1. Virginia under the London Company, 1606-1624

May 14-September 10, 1607	Edward Maria, Wingfield, President of the Council
September 10, 1607-July 22, 1608	John Ratcliffe, President of the Council
July 22-September 10, 1608	Matthew Scrivener, President of the Council
September 10, 1608-September 1609	John Smith, President of the Council
September 1609-May 23, 1610	George Percy, President of the Council
1609-1618	Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, Governor Held title until his death, June 7, 1618; represented for most of his term by deputies:
May 23-June 10, 1610 Sir Thomas Gates, Governor June 10, 1610-March 28, 1611 Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, Governor in Virginia March 28-May 19, 1611 George Percy, Deputy Governor May 19- August 16, 1611 Sir Thomas Dale, Deputy Governor August 1611-March 1614 Sir Thomas Gates, Lieutenant Governor March 1614-April 1616 Sir Thomas Dale, Lieutenant Governor April 1616-May 15, 1617 George Yeardley, Deputy Governor May 1617-April 1619 Samuel Argall, Deputy
April 18, 1619-November 18, 1621	Sir George Yeardley, Governor
November 18, 1621-May 1624	Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor

2. Virginia under the King, 1624-1652

1624-1626	Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor and Captain General
1626-1627	Sir George Yeardley, Governor and Captain General
1627-1629	Francis West, President of the Council and Acting Governor
1629-1630	John Pott, President of the Council and Acting Governor
1630-1635	Sir John Harvey, Governor and Captain General, resided in Virginia
1635-1637	John West, President of the Council and Acting Governor
1637-1639	Sir John Harvey, Governor and Captain General, resided in Virginia
1639-1642	Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor and Captain General
1642-1644	Sir William Berkley, Governor and Captain General
1644-1645	Richard Kemp (Kempe), President of the Council and Acting Governor
1645-1652	Sir William Berkley, Governor

3. Virginia under the Commonwealth of England, 1652-1660

1652-1655	Richard Bennett, Governor, elected by the General Assembly
1655-1656	Edward Digges (Diggs), Governor, elected by the General Assembly
1656-1660	Samuel Matthews, Jr., Governor, elected by the General Assembly
1660	Sir William Berkley, Governor, elected by the General Assembly

4. Virginia again a Royal Province, 1660-1776, July-September 1687, and February 1689-June 1690

1660-1661	Sir William Berkeley, Governor
1661-1662	Francis Morrison (Moryson), Lieutenant Governor
1662-1677	Sir William Berkeley, Governor
1677-1683	Thomas Culpeper, Governor
1677-1678	Sir Herbert Jeffreys (Jeffries), Lieutenant Governor
1678-1680	Sir Henry Chicheley, Deputy Governor
May-August 1680	Thomas Culpeper, Governor, resided in Virginia Represented by duties during his absence for the following terms:
1677-1678 Sir Herbert Jeffreys (Jeffries), Lieutenant Governor 1678-1680 Sir Henry Chicheley, Deputy Governor
August 1680-December 1682	Sir Henry Chicheley, Deputy Governor
December 1682-May 1683	Thomas Culpeper, Governor
1683-1684	Nicholas Spencer, President of the Council
1684-1689	Francis Howard, Baron of Effingham, Governor resided in Virginia
June-September 1684	Nathaniel Bacon, President of the Council
June 1690-September 1692	Colonel Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant Governor Represented by the following individuals in his absence:
June-September 1684 July-September 1687 February 1689-June 1690 Nathaniel Bacon, President of the Council June 1690-September 1692 Colonel Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant Governor
1692-1698	Sir Edmund Andros, Governor
1698-1705	Colonel Francis Nicholson, Governor Represented by the following during brief absences:
September-October 1700 April-June 1703 August-September 1704 William Byrd, President of the Council
September-October 1700	William Byrd, President of the Council
1705-1706	Edward Knott, Governor
1706-1708	Edmund Jennings, President of the Council
1707-1709	Robert Hunter, Governor, captured by the French and never reached Virginia
1708-1710 Edmund Jennings, Lieutenant Governor and Deputy to Hunter
1710-1737	George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, Governor Never went to Virginia and was represented by the following:
1710-1722 Alexander Spotswood, Lieutenant Governor 1722-1726 Hugh Drysdale, Lieutenant Governor 1726-1727 Robert Carter, President of the Council 1727-1749 Sir William Gooch, Lieutenant Governor 1740-1741 James Blair, President of the Council (acted during Gooches absence)
1737-1754	William Anne Keppel, Governor Never went to Virginia and was represented by the following deputies:
September 1749-November 1750 Thomas Lee, President of the Council November 1750-November 1751 Lewis Burwell, President of the Council 1751-1758 Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor
1756-1759	John Cambel, Earl of Loudoun, Governor Never went to Virginia and was represented by the following deputies:
January-June 1758 John Blair, President of the Council 1758-1768 Francis Fauquier, Lieutenant Governor
1759-1768	Sir Jeffrey Amherst, Governor
March-October 1768	John Blair, President of the Council
1768-1770	Norborne Berkeley, Governor
1770-1771	William Nelson, President of the Council
1771-1775	John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, Governor

