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 an ex-officio 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

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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[4]-1868[2]
| George Strahan | 1868-1873[5]
| John D'A Dumaresq  | 1873-1874[2]
| Edward Basnett Anderson Taylor  | 1875[6]-1891[7]
| Sir Henry Moore Jackson | abt 1891-1894[8]
| Sir George Melville  | 1894-1895[2]
| John Spencer-Churchill  | 1895-1905[2]
| William Hart-Bennett | from abt 1911[9]-1914[10]
| Henry E. W. Grant  | 1918-1923[2]
| Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns | 1924-1929[11]
| Sir Charles Dundas | 1929-1934[12][13]
| James Henry Jarrett | 1935[14] \- unk[15]
| Aubrey Kenneth Solomon | 1939[16]
| William L. Heape  | 1940-1944[17]
| D. G. Stewart  | 1944[17]-1947[18]
| F. A. Evans  | 1947[18]-1950[7]
| Charles Percival Bethel  | 1950[7]-1952[19]
| Anthony Geoffrey Hopwood Gardner-Brown  | 1952[19]-1955[20]
| Fred A. Noad  | 1956[21]
| Kenneth M. Walmsley  | 1956[20]-1964[2][22]

## References

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1. ^ a b "About the Registrar General's Department". Bahamas Government. 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
2. ^ a b c d e f g Mackie, Colin (2013). British Diplomats Directory (PDF). Gulabin.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
3. ^ Saunders, Gail (2016). Race and class in the colonial Bahamas: 1880-1960 (1st ed.). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 70\. ISBN 978-0-8130-5155-0. "Another industry was the growing of the sisal plant introduced by the colonial secretary C. R. Nesbitt in 1845."
4. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). The Dictionary of National Biography: Supplement January 1901 - December 1911. Vol. II. Faed - Muybridge. Oxford University Press. p. 453\. "his services were rewarded by the colonial secretaryship of the Bahamas"
5. ^ The Almanac of Australia and official record (1882). George Robertson. 1882. pp. 101 (Tasmania).
6. ^ "Appointments". The London Gazette (24175): 347. 29 January 1875. "Downing Street, January 28, 1875. The Queen has been pleased to appoint Edward Basnett Anderson Taylor, Esq., to be Colonial Secretary for the. Bahama Islands."
7. ^ a b c Colonial Office (1952). "Bahamas 1950 and 1951: Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1950 and 1951". HathiTrust. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 4. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
8. ^ "Appointments". The Edinburgh Gazette (10547): 233. 23 February 1894. "Henry Moore Jackson, Esq C.M.G. (Colonial Secretary of the Bahamas Islands) to be Colonial Secretary of the City and Garrison of Gibraltar."
9. ^ "Passenger Movements". The Tribune newspaper. Nassau, Bahamas. 12 September 1911. Retrieved 2 September 2024. "Hon W-Hart Bennett, C. M. G., Colonial Secretary, returned this morning from England via New York."
10. ^ "Wife of Bahamas Official: Mrs. W. Hart Bennett who was Lost, Prominent in Life there" (PDF). New York Times. 31 May 1914. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
11. ^ Saunders, Gail (2016). Race and class in the colonial Bahamas: 1880-1960 (1st ed.). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 70\. ISBN 978-0-8130-5155-0. "Allan [sic] Burns, colonial secretary in the Bahamas during the mid- to late twenties..."
12. ^ "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."
13. ^ 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.
14. ^ Colonial Office (1936). Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of the Bahamas. London, England: H M Stationery Office. p. 23. Retrieved 18 January 2025. "The Hon. J. H. Jarrett, K.C., Attorney-General, was appointed Colonial Secretary of the Bahamas on 14th August 1935."
15. ^ Colonial Office (1939). Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of the Bahamas for 1937. London, England: H M Stationery Offiice. p. 29. Retrieved 18 January 2025. "The Honourable J. H. Jarrett, K. C., Colonial Secretary, administered the Government from April to November [1937] during the period between the departure of Sir Bede Clifford and the arrival of his [Clifford's] successor."
16. ^ "The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1939". Trove Australia. 1 January 1939. p. 242. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
17. ^ a b Colonial Office (1955). Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1940 to 1946. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 9. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
18. ^ a b Colonial Office (1949). "Annual Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1947 & 1948". HathiTrust. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 6. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
19. ^ a b Colonial Office (1955). "Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1952 and 1953". HathiTrust. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 4. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
20. ^ a b Colonial Office (1959). Bahamas: Report for the years 1956 and 1957. London, England: H M Stationery Office. p. 3. Retrieved 3 January 2025. "The Colonial Secretary, Mr. A. G. H. Gardner-Brown left the Colony on transfer to Nigeria on 3rd December, 1955. He was succeeded by Mr. K. M. Walmsley, O. B. E., on 15th May, 1956, on transfer from Somaliland."
21. ^ Saunders, Gail (2017). Race and Class in the Colonial Bahamas, 1880-1960 (Electronic ed.). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 255\. ISBN 978-0-8130-5155-0.
22. ^ "Bahamas Colonial Secretary Charged with Indecent Assault on Jamaican Maid 1962". Bahamianology. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2024.