Sir Philip Edmond Wodehouse, GCSI, KCB (27 February 1811 – 25 October 1887), was a British colonial administrator.

He then served as Governor of British Guiana from 1854 to 1861, where his unpopular measures (such as imposing a head tax) generated enormous riots that even saw him and his retinue attacked and pelted.

[2] In 1861, he was appointed Governor of the Cape Colony and British High Commissioner for Southern Africa, taking over from Sir George Grey who had been recalled for disobeying imperial orders.

[3] His High Commission was also overshadowed, throughout its duration, by a growing movement in the Cape for a degree of independence under a system of "responsible government".

The movement for "responsible government" (a democratically accountable executive) had immense local popularity, fueled by what was perceived to be the ineptitude of British imperial rule.