5. Virginia in Revolt – The Convention Period

Peyton Randolph, President of the Virginia Convention of 1774, March 1775, and July 1775

Edmund Pendleton, President of the Virginia Convention of December 1775 and May 1776

6. Governors under the Commonwealth 1776-1852 (chosen by the State Legislature)

1776-1779	Patrick Henry, Governor
1779-1781	Thomas Jefferson, Governor
June 4-June 12, 1781	William Fleming, member of the Council of State acting as Governor
June-November 1781	Thomas Nelson, Jr., Governor
November 22-30, 1781	David Jameson, member of the Council of State acting as Governor
1781-1784	Benjamin Harrison, Governor
1784-1786	Patrick Henry, Governor
1786-1788	Edmund Randolph, Governor
1788-1791	Beverly Randolph, Governor
1791-1794	Henry Lee, Governor
1794-1796	Robert Brooke, Governor
1796-1799	James Wood, Governor
December 7-11, 1799	Hardin Gurnley, member of the Council of State acting as Governor
December 11-19, 1799	John Pendleton, member of the Council of State acting as Governor
1799-1802	James Monroe, Governor
1802-1805	John Page, Governor
1805-1808	William H. Cabell, Governor
1808-1811	John Tyler, Sr., Governor
January 15-19,1811	George William Smith, member of the Council of State acting as Governor
January 19-April 3, 1811	James Monroe, Governor
April 3-December 6, 1811	Acting as Governor
December 6-26, 1811	George William Smith, Governor
December 27, 1811-January 4, 1812	Acting as Governor
1812-1814	James Barbour, Governor
1814-1816	Wilson Cary Nicholas, Governor
1816-1819	James P. Preston, Governor
1819-1822	Thomas Mann Randolph, Governor
1822-1825	James Pleasants, Governor
1825-1827	John Tyler, Jr., Governor
1827-1830	William B. Giles, Governor
1830-1834	John Floyd, Governor
1834-1836	Littleton Waller Tazewell, Governor
March 1836-March 1837	Acting as Governor
1837-1840	David Campbell, Governor
1840-1841	Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor
March 20-31, 1841	John Mercer Patton, member of the Council of State acting as Governor
March 1841-March 1842	Acting as Governor
March 1842-January 1843	Acting as Governor
1843-1846	James McDowell, Governor
1846-1849	William Smith, Governor
1849-1852	John Buchanan Floyd, Governor

