The first proprietary governor of the Bahamas was William Sayle, who had previously been a sea captain and a pirate. He was appointed governor in 1648.
Who became governor of the Bahamas?
In 1648, a group of religious dissidents from Bermuda, known as the Eleutherian Adventurers, led by William Sayle, established the first permanent settlement in the Bahamas on the island of Eleuthera.
Sayle, a former sea captain and pirate, had previously explored the Bahamas and recognized its potential for settlement. The Eleutherian Adventurers sought to establish a society based on religious freedom and self-governance, and their settlement marked the beginning of the Bahamas' history as a British colony.