Sir Arthur Foulkes | |
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![]() Foulkes, c. 2000 | |
9th Governor-General of the Bahamas | |
In office 14 April 2010 –7 July 2014 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Hubert Ingraham Perry Christie |
Preceded by | A.D. Hanna |
Succeeded by | Dame Marguerite Pindling |
Personal details | |
Born | Arthur Alexander Foulkes 11 May 1928 Matthew Town,Inagua,The Bahamas |
Political party | Progressive Liberal Party (before 1971) Free National Movement (1971–present) |
Spouse | Joan Eleanor Foulkes |
Sir Arthur Alexander Foulkes, ON,GCMG (born 11 May 1928) [1] is a politician who was the ninth governor-general of the Bahamas from 2010 to 2014. [2]
Foulkes was elected to the House of Assembly in 1967 and served in the government of Lynden Pindling as Minister of Communications and Minister of Tourism. [3] In 1971,he was co-founder of the Free National Movement,and he was appointed to the Senate in 1972 and 1977 before returning to the House of Assembly in 1982. [3]
Foulkes,a native of the Bahamas,was born on the island of Inagua in Matthew Town on 11 May 1928. [4] His parents were Dr. William and Mrs. Julie (née Maisonneuve) Foulkes. [4] Foulkes is married to the former Joan Eleanor Bullard of Nassau. [4]
Viceregal styles of Sir Arthur Foulkes (2010–2014) | |
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Reference style | His Excellency |
Spoken style | Your Excellency |
Foulkes started his working life as a newspaper linotype operator,first at the Nassau Guardian ,then at the competing Tribune newspaper. [4] He became a reporter for Tribune's editor Sir Étienne Dupuch,rising to become News Editor of Tribune. [4] From 1962 to 1967,Foulkes was founding editor of Bahamian Times,the official paper of the Progressive Liberal Party,backing the campaign for majority rule,and later a columnist for Nassau Guardian and Tribune. [4]
In 1967,he was elected to Parliament and,the following year,appointed to serve in the Cabinet as Minister of Communications,then as Minister of Tourism. [3] He was one of the founders of the Free National Movement in 1971. [3] He was appointed to the Senate in 1972 and 1977,and re-elected to the House of Assembly in 1982. [3] In 1972,Foulkes was one of the four Opposition delegates to the Bahamas Independence Constitution Conference in London in 1972. [3]
In 1992,Foulkes became the Bahamas' High Commissioner to the United Kingdom,serving also as ambassador to France,Germany,Italy,Belgium and the European Union, [4] before becoming the first Bahamian ambassador to China and Cuba in 1999. [3] [4] Foulkes was sworn in as Governor-General of the Bahamas on 14 May 2010, [3] retiring on 7 July 2014. [2]
Foulkes was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG) in 2001;he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the same Order (GCMG) in 2011. [3] In 2018,he was invested with the Order of the Nation (ON) by the then Governor General Marguerite Pindling. [5]