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]
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] | |
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George Strahan | 1868-1873[4] |
John D'A Dumaresq | 1873-1874[2] | |
Edward B. A. Taylor | 1874[5][6] | |
Sir Henry M Jackson | 1890-1893[2] | |
Sir George Melville | 1894-1895[2] | |
John Spencer-Churchill | 1895-1905[2] | |
William Hart-Bennett | 1914[7] | |
Henry E. W. Grant | 1918-1923[2] | |
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Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns | 1924-1929[8] |
Sir Charles Dundas | 1929-1934[9][10] | |
Aubrey Kenneth Solomon | 1939[11] | |
Kenneth Walmsley | 1956-1964[2][12] | |
Charles P Bethel | 1943-1955[2] | |
William L. Heape | 1940-1943; |
Another industry was the growing of the sisal plant introduced by the colonial secretary C. R. Nesbitt in 1845.
TAYLOR, EDWARD B.A., C.M.G.: Colonial Secretary, Bahamas, 1874-1880
E. B. A. Taylor, Colonial Secretary. Colonial Secretary's Office, Nassau, 20th May, 1885.
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Allan [sic] Burns, colonial secretary in the Bahamas during the mid- to late twenties...
As colonial secretary here from April, 1929 to July, 1934, Dundas received $5,500 and a small house allowance.