Colony of Antigua | |
|---|---|
| 1958-1962 | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Recognised national languages | English |
| Government | Territory of the West Indies Federation |
| Currency | British West Indies dollar |
| Today part of | Antigua and Barbuda |
This article covers the history of Antigua and Barbuda from 1958 to 1962, when it was a territory of the West Indies Federation. [1]
Antigua joined the West Indies Federation on 3 January. On 6 January, the Governor prorogued the Legislative Council for the first time of the year. [2] On 16 January, polling divisions were established for the 1958 West Indies federal elections by the Supervisor of Elections. [3] From 23 January to 26 January, the Governor-General of the West Indies Federation his first official visit to the territory. [4] Preparations for the federal election continued during the winter, with the notification of election being published on 6 March. [5] On 8 April, the report on the federal election for the two members of Parliament from Antigua was made. The results on the colony-wide level are as follows: [6]
| Candidate | Votes received | % of total votes |
|---|---|---|
| Bradley Carrott | 5,320 | 45.92% |
| Novelle Richards | 5,290 | 45.67% |
| J. R. Henry | 973 | 8.40% |
| Rejected ballots | 169 | |
| Spoilt ballots | 10 | |
| Total voters | 6,387 | |
| Total votes | 11,583 | |
| Registered voters | 18,352 | |
After the election, due to both Carrott and Richards being members of the Legislative Council, two by-elections had to be held to fill the vacancies they left. [7] On 3 May, W. E. Jacobs was appointed as the Administrator of Antigua. [8] On 11 May, the Antigua Defence Force was significantly reformed, with the colony retaining its force even when it was a member of the federation. [9]
On 1 January, the yearly Appropriation Ordinance was proposed. [10] On 8 January, the report on the two by-elections held in May 1958 was published. [11] On 26 January, the Legislative Council was prorouged. [12] On 10 February, the Appropriation Ordinance was assented to, being the first law of 1959. The colony continued to maintain a military expenditure. [13] In Barbuda, a notice for the potential opening of a mail tender service between Antigua and Barbuda was published by the Administrator on 11 March. Barbuda continued to be run by a warden during this period. [14] On 4 June 1959, the Governor departed Antigua for the United Kingdom to participate in a constitutional conference. [15] On 27 August 1959, an amendment to the Barbuda Ordinance was passed, mostly relating to deer. [16] On 12 November 1959, the Federal Supreme Court sat in Antigua. [17] On 7 December 1959, a bill amending the Antigua Constitution and Elections Ordinance was published, following the conference in June. [18] In the edition of the Gazette published on 31 December, it was announced that the official residence of the Administrator would now be Government House, and that various postal stamps relating to the adaptation of the new constitutional amendment would be available for sale. [19] On 31 December, the Legislative Council was also prorogued. [20]
On 1 January, Antigua became self-governing, with Vere Bird now being the Chief Minister. The Executive Council became composed of the Chief Minister, three other ministers, one other member, and the ex officio attorney-general The Chief Minister is to be the member of the Legislative Council who can command the support of the majority of members. The ministers must be members of the Legislative Council, and be appointed by the Administrator on the advice of the Chief Minister. [21] The ministers before the amendment were Edmund Lake for social services, Vere Bird for trade and production, Bradley Carrott without portfolio, and Ernest Williams for public works and communication. [22] On 31 May 1960 the Antigua Constitution and Elections Ordinance was further amended to create new constituencies, including the Barbuda constituency. [23] On 6 July 1960, Henry Joseph Elwin was appointed as Supervisor of Elections and various preparations were made for the upcoming 1960 Antiguan general election. [24] On 29 November 1960, the election was held, resulting in a victory for the Antigua Labor Party. [25]
On 31 May 1962, the West Indies Federation was abolished. [26]
Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign island country in the Caribbean. It lies at the conjuncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles.
