The elected House of Assembly was created in 1620 under that the Somers Isles Company, functioning as a Lower House of the Parliament of Bermuda with the Council acting as the Upper House until 1888, when the Council was split into an Executive Council (which later became the Cabinet) and a Legislative Council as the Upper House. As there was originally no Deputy Governor, the President of The Council could find himself temporarily acting as Governor in the event of the absence, incapacitation or death of the Governor (or during an interregnum, which occasionally resulted from a retiring Governor departing Bermuda before the arrival of his replacement) until the mid-19th Century, after which the senior military (army, rather than naval) officer in Bermuda assumed the role of Officer Administering the Government during the absence of the Governor.
The elected House of Assembly was created in 1620 under that the Somers Isles Company, functioning as a Lower House of the Parliament of Bermuda with the Council acting as the Upper House until 1888, when the Council was split into an Executive Council (which later became the Cabinet) and a Legislative Council as the Upper House As there was originally no Deputy Governor, the President of The Council could find himself temporarily acting as Governor in the event of the absence, incapacitation or death of the Governor (or during an interregnum, which occasionally resulted from a retiring Governor departing Bermuda before the arrival of his replacement) until the mid-19th Century, after which the senior military (army, rather than naval) officer in Bermuda assumed the role of Officer Administering the Government during the absence of the Governor.