| An outline of The Bahamas rulership from the early days to now. |
| 1648 | First English settlement |
| 1718 | British crown colony |
| 3 Mar 1776 - 17 Mar 1776 | American occupation |
| 8 May 1782 - 19 Apr 1783 | Spanish occupation |
| 1969 | Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands |
| 10 Jul 1973 | Independence (Commonwealth of The Bahamas ) |
| Governors |
| 1697 - 1700 | Nicholas Webb |
| 1700 - 1701 | Elias Haskett |
| 1701 - 1705 | Ellis Lightfood |
| Jan 1706 - 1706 | Edward Birch |
| 1706 | Thomas Walker |
| 1706 - 1718 | Pirate Rule: -Thomas Barrow -Benjamin Hornigold -Edward Teach “Blackbeard” |
| 26 Jul 1718 - 1721 | Woodes Rogers (1st time) |
| 1721 -1728 | George Phenney |
| Aug 1729 - 16 Jul 1732 | Woodes Rogers (2nd time) |
| 1732 - 1733 | Richard Thompson (acting) |
| Nov 1733 -1740 | Richard Fitzwilliams |
| 1740 - 1758 | John Tinker |
| 1758 -1760 | John Gambier (1st time) (acting) |
| 1760 - 1768 | William Shirley |
| 28 Nov 1768 -1774 | Thomas Shirley |
| 1774 - 3 Mar 1776 | Montfort Browne (1st time) |
| 3 Mar 1776 - 17 Mar 1776 | Samuel Nicholas |
| 1776 -1778 | John Gambier (2nd time) (acting) |
| 1778 - 1779 | Montfort Browne (2nd time) |
| 1780 -1784 | John Robert Maxwell (1782-83 Spanish prisoner) |
| 8 May 1782 - 19 Apr 1783 | Bernardo de Gálvez (Spanish commander) |
| 1784 - 1786 | James Edward Powell |
| 1786 -1787 | John Brown (acting) |
| 1787 -1796 | John Murray, Earl of Dunmore |
| 1796 - 14 Feb 1797 | Robert Hunt (acting) |
| 14 Feb 1797 - Jun 1797 | John Forbes |
| 20 Nov 1797 -1801 | William Dowdeswell |
| 1801 – 1804 | John Halkett |
| 8 May 1804 -1820 | Charles Cameron |
| 1821 -1829 | Lewis Grant |
| 1829 - 1833 | James Carmichael Smyth |
| 1833 -1835 | Blayney Townley Balfour |
| 1835 -1837 | William MacBean George Colebrooke |
| 1837 -1844 | Francis Cockburne |
| 1844 -1849 | George Benvenuto Mathew |
| 1849 -1854 | John Gregory |
| 1854-1857 | Sir Alexander Bannerman |
| 1857 -1864 | Charles John Bayley |
| 1864 -1869 | Rawson William Rawson |
| 1869 -1871 | Sir James Walker |
| 1871 -1873 | George Cumine Strahan |
| 1873 -1874 | Sir John Pope Hennessy |
| 1874 -1880 | William Robinson |
| 1880 -1881 | Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan |
| 1882 -Jan 1884 | Charles Cameron Lees (from 1883, Sir Charles Cameron Lees |
| 4 Jan 1884 – 1887 | Sir Henry Arthur Blake |
| 1887 – 1895 | Sir Ambrose Shea |
| 1895 -1898 | Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith |
| 1898 - 1904 | Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter |
| 29 Nov 1904 - 1912 | Sir William Grey-Wilson |
| 29 Oct 1912 -1914 | Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith |
| 15 Jun 1914 -1920 | Sir William Lamond Allardyce |
| 8 Dec 1920 -1926 | Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux |
| 15 Mar 1927 -Jan 1932 | Charles William James Orr (from 1928, Sir Charles William James Orr) |
| 10 Jan 1932 -1934 | Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford (from 1933, Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford) |
| 1934 - 1940 | Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas (from 1938, Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas) -acting to 1937 |
| 18 Aug 1940 -1945 | Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor |
| 28 Jul 1945 – 1950 | William Lindsay Murphy (from 1946, Sir William Lindsay Murphy) |
| 5 Jan 1950 -Dec 1950 | Sir George Ritchie Sandford |
| 7 Dec 1950 -1953 | Robert Arthur Ross Neville (from 1952, Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville) |
| 21 Dec 1953 – 1956 | Thomas David Knox, Earl of Ranfurly |
| 1 Apr 1957 -1960 | Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur |
| 18 Jul 1960 -1964 | Sir Robert Stapledon |
| 3 Jun 1964 -1968 | Sir Ralph Francis Alnwick Grey |
| 1 Nov 1968 -1972 | Sir Francis Edward Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce (from 1971, Francis Edward Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, Baron Thurlow) |
| 14 May 1972 - 10 Jul 1973 | Sir John Warburton Paul |
| Governors-General (representing the British monarch as head of state) |
| 10 Jul 1973 - 31 Jul 1973 | Sir John Warburton Paul (acting) |
| 1 Aug 1973 - 22 Jan 1979 | Sir Milo Butler |
| 22 Jan 1979 - 25 Jun 1988 | Sir Gerald Cash -acting [for Butler from 2 Sep 1976] to 23 Sep 1979) |
| 26 Jun 1988 - 1 Jan 1992 | Sir Henry Taylor (acting to 28 Feb 1991) |
| 2 Jan 1992 - 2 Jan 1995 | Sir Clifford Darling |
| 3 Jan 1995 - 13 Nov 2001 | Sir Orville Alton Turnquest |
| 13 Nov 2001 - 30 Nov 2005 | Dame Ivy Dumont (f) (acting to 1 Jan 2002) |
| 1 Dec 2005 - 1 Feb 2006 | Paul Adderley (acting) |
| 1 Feb 2006 - present | Arthur Dion Hanna |
| Chief Minister | |
| 1955 - 7 Jan 1964 | Sir Roland T. Symonette |
| Premiers |
| 7 Jan 1964 -16 Jan 1967 | Sir Roland T. Symonette |
| 16 Jan 1967 - 1969 | Lynden O. Pindling |
| Prime Ministers | |
| 1969 - 21 Aug 1992 | Lynden O. Pindling (from 1 Jan 1983, Sir Lynden O. Pindling) |
| 21 Aug 1992 - 3 May 2002 | Hubert Ingraham |
| 3 May 2002 - 2 May 2007 | Perry Christie |
| 4 May 2005 - 22 Jun 2005 | Cynthia Pratt (f) (acting for Christie) |
| 4 May 2007 - present | Hubert Ingraham |
| | |
National Timelines 
