Colonial Secretary of the Bahamas

Government office in the Bahamas

The Colonial Secretary of the Bahama Islands was the second highest official in the colony, usually appointed from Britain. The Colonial Secretary was a member of the Executive Council and frequently served as Acting Governor in the absence of the Governor.

In other colonies, the position was sometimes known as Chief Secretary. In the Bahamas, the Colonial Secretary was also known at one time as the Secretary of the Providence.[1] One of the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Providence from 1764 to 1950 was keeper of the public records.[1]

## List of Colonial secretaries of the Bahamas[edit]

The following is an incomplete list of colonial secretaries of the Bahamas:

Image  | Colonial Secretary  | Period in Office

|
|

| Charles R. Nesbitt  | 1838-1867[2][3]
| Charles Lempriere  | 1867-1868[2]
| George Strahan | 1868-1873[4]
| John D'A Dumaresq  | 1873-1874[2]
| Edward B. A. Taylor  | 1874-1880[2]
| Sir Henry M Jackson  | 1890-1893[2]
| Sir George Melville  | 1894-1895[2]
| John Spencer-Churchill  | 1895-1905[2]
| Willian Hart-Bennett | 1914[5]
| Henry E. W. Grant  | 1918-1923[2]
| Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns | 1924-1929
| Sir Charles Dundas | 1929-1934[6][7]
| A K Solomon KC  | 1939[8]
| Kenneth Walmsley  | 1956-1964[2][9]
| Charles P Bethel  | 1943-1955[2]
| William L. Heape  | 1940-1943;

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "About the Registrar General's Department". Bahamas Government. 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mackie, Colin (2013). British Diplomats Directory (PDF). Gulabin.com.
3. ^ Saunders, Gail (2016). Race and class in the colonial Bahamas: 1880-1960 (1st ed.). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 70\. ISBN 0-8130-5155-X. "Another industry was the growing of the sisal plant introduced by the colonial secretary C. R. Nesbitt in 1845."
4. ^ The Almanac of Australia and official record (1882). George Robertson. 1882. pp. 101 (Tasmania).
5. ^ "Wife of Bahamas Official: Mrs. W. Hart Bennett who was Lost, Prominent in Life there" (PDF). New York Times. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
6. ^ "Former Secretary will be Governor". Miami Herald. Associated Press. 31 May 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 27 May 2024. "As colonial secretary here from April, 1929 to July, 1934, Dundas received $5,500 and a small house allowance."
7. ^ Dundas, Charles Cecil Farquharson (1955). African Crossroads. London and New York: Macmillan & Co (London); St Martin's Press (New York). pp. v–vii, 1, 126.
8. ^ "The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1939". Trove Australia. 1939-01-01. p. 242. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
9. ^ "Bahamas Colonial Secretary Charged with Indecent Assault on Jamaican Maid 1962". Bahamianology. 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2024-05-27.