governor of Bombay”.

List of Governors after Independence:

1. Raja Sir Maharaj Singh ( 6 January 1948-30 May 1952)
2. Sir Girija Shankar Bajpai (30 May 1952-5 December 1954)
3. Harekrushna Mahatab   (2 March 1955-14 October 1956)
4. Shri Prakasa  (10 December 1956-16 April 1962)

List of Governors of Bombay 1795–1948 with their tenure (Information source: Wikipedia)

1	George Oxenden	23 September 1668	14 July 1669
2	Gerald Aungier	14 July 1669	30 June 1677
3	Henry Oxenden	30 June 1677	27 October 1681
4	John Child	27 October 1681	4 February 1690
5	Richard Keigwin	27 December 1683	19 November 1684
6	Bartholomew Harris	4 February 1690	10 May 1694
7	Daniel Annesley	10 May 1694	17 May 1694
8	John Gayer	17 May 1694	November 1704
9	Nicholas Waite	November 1704	September 1708
10	William Aislabie	September 1708	11 October 1715
11	Stephen Strutt	11 October 1715	26 December 1715
12	Charles Boone	26 December 1715	9 January 1722
13	William Phipps	9 January 1722	10 January 1729
14	Robert Cowan	10 January 1729	22 September 1734
15	John Horne	22 September 1734	7 April 1739
16	Stephen Law	7 April 1739	15 November 1742
17	John Geekie	15 November 1742	26 November 1742
18	William Wake	26 November 1742	17 November 1750
19	Richard Bourchier	17 November 1750	1760
20	Sir John Holkell	1760	28 February 1760
21	Charles Crommelin	28 February 1760	27 January 1767
22	Thomas Hodges	27 January 1767	23 February 1771
23	William Hornby	26 February 1771	1 January 1784
24	Rawson Hart Boddam	1 January 1784	9 January 1788
25	Andrew Ramsay	9 January 1788	6 September 1788
26	William Medows	6 September 1788	21 January 1790
27	Robert Abercromby	21 January 1790	26 November 1792
28	George Dick	26 November 1792	9 November 1795
29	John Griffith	9 November 1795	27 December 1795
30	Jonathan Duncan	27 December 1795	11 August 1811
31	George Brown	11 August 1811	12 August 1812
32	Sir Evan Nepean, Bt.	12 August 1812	1 November 1819
33	Mountstuart Elphinstone	1 November 1819	1 November 1827
34	Sir John Malcolm	1 November 1827	1 December 1830
35	Sir Thomas Sidney Beckwith	1 December 1830	15 January 1831
36	John Romer	17 January 1831	21 March 1831
37	John FitzGibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare	21 March 1831	17 March 1835
38	Sir Robert Grant	17 March 1835	9 July 1838
39	James Farish	11 July 1838	31 May 1839
40	James Rivett Carnac	31 May 1839	27 April 1841
41	William Hay Macnaghten	27 April 1841	28 April 1841
42	George William Anderson	28 April 1841	9 June 1842
43	George Arthur	9 June 1842	6 August 1846
44	Lestock Robert Reid	6 August 1846	23 January 1847
45	George Russell Clerk	23 January 1847	1 May 1848
46	Lucius Cary (Lord Falkland)	1 May 1848	26 December 1853
47	John Elphinstone (Lord Elphinstone)	26 December 1853	11 May 1860
48	George Russell Clerk	11 May 1860	24 April 1862
49	Sir Bartle Frere	24 April 1862	6 March 1867
50	Sir William Vesey-FitzGerald	6 March 1867	6 May 1872
51	Sir Philip Wodehouse	6 May 1872	30 April 1877
52	Sir Richard Temple, Bt.	30 April 1877	13 March 1880
53	Lionel Robert Ashburner	13 March 1880	28 April 1880
54	Sir James Fergusson, Bt.	28 April 1880	27 March 1885
55	James Braithwaite Peile	27 March 1885	30 March 1885
56	The Lord Reay	30 March 1885	12 April 1890
57	The Lord Harris	27 March 1890	16 February 1895
58	Herbert Mills Birdwood	16 February 1895	18 February 1895
59	The Lord Sandhurst	18 February 1895	17 February 1900
60	The Lord Northcote	17 February 1900	5 September 1903
61	James Monteath	5 September 1903	12 December 1903
62	The Lord Lamington	12 December 1903	27 July 1907
63	John William Muir Mackenzie	27 July 1907	18 October 1907
64	Sir George Sydenham Clarke	18 October 1907	5 April 1913
65	The Lord Willingdon	5 April 1913	16 December 1918
66	Sir George Lloyd	16 December 1918	8 December 1923
67	Maurice Hayward	8 December 1923	10 December 1923
68	Sir Leslie Orme Wilson	10 December 1923	20 March 1926
69	Sir Henry Staveley Lawrence	20 March 1926	8 December 1928
70	Sir Frederick Sykes	9 December 1928	9 December 1933
71	John Ernest Buttery Hotson	1931	1931
72	The Lord Brabourne	9 December 1933	30 May 1937
73	Robert Duncan Bell	30 May 1937	18 September 1937
74	The Earl of Scarbrough	18 September 1937	24 March 1943
75	Sir John Colville	24 March 1943	5 January 1948