John Philip Kelly, CMG, LVO, MBE (born 25 June 1941) is an Irish-born British diplomat who was Governor of the British overseas territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands from October 1996 to January 2000.
Kelly was born in Tuam, County Galway and emigrated to England in 1958. He joined Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service in 1959, and served at various British embassies and high commissions, and at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.
Kelly was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1984. In 1989, he became Deputy Governor of Bermuda and was made a Lieutenant in the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) when Queen Elizabeth II visited the island in 1994. He retired from the FCO in 2000, and was awarded the CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) in the Queen's Birthday honours that year.
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The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population in 2023 was estimated by The World Factbook at 59,367, making it the third-largest of the British overseas territories by population. However, according to a Department of Statistics estimate in 2022, the population was 47,720.
Before European colonization, the Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited by Taíno and Lucayan peoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor, and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since. In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands' self-government following allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections.
Robert Francis Cornish is a British former diplomat who previously served as the Foreign Office spokesman for Douglas Hurd, Senior Trade Commissioner to Hong Kong, Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macao, head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's news department, and Ambassador to Israel.
Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby as of August 9, 2006 the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the Turks and Caicos Islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Council.
Sir Bruce Greatbatch, was a British Colonial Service officer and soldier who concluded his career as Governor of the Seychelles from 1969 to 1973.
The governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos Islands. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the vice-regal representative of the head of state, His Majesty King Charles III. The Governor appoints the Premier and 5 members of the House of Assembly. The official residence of the governor is the Government House of Turks and Caicos Islands, located in Waterloo on the island of Grand Turk.
The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the political leader and head of government. The post of premier is the equivalent to chief minister or prime minister in other British Overseas Territories. It is the highest political level that can be attained within the British colonial system. Prior to 2006, the position was known as the Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Martin Bourke is a former British diplomat who was Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands from June 1993 to September 1996. Bourke was succeeded by John Kelly in October 1996.
Michael John Bradley, CMG, QC was Governor of the Turks and Caicos from January 1987 to June 1993. Bradley was succeeded by Martin Bourke in June 1993.
Arthur Christopher Watson, was a British colonial administrator and politician who served as Governor of Montserrat, Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British High Commissioner to Brunei.
The current flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands was adopted on 7 November 1968, and modified in 1999. Prior to this, the islands had several different flags either proposed or utilised.
Gordon Geoffrey Wetherell is a British diplomat who was the former Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. He was appointed on 5 August 2008, replacing Richard Tauwhare in the position. On 14 August 2009, he assumed direct political control when the British government imposed direct rule on the islands in response to a Foreign Office inquiry which found "information in abundance pointing to a high probability of systematic corruption or serious dishonesty" in the islands' administration under former Premier, Michael Misick.
Dame Barbara Logan Hay is a British diplomat who served as Consul-General in Los Angeles from July 2009 to August 2013.
John Patrick George Freeman is a retired British diplomat who until July 2019 was Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Charles David Stephen Drace-Francis, is a retired British diplomat.
Ceylonese recipients of British titles conferred on the advice of Her Majesty's Ceylon Ministers. This list includes all those who were born in, worked in or lived in Ceylon.
Sir William Douglas Young was a colonial administrator from British Columbia who was Governor of the Falkland Islands from 1915 to 1920.
Rosita Beatrice Missick-Butterfield, was a Turks and Caicos Islander who served as the first woman Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Assembly of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Sir Edwin Porter Arrowsmith was a British colonial administrator.
Nigel John Dakin (born 28 February 1964 is a British diplomat and soldier who served as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands between 15 July 2019 and 29 March 2023.
