Alford Penn

Last updated March 08, 2019

Alford Everett Penn, OBE (14 April 1920 - 28 April 2009) was a British Virgin Islander politician and civil servant. Mr Penn was arguably most notable as the first Deputy Governor of the British Virgin Islands, a post that he held from 1977 to 1983.^[1] From 1969 to 1977 he had served as Chief Secretary (as the predecessor office was formerly known prior to 1977).

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially simply the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.

A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking office in government. In democratic countries, politicians seek elective positions within a government through elections or, at times, temporary appointment to replace politicians who have died, resigned or have been otherwise removed from office. In non-democratic countries, they employ other means of reaching power through appointment, bribery, revolutions and war. Some politicians are experienced in the art or science of government. Politicians propose, support and create laws or policies that govern the land and, by extension, its people. Broadly speaking, a "politician" can be anyone who seeks to achieve political power in any bureaucratic institution.

Penn originally joined the Civil Service as Clerk to the Commissioner (as the Governor of the British Virgin Islands was formerly known). After serving in that capacity for some time, he was transferred to Antigua. From Antigua he served in the Pre-Federal Organisation and eventually went to Trinidad where the capital of the West Indies Federation was situated, and where he served as Clerk of the Federal Legislative and Executive Council of the Leeward Islands.^[1]

Antigua, also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the West Indies. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981.

Trinidad The larger of the two major islands which make up Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. Though geographically part of the South American continent, from a socio-economic standpoint it is often referred to as the southernmost island in the Caribbean. With an area of 4,768 km² (1,841 sq mi), it is also the fifth largest in the West Indies.

The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that were colonies of the United Kingdom, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and those on the Leeward and Windward Islands, came together to form the Federation, with its capital in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state—possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation, Australian Commonwealth, or Central African Federation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts over how the Federation itself would be governed or how it would viably function. The territories that would have become part of the Federation eventually became the nine contemporary sovereign states of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago; with Anguilla, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands becoming British overseas territories. British Guiana (Guyana) and British Honduras (Belize) held observer status within the West Indies Federation.

He was uncle to Qwominer William Osborne.^[1]

Political offices

Political offices
Preceded by New office	Deputy Governor of the British Virgin Islands 1977 - 1983	Succeeded by Elton Georges

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References

1 2 3 "Penn, Alfred Everett" (PDF). HLSCC. Retrieved 6 September 2016.

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[Reference-1] 1 2 3 "Penn, Alfred Everett" (PDF). HLSCC. Retrieved 6 September 2016.