7. Governors under the Commonwealth 1852-Present (Elected by Popular Vote)

1852-1856	Joseph Jonson, Governor,
1856-1860	Henry Alexander Wise, Governor,
1860-1864	John Letcher, Governor
1864-1865	William Smith, Governor
May 1865-April 1868	Francis Harrison Pierpoint, Provisional Governor
April 1868-September1869	Henry H. Wells, Provisional Governor
September 1869-December 1869	Gilbert C. Walker, Provisional Governor
1870-1874	Gilbert C. Walker, Governor
1874-1878	James Lawson Kemper , Governor
1878-1882	Frederick W. M. Hilliday, Governor
1882-1886	William E. Cameron, Governor
1886-1890	Fitzhugh Lee, Governor
1890-1894	Philip W. Mckenny, Governor
1894-1898	Charles T. O’Ferrall, Governor
1898-1902	James Hoge Tyler, Governor
1902-1906	Andrew Jackson Montague, Governor
1906-1910	Claude A. Swanson, Governor
1910-1914	William Hodges Mann, Governor
1914-1918	Henry Carter Stuart, Governor
1918-1922	Westmoreland Davis, Governor
1922-1926	E. Lee Trinkle, Governor
1926-1930	Harry F. Byrd, Governor
1930-1934	John Garland Pollard, Governor
1934-1938	James H. Price, Governor
1938-1942	George C. Peery, Governor
1942-1946	Colgate W. Darden, Jr., Governor
1946-1950	William M. Tuck, Governor
1950-1954	John Stewart Battle, Governor
1954-1958	Thomas B. Stanley, Governor
1958-1962	J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., Governor
1962-1966	Albertis S. Harrison, Jr., Governor
1966-1970	Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Governor
1970-1974	A. Linwood Holton, Governor
1974-1978	Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Governor
1978-1982	John N. Dalton, Governor
1982-1986	Charles S. Robb, Governor
1986-1990	Gerald L. Baliles, Governor
1990-1994	Lawrence Douglas Wilder, Governor
1994-1998	George Allen, Governor
1998-2002	James S. Gilmore, III, Governor
2002-2006	Mark R. Warner, Governor
2006-2010	Timothy M. Kaine, Governor
2010-2014	Robert F. McDonnell, Governor
2014-2018	Terence R. McAuliffe, Governor
2018-2022	Ralph S. Northam, Governor
2022-Present	Glenn Youngkin, Governor

It is difficult to compile a clear and comprehensive list of governors for the colonial period because of the governmental and administrative changes made in England, and due to the proxy system whereby the person bearing the title of Governor often resided in England while a deputy resided in the colony. During the exploration or pre-colonization period, the territory that became Virginia was directly under the crown. Under the charter granted to the London Company, the early government of Virginia was a company appointed council and president, often spoken of as governor. The first man ever to have the title “governor” was Lord Delaware, appointed in 1609. When the London Company lost its charter in 1624, Virginia became a royal colony, and the governor was appointed by the crown. Those appointed to the position often resided in England and were represented in Virginia by deputies. During this period Virginia still remained a resident council and if the governor or deputy governor was absent from the colony the president of the council served as acting governor. There was a break in royal control after the Civil War in England when Parliament allowed the colony to be almost completely self-governed. From 1652 to 1660 the General Assembly elected four Governors. Royal authority was restored in 1660, and from that date until the American Revolution in 1776 the Governors were appointed by the crown.

After the colony declared independence, a constitution was adopted which provided for the election of the governor by the General Assembly for a one-year term. A governor could be reelected to serve a total of three consecutive years. He could be reelected again only after a break in service. From 1776 to 1852 the governor was chosen by the state legislature. When the office became vacant by death or resignation, the senior member of the Council of the State acted as governor until the Assembly was able to choose a successor. The Constitution of 1851 abolished the Council of State and provided for the popular election of the Governor for a four-year term. With the exception of the Reconstruction period 1865-1869, when provisional governors were designated by federal authorities, the governor has been elected by popular vote since 1852.

Information on Virginia Governors was obtained from A Hornbook of Virginia History, third edition, Edited by Emily J. Salmon, 1983.