Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
The Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands was the colonial head of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands civil service from 1892 until 1979.
The post was established in 1892 as the Resident Commissioner when the islands were made a British protectorate, having previously been under the supervision of the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. Swayne, the first Resident Commissioner, arrived in the Gilbert Islands in October 1893. In 1895, the headquarters of the protectorate were established in Tarawa before being moved to Ocean Island in 1908, which remained the headquarters until World War II. The Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands became separate colonies in 1976, but remained under a single governor. After the independence of Tuvalu in 1978, the post was renamed the Governor of the Gilbert Islands until the independence of Kiribati the following year.
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