List of lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia

The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1867, the post is a continuation from the first governorship of Nova Scotia in 1710. For much of the time, the full title of the post was Governor of Nova Scotia and Placentia (Placentia, Newfoundland). Before the British occupation of Nova Scotia, the province was governed by French Governors of Acadia. From 1784 to 1829 Cape Breton Island was a separate colony with a vice regal post.

Governors of Nova Scotia, 1710–1786

#	Name	Governor from	Governor until
Governors under Anne (1710–1714):
1.	Samuel Vetch	1710	1712
2.	Francis Nicholson	1712	→
Governors under George I (1714–1727):
2.	Francis Nicholson (continued)	←	1715
3.	Samuel Vetch (second appointment)	1715	→
	Thomas Caulfeild (acting governor)	1715	1717
3.	Samuel Vetch (cont.)	←	1717
4.	Richard Philipps	1717	→
	John Doucett (acting governor)	1717	1725
	Lawrence Armstrong (acting governor)	1725	→
Governors under George II (1727–1760):
	Lawrence Armstrong (continued)	←	1739
	Alexander Cosby (acting governor)	1739	1740
	Paul Mascarene (acting governor)	1740	1749
4.	Richard Philipps (continued)	←	1749
5.	Edward Cornwallis	1749	1752
6.	Peregrine Hopson	1752	→
	Charles Lawrence (acting governor)	1753	1755
6.	Peregrine Hopson (continued)	←	1755
7.	Charles Lawrence (ordinary governor)	1756	1760
8.	Lt. Gov. Jonathan Belcher (For Gov. Henry Ellis)^[1]	1760	→
Governors under George III (1760–1786):
8.	Lt. Gov. Jonathan Belcher (continued) (For Gov. Henry Ellis)^[1]	←	1763
9.	Montague Wilmot	1763	1766
10.	Lord William Campbell	1766	→
	Benjamin Green (acting governor)	1766
	Michael Francklin (acting governor)	1766
10.	Lord William Campbell (continued)	←	→
	Michael Francklin (acting governor, second time)	1767	1768
10.	Lord William Campbell (continued)	←	→
	Benjamin Green (acting governor, second time)	1771	1772
	Michael Francklin (acting governor, third time)	1772
10.	Lord William Campbell (continued)	→	1773
11.	Francis Legge	1773	1776
12.	Mariot Arbuthnot	1776	1778
13.	Sir Richard Hughes Bt	1778	1781
14.	Sir Andrew Snape Hamond	1781	1782
15.	John Parr	1782	1783
16.	Edmund Fanning	1783	1786

Lieutenant governors of Cape Breton Island, 1784–1820

#	Name	Governor from	Governor until
Governors under George III (1784–1820):
1.	Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres	1784	1787
2.	William Macarmick	1787	1815
3.	David Mathews (acting)	1795	1798
4.	James Ogilvie^[2] (acting)	1798	1799
5.	John Murray (acting)	1799	1801
6.	John Despard (acting)	1800	1807
7.	Nicholas Nepean (acting)	1807	1812
8.	Hugh Swayne (acting)	1813	1816
9.	George Robert Ainslie	1815	1820

Lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia, 1786–1867

#	Name	Governor from	Governor until
Governors under George III (1786–1820):
15.	John Parr	1786	1791
17.	Richard Bulkeley	1791	1792
18.	Sir John Wentworth	1792	1808
19.	Sir George Prévost Bt	1808	→
	Alexander Croke (acting governor)	1811
19.	Sir George Prévost Bt (continued)	←	1811
20.	Sir John Coape Sherbrooke	1811	1816
21.	George Stracey Smyth	1816
22.	The Earl of Dalhousie GCB	1816	→
Governors under George IV (1820–1830):
22.	The Earl of Dalhousie GCB (continued)	←	1820
23.	Sir James Kempt GCB	1820	→
	Thomas Nickleson Jeffery (acting governor)	1828
23.	Sir James Kempt GCB (continued)	←	1828
24.	Sir Peregrine Maitland KCB	1828	→
Governors under William IV (1830–1837):
24.	Sir Peregrine Maitland KCB (continued)	←	→
	Thomas Nickleson Jeffery (acting governor, second time)	1834
24.	Sir Peregrine Maitland KCB (continued)	←	1834
25.	Sir Colin Campbell KCB	1834	→
Governors under Queen Victoria (1837–1867):
25.	Sir Colin Campbell KCB (continued)	←	1840
26.	The Viscount Falkland PC GCH	1840	→
	Sir Jeremiah Dickson (acting governor)	1846
26.	The Viscount Falkland PC GCH (continued)	←	1846
27.	Sir John Harvey KCH	1846	→
	John Bazalgette (acting governor)	1851
27.	Sir John Harvey KCH (continued)	←	1852
28.	Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant GCMG KCB	1852	1858
29.	The Earl of Mulgrave	1858	1863
30.	Charles Hastings Doyle	1863	1864
31.	Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell CB	1864	1865
30.	Charles Hastings Doyle (second time)	1865
32.	Sir William Fenwick Williams Bt	1865	1867

Lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia, 1867–present

#	Name	Governor from	Governor until
Governors under Queen Victoria (1867–1901):
32.	Sir William Fenwick Williams Bt (continued)	1867	1867
30.	Charles Hastings Doyle (third time)	1867	1873
33.	Joseph Howe PC	1873
34.	Sir Adams George Archibald PC KCMG	1873	1883
35.	Matthew Henry Richey	1883	1888
36.	Archibald McLelan PC	1888	1890
Admin.	Sir James McDonald	1890
37.	Malachy Bowes Daly	1890	1900
38.	Alfred Gilpin Jones PC	1900	→
Governors under Edward VII (1901–1910):
38.	Alfred Gilpin Jones PC (continued)	←	1906
Admin.	Robert Linton Weatherbe	1906
39.	Duncan Cameron Fraser	1906	→
Governors under George V (1910–1936):
39.	Duncan Cameron Fraser (continued)	←	1910
Admin.	Sir Charles James Townshend	1910
40.	James Drummond McGregor	1910	1915
41.	David MacKeen	1915	1916
Admin.	Wallace Nesbit Graham	1916
42.	MacCallum Grant	1916	1925
43.	James Robson Douglas	1925
44.	James Cranswick Tory	1925	1930
45.	Frank Stanfield	1930	1931
Admin.	Sir Joseph Andrew Chisholm	1931
46.	Walter Harold Covert	1931	→
Governors under Edward VIII (1936):
46.	Walter Harold Covert (continued)	←	→
Governors under George VI (1936–1952):
46.	Walter Harold Covert (continued)	←	1937
47.	Robert Irwin	1937	1940
48.	Frederick Francis Mathers	1940	1942
49.	Henry Ernest Kendall	1942	1947
50.	John Alexander Douglas McCurdy	1947	→
Governors under Elizabeth II (1952–2022):
50.	John Alexander Douglas McCurdy (continued)	←	1952
51.	Alistair Fraser	1952	1958
52.	Edward Chester Plow CBE DSO CD	1958	1963
53.	Henry Poole MacKeen OC	1963	1968
54.	Victor de Bedia Oland OC CD ED	1968	1973
55.	Clarence Gosse OC	1973	1978
56.	John Elvin Shaffner	1978	1984
57	Alan Abraham CM ONS CD	1984	1989
58.	Lloyd Crouse PC ONS	1989	1994
59.	James Kinley ONS CD FCAE FEIC	1994	2000
60.	Myra Freeman CM ONS	2000	2006
61.	Mayann Francis ONS	2006	2012
62.	John James Grant CMM ONS CD	2012	2017
63.	Arthur Joseph LeBlanc ONS QC	2017	→
Governors under Charles III (2022–present):
63.	Arthur Joseph LeBlanc ONS KC (continued)	←	2024
64.	Michael Savage	2024	Incumbent

External links

Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. "History of the Lieutenant Governor in Nova Scotia > Lieutenant Governors who have occupied Government House, the oldest vice-regal residence in North America". Queen's Printer for Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on July 24, 2009.
Presiding By Desire: Nova Scotia's Popular Lieutenant Governor: Hon. MacCallum Grant. 2020. p. 1.

References

^ ^a ^b Ellis was the official governor but never came to Nova Scotia, so Belcher functioned as the governor.
^ Morgan, R. J. (1983). "Ogilvie, James". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V (1801–1820) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.

[nevercame-1] Ellis was the official governor but never came to Nova Scotia, so Belcher functioned as the governor.

[2] Morgan, R. J. (1983). "Ogilvie, James". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V (1801–1820) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.

[1]

[2]

v t e Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
List of lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia
Governors at Annapolis Royal (1710–1749)	Vetch Hobby Caulfeild Nicholson Caulfeild Vetch Caulfeild Philipps Doucett Armstrong Cosby Mascarene
Governors at Halifax (1749–1786)	Cornwallis Hopson Lawrence Ellis Belcher Wilmot W. Campbell Green Francklin Legge Francklin Arbuthnot Hughes Hamond Parr Fanning
Lieutenant-governors of Cape Breton Island (1784–1820)	Desbarres Macarmick Mathews Ogilvie Murray Despard Nepean Swayne Ainslie
Lieutenant-governors of Nova Scotia before responsible government (1786–1848)	Parr Bulkeley Wentworth Prévost (Croke) Sherbrooke Smyth Dalhousie Kempt Jeffrey Maitland Jeffrey C. Campbell Falkland Dickson Harvey
Lieutenant-governors between responsible government and Confederation (1848–1867)	Harvey Bazalgette Le Marchant Phipps Doyle MacDonnell Doyle Williams
Post-Confederation (1867–present)	Williams Doyle Howe Archibald Richey McLelan Daly Jones D. Fraser McGregor MacKeen M. Grant Douglas Tory Stanfield Covert Irwin Mathers Kendall McCurdy A. Fraser Plow MacKeen Oland Gosse Shaffner Abraham Crouse Kinley Freeman Francis J. Grant LeBlanc Savage
Lieutenant-governors who served in the absence of governors are listed in parentheses. Acting administrators are listed in italics.

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