List of colonial governors in 1878

Portugal

 * Angola –
 * Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque, Governor-General of Angola (1876–1878)
 * Vasco Guedes de Carvalho e Meneses, Governor-General of Angola (1878–1880)

United Kingdom

 * Jamaica – Sir Anthony Musgrave, Governor of Jamaica (1877–1883)
 * Malta Colony
 * Charles van Straubenzee, Governor of Malta (1872–1878)
 * Arthur Borton, Governor of Malta (1878–1884)
 * New South Wales – Hercules Robinson, Lord Rosmead, Governor of New South Wales (1872–1879)
 * Queensland – Sir Arthur Kennedy, Governor of Queensland (1877–1883)
 * Saint Lucia - Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, Administrator of Saint Lucia (1878–1879)


 * Tasmania – Major Frederick Weld, Governor of Tasmania (1875–1880)
 * South Australia – Lieutenant-General William Jervois, Governor of South Australia (1877–1883)
 * Victoria – George Bowen, Governor of Victoria (1873–1879)
 * Western Australia – Major-General Harry Ord, Governor of Western Australia (1877–1880)