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The Island Sun is a weekly newspaper in the British Virgin Islands. [1] Founded on 23 June 1962, it is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the British Overseas Territory.
The Sun is published weekly by Sun Enterprises (B.V.I.) Limited, owned by businessman and historian Vernon W. Pickering.
The Island Sun was founded in 1962 by Carlos and Esme Downing. Carlos Downing became the editor.
On June 23, 1962, the inaugural issue of The Island Sun was published. Having little public funding and no private financial backing, the paper struggled. However, there was significant support from readers, well-wishers and the British Virgin Islands government.
Contributing writers and columnists included Sir Alan Cobham, Dr. Norwell Harrigan, Dr. Pearl Varlack, Godfrey deCastro, Dr. Pierre Encontre, McW. Todman, QC, Sir. Ronald Sanders, Dr. Quincy Lettsome, Dr. Giorgio Migliavacca and Clarence Christian.
During the 1966 Royal Visit, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II asked Carlos Downing why he had ventured into publishing the newspaper. His answer was that "The Island Sun was not started in the sense of a business undertaking per se...(but) as a community venture and with confidence in the future of the Virgin Islands."
In 1985 Sun Enterprises (BVI) Ltd became the publisher for The Island Sun. Carlos Downing retired in 1987 and was replaced by Pickering, who had been assistant editor for three years. The first chairman of the board was the educator and historian, Dr. Norwell Harrigan.
Between 1986 and 1989, The Island Sun published a mid-week edition. The Island Sun originally used its own press. In 1987, the publishing was taken over by Caribbean Printing in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
In 1989, The Island Sun was the only newspaper in both the British and US Virgin Islands to be published throughout Hurricane Hugo. In 1992 the BVI Hotel & Commerce Association bestowed on The Island Sun the "Past Merit Commerce Award". In 1997 The Island Sun became the first Virgin Islands (US and British) newspaper to have its website.
In 2002 the BVI Postal Authority issued two stamps to commemorate the 40th anniversary of The Island Sun. One stamp showed the front page of the 25th anniversary edition and the 1962 first edition. The second stamp depicted Carlos and Esme deCastro-Downing.
In 2008 The Island Sun was digitized, and in early 2014 the website was redesigned and revamped.
The Island Sun has gone from 12 pages of the 1970s, 20 in the early 1980s, to an average of 40 pages today. The paper has an eight-page supplement called "Sunny Side Up".
Pickering described The Island Sun as a "team achievement". He identified two pillars of The Island Sun in publishing consultant Dr. Giorgio Migliavacca, and circulation and advertising manager Delseita "Peggy" Carney-Liburd.
News items and editorials from The Island Sun are frequently reprinted or referred to in the international media, including The Washington Post, CNN, PBS, BBC, and the British Daily Telegraph. Also, Caribbean newspapers such as St. Croix Avis, and the Voice of St. Lucia carry reports from The Island Sun.
A survey of the daily traffic on The Island Sun website has shown an average 3,500 visits per day, and on certain days as many as 18,000 accesses have been reported.
The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles and part of the West Indies.
Elections in the British Virgin Islands are conducted to elect members to the House of Assembly. In the British Virgin Islands elections are not conducted in relation to appointments to either the Executive or Judicial branches of Government, and there are no other publicly elected posts in the British Virgin Islands. Most elections are conducted as general elections, which under the Constitution are required to be held every four years, or as by-elections when a member of the House of Assembly dies or steps down. Since the re-introduction of democracy into the British Virgin Islands in 1950 there have been fifteen general elections, and three recorded by-elections. The last election was held on 25 February 2019.
Tortola is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of 55.7 square kilometres with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in Road Town. Mount Sage is its highest point at 530 metres above sea level.
Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, previously known as Beef Island Airport, is the main airport serving the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. The airport serves as the gateway to just about all of the islands within the BVI. The airport is also a gateway for inter-Caribbean travelers headed to the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands. Many travellers fly into Beef Island, with the intention of taking a ferry to the other smaller British Virgin Islands. The airport is located on Beef Island, a small island off the main island of Tortola, to which it is connected by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.
The House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, until 2007 known as the Legislative Council, has 15 members: 13 directly elected for four-year terms, and two ex officio members.
Fredrick Augustus Pickering (1835–1926) was the first ever coloured President of the British Virgin Islands. He was also the last President of the Territory; after he stepped down in 1887, no replacement was appointed. In 1889, the office was replaced with that of Commissioner. He served in the post from 1884 to 1887. Pickering had previously served as the President's clerk and was a popular local figure. In the 1880s, the dissolution of the Legislative Council was only prevented by the appointment of two popular local figures, Pickering and Joseph Romney to the Council.
The law of the British Virgin Islands is a combination of common law and statute, and is based heavily upon English law.
The BVI Beacon is a weekly British Virgin Islands newspaper founded in June 1984 and published on the island of Tortola. The Beacon is owned and published by local businessman Russell Harrigan, also the publisher of Business BVI. The online version of the newspaper was founded on February 14, 2001.
The colony of the British Virgin Islands has issued its own stamps since 1866. The first Post Office was opened in Tortola in 1787. At the time postage stamps were not yet invented, and it was not until 1858 that a small supply of adhesive stamps issued by Great Britain depicting Queen Victoria were utilized by the local Post Office. These stamps were cancelled by an A13 postmark and are extremely rare so cancelled.
Sharie De Castro is a Virgin Islander beauty pageant titleholder and politician. She was crowned Miss British Virgin Islands 2012 and represented the British Virgin Islands in the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. She is an At-large representative for the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, a position that she has held since the 2019 general election. She is the current Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 27 November 1950, the first after the decision to restore the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. Four members were elected to the First Legislative Council.
Jennifer M. Toombs was a notable British postage stamp designer.
There are presently five principal British Virgin Islands news websites publishing news focused upon current affairs in the Territory:
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 25 February 2019. For the first time, four parties with at least one incumbent member were contesting an election.
Dr. Kedrick Pickering is the former Deputy Premier of the Virgin Islands, also known as the British Virgin Islands. He also served as the territory's Minister of Natural Resources and Labour. He is a member of the National Democratic Party.
Events from the year 2017 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2018 in the British Virgin Islands.
Richard Georges is the first poet laureate of the British Virgin Islands. He is the current president of the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College and a founding editor of MOKO: Caribbean Arts & Letters. Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Georges was raised and currently resides in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2021 in the British Virgin Islands.
Stanley Nibbs BEM was an instructor and preacher on the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). His educational service to the islands was recognized with his awarding of the British Empire Medal in 1968, and, in 1993, by the issue of a postage stamp, making him one of the first black citizens to appear on a BVI stamp.