Hugh Hastings Romilly was a British colonial official in the Pacific. In 1879, he joined the Governor of Fiji, Sir Arthur Gordon to Tonga and Rotuma. In 1880, he served as the deputy-commissioner of the latter island on its annexation to Fiji. The following year, he briefly travelled to New Zealand before undertaking a tour of the Pacific aboard HMS Beagle. In 1883, he was sent to New Guinea and in 1884, was part of the group which declared part of the island a British protectorate. Following the death of the Special Commissioner Sir Peter Scratchley in 1885, Romilly took over the administration of New Guinea. He published this account of the colony following his return to Britain in 1886.
In 1887, he was sent back to New Guinea, with responsibility over the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides. He was faced with opposition from Indigenous groups and increasingly grew frustrated with what he judged was a lack of interest from the British government and resigned the commission in 1890.