The politics of Antigua and Barbuda takes place in a framework of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, wherein the sovereign of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of state, appointing a governor-general to act as vice-regal representative in the nation. A prime minister is appointed by the governor-general as the head of government, and of a multi-party system; the prime minister advises the governor-general on the appointment of a Council of Ministers. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The history of Antigua and Barbuda covers the period from the arrival of the Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Antigua and Barbuda were inhabited by three successive Amerindian societies. The island was claimed by England, who settled the islands in 1632. Under English/British control, the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African slaves migrate to the island. In 1981, the islands were granted independence as the modern state of Antigua and Barbuda.
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 part of the British Empire, 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 Canada, the Federation of Australia, or the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts over how it would be governed or function viably. The formation of a West Indian Federation was encouraged by the United Kingdom, but also requested by pan-Caribbean nationalists.
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In English, the term Leeward Islands refers to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. The more southerly part of this chain, starting with Dominica, is called the Windward Islands. Dominica was originally considered a part of the Leeward Islands, but was transferred from the British Leeward Islands to the British Windward Islands in 1940.
The British West Indies (BWI) were colonised British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, British Honduras, British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago. Bermuda was also included as one of the territories.
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as prime minister. In 1994, he was declared a "National Hero".
The term British West Indies refers to the former English and British colonies and the present-day overseas territories of the United Kingdom in the Caribbean.
The monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda. The current Antiguan and Barbudan monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Crown of Antigua and Barbuda. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Antigua and Barbuda and, in this capacity, he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Antigua and Barbuda. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
West Indies Associated States was the collective name for a number of islands in the Eastern Caribbean whose status changed from being British colonies to states in free association with the United Kingdom in 1967. These states were Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent.
Sir George Herbert Walter, KNH was an Antiguan politician of the Progressive Labour Movement and Premier of Antigua and Barbuda from 14 February 1971 to 1 February 1976.
Antigua and Barbuda maintains diplomatic relations with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China, as well as with many Latin American countries and neighbouring Eastern Caribbean states. It is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, Petrocaribe and the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System (RSS).
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 29 November 1960. They were won by the governing Antigua Labour Party (ALP), whose leader Vere Bird was re-elected as Chief Minister, a position he had held since 1 January 1960 when the position was created.
General elections were held for the first time in Antigua and Barbuda on 26 July 1946. The elections were held under a limited franchise and only those who owned property were permitted to stand for election to the legislature. The Antigua Trades and Labour Union (ATLU) chose five of its members who satisfied the property criteria to stand as labour representatives. All were elected as the union-backed candidates received 82% of the vote.
Gaston Alfonso Browne is an Antiguan politician serving as the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and leader of the Labour Party since 2014. Before entering politics, he was a banker and businessman.
Federal elections were held in the West Indies Federation for the first and only time on 25 March 1958. The result was a victory for the West Indies Federal Labour Party, which won 25 of the 45 seats in the House of Representatives.
Sir Ronald Michael Sanders is an Antiguan Barbudan diplomat, academic, former broadcast-journalist, and the current Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and to the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2015. He holds the unique distinction of being the first person, since the OAS enlarged its membership in 1962, to serve as Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS for an unprecedented three terms. He completed his highly successful third term on December 31, 2023, having played a widely recognized role in guiding the work of the Permanent Council in the peaceful transition of government in Guatemala on 14 January 2024.
Squatting in the island country of Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Historically, native Barbudans were seen as squatters and after Hurricane Irma in 2017, Prime Minister Gaston Browne offered people he termed squatters the chance to buy their land.
Antigua and Barbuda and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) are related through a long common history spanning from 1632 for Antigua, and 1678 for the smaller sister-isle of Barbuda through until 1981 for the joint-state. Antigua was one of the oldest English settlements in the West Indies, and served as a British hub of regional administration for the surrounding Leeward Islands.
This article covers the history of the Presidency of Antigua from 1871 until 1958. During this period, Antigua was a presidency part of the British Leeward Islands, also including the islands of Barbuda and Redonda. During this era, universal suffrage was established, and local government thrived. In 1958, Antigua joined the West Indies Federation.
