List of high commissioners for Palestine and Transjordan

The high commissioner for Palestine was the highest ranking authority representing the United Kingdom in the mandated territories of Palestine, and the high commissioner for Transjordan was the highest ranking authority representing the United Kingdom in Transjordan. These posts were always held simultaneously by a single individual after the high commissioner for Transjordan was established in 1928.

High Commissioner of Palestine and Trans-Jordan
Badge of the high commissioner of Palestine
Flag of the high commissioner of Palestine
Alan Cunningham, the last high commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan
Style	His Excellency The Right Honourable
Residence	Jerusalem
Appointer	Monarch of the United Kingdom
Formation	1 July 1920
First holder	Sir Herbert Louis Samuel
Final holder	Sir Alan Cunningham
Abolished	14 May 1948

The British representative to Amman was "responsible to the high commissioner in his role as representative of the mandatory power, but not in his capacity as head of the Palestine administration."^[1]

They were based in Jerusalem. The office commenced on 1 July 1920, before the commencement of the Mandate on 29 September 1923, and replaced the British military occupation under the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, which had operated in Palestine in 1917–1918. The office ceased with the expiration of the Mandate on 15 May 1948.

When the office of high commissioner was vacant, or the high commissioner was unable to perform his duties for some reason, a person who was usually the chief secretary of the government of Palestine was appointed to perform the same duties with the same powers.^[2]

Government House, Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, Jerusalem

Appointment of Lord Plumer as High Commissioner for Palestine, 1925

List of high commissioners for Palestine and high commissioners for Trans-Jordan

Portrait	Name	Term start	Term end
	Sir Herbert Louis Samuel	1 July 1920	30 June 1925
	Sir George Stewart Symes (acting)	2 July 1925	25 August 1925
	Field Marshal Lord Plumer	25 August 1925	31 July 1928
	Sir Harry Charles Luke (acting)	31 July 1928	6 December 1928
	Sir John Chancellor	6 December 1928	3 September 1931[3]
	Sir Mark Aitchison Young (acting)	3 September 1931[3]	20 November 1931
	General Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope	20 November 1931	1 March 1938
	William Denis Battershill (acting for multiple periods)	21 June 1937	3 March 1938
	Sir Harold MacMichael	3 March 1938	30 August 1944
	John Valentine Wistar Shaw (acting)	30 August 1944	31 October 1944
	Field Marshal The Viscount Gort	31 October 1944	5 November 1945
	John Valentine Wistar Shaw (acting)	5 November 1945	21 November 1945
	Lieutenant General Sir Alan Cunningham	21 November 1945	14 May 1948

See also

• British Mandate of Palestine

References

1. Mary Christina Wilson (28 June 1990). King Abdullah, Britain and the Making of Jordan. Cambridge University Press. pp. 73–. ISBN 978-0-521-39987-6. For example, his desire that Transjordan be totally dissociated from Palestine was accomplished by the fine distinction of making Philby responsible to the high commissioner in his role as representative of the mandatory power, but not in his capacity as head of the Palestine administration. (Privately, London held the reservation that 'the door would not be closed to a possible rapprochement between the two administrations in the future.)
2. The Palestine Order in Council, 1922, Clause 7.
3. Gazette, 3 September 1931

External links

• Report to the League of Nations on the Administration of Palestine and Trans-Jordan for the year 1928
• World Statesmen - Israel
• Agreement between his Britannic Majesty and His Highness the Amir of Trans-Jordan, February 1928 Article 1, "His Highness the Amir agrees that His Britannic Majesty shall be represented in Trans-Jordan by a British Resident acting on behalf of the High Commissioner for Trans-Jordan."
• Herbert Samuel and the British Mandate for Palestine: the Formative Years on the Israel State Archives website