The Bahamas
 

to 1706	1706 - 1718 Pirate rule	1718 - 1869
1869 - 1904	1904 - 1923	1923 - 1953
1953 - 12 May 1964	12 May 1964 - 10 Jul 1973	Adopted 10 Jul 1973

Map of The Bahamas Hear National Anthem "March on, Bahamaland" Text of National Anthem  Adopted 10 Jul 1973 Constitution  (10 Jul 1973) Capital: Nassau (Charles Town 1660's-1695) Currency: Bahamian Dollar  (BSD)  National Holiday: 10 Jul (1973) Independence Day Population: 307,451 (2008) GDP: $8.77 billion (2008) Exports: $674 million (2006) Imports: $2.4 billion (2006) Ethnic groups: local black 67.5%, mulatto 14.2%, white 14.4%, Haitian 3%, Asian, Hispanic, other  3.3% (2000) Total Active Armed Forces: 860 (2006) Merchant marine: 1,223 ships (2008) Religions: Baptist 35.4%, Anglican 15.1%, Roman Catholic 13.5%, Pentecostal 8.1%, Church of God 4.8%, Methodist 4.2%, other Christian 15.2%, none or unspecified 2.9%, other 0.8% (2000)  International Organizations/Treaties: ACP, ACS, APM, BTWC, C, Caricom, CDB, CTBT, CWC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, ICSID, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISA, ITSO, ITU, KP, LAES, MIGA, NAM, NPT, NTBT, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCLOS, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFCC, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) The Bahamas Chronology 12 Oct 1492                Discovered and claimed for Spain by Christopher                              Columbus, not settled.  1648 - 1657                First English settlement on Eleuthra by Puritans                              of the Company of Eleutherian Adventurers.  1 Nov 1670                British proprietary colony (Bahama Islands) 1684                       Joint Spanish-French fleet destroys Nassau. 1684 - 1686                Abandoned. 1706 - 26 Jul 1718         Pirate rule. 26 Jul 1718                British crown colony (declared 1717).  3 Mar 1776 - 17 Mar 1776  American occupation.  8 May 1782 - 19 Apr 1783  Spanish occupation.  3 Sep 1783                British possession confirmed by Spain. 1804 - 1848                Turks and Caicos Islands part of the Bahamas.  7 Jan 1964                Self-government 1969                       Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands 10 Jul 1973                Independence (Commonwealth of The Bahamas).

Lord Proprietors
 1 Nov 1670 - 1717         Christopher Monck, Duke of         (b. 1653 - d. 1688)
                             Ablemarle (to Nov 1688)
                           + William Craven, Earl of          (b. 1609 - d. 1697)
                               Craven (to 9 Apr 1697)
                           + Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl      (b. 1621 - d. 1683)
                               of Shaftesbury 
                           + Sir George Carteret              (b. c.1610 - d. 1680)
                              (to 1680) 
                           + Peter Colleton (to 1694)         (d. 1694)

Governors
1648 - 1657                William Sayle (of Eleuthera)       (d. 1671)
1657 - 1671                None
1671 - Dec 1671            Hugh Wentworth                     (d. 1671?)
Dec 1671 - 1676            John Wentworth
 1 Jul 1676 - 1677         Charles Chillingworth
1677 - 1682                Robert Clarke                      (d. 1682)
1682 - 1684                Richard Lilburne
1684                       Juan de Larco -Spanish Commander
1684 - 1686                Abandoned
1687 - 1690                Thomas Bridges
19 Jun 1690 - 1693         Cadwallader Jones                  (b c.1652 - d. 1704)
1693 - 1694                .... (acting)
1694 - 1696                Nicholas Trott                     (b. 1663 - d. 1740)
1696 - 1697                ....  (acting)
Mar 1697 - 1699            Nicholas Webb
1699 - 1700                Read Elding (acting)
1700 - 1701                Elias Haskett
1701 - 1705                Ellis Lightfoot
Jan 1706 - 1706            Edward Birch
1706                       Thomas Walker (acting)
                            (acting de facto 1706 - 1717)
1706 - 26 Jul 1718         Pirate rule
                           - Thomas Barrow 
                           - Benjamin Hornigold               (d. 1719?)
                           - Edward Teach "Blackbeard"        (b. 1680? - d. 1718)
                           - et al.
26 Jul 1718 - 1721         Woodes Rogers (1st time)           (b. 1679? - d. 1732)
1721 - 1729                George Phenney                     (d. 1737)
Aug 1729 - 16 Jul 1732     Woodes Rogers (2nd time)           (s.a.)
1732 - Nov 1733            Richard Thompson (acting)
Nov 1733 - 1740            Richard Fitzwilliams
1740 - 1758                John Tinker                        (d. 1758)
1758 - 1760                John Gambier (1st time) (acting)   (b. 1723 - d. 1782)
1760 - 28 Nov 1768         William Shirley                    (b. 1694 - d. 1771)
28 Nov 1768 - 1774         Thomas Shirley                     (b. 1727 - d. 1780)
1774 -  3 Mar 1776         Montfort Browne (1st time)
 3 Mar 1776 - 17 Mar 1776  Samuel Nicholas                    (b. 1744 - d. 1790)
                             (American commander)
17 Mar 1776 - 1778         John Gambier (2nd time) (acting)   (s.a.)
1778 - 1779                Montfort Browne (2nd time)
1779 - 1780                ....
1780 -  8 May 1782         John Robert Maxwell (1st time)     (d. 1791)
                             (8 May 1782 - Apr 1783 Spanish prisoner)
 8 May 1782 - 19 Apr 1783  Bernardo de Gálvez                 (b. 1746 - d. 1786)
                             (Spanish commander)
1783                       Andrew De Vau (acting)
1783 - 1784                John Robert Maxwell (2nd time)     (s.a.)
1784 - 1786                James Edward Powell
1786 - 1787                John Brown (acting)
1787 - 1796                John Murray, Earl of Dunmore       (b. 1732 - d. 1809)
1796 - 14 Feb 1797         Robert Hunt (acting)
14 Feb 1797 - Jun 1797     John Forbes                        (b. 1750 - d. 1797)
20 Nov 1797 - 1801         William Dowdeswell                 (b. 1761 - d. 1828)
1801 - 1804                John Halkett                       (b. 1768 - d. 1852)
 8 May 1804 - 1820         Charles Cameron                    (b. 1766? - d. 1820)
1821 - 1829                Lewis Grant                        (d. 1852)
1829 - 1833                James Carmichael Smyth             (b. 1779 - d. 1838)
1833 - 1835                Blayney Townley Balfour            (b. 1799 - d. 1882)
1835 - 1837                William MacBean George Colebrooke  (b. 1787 - d. 1870)
1837 - 1844                Francis Cockburn                   (b. 1780 - d. 1868)
                             (from 8 Sep 1841, Sir Francis Cockburn)
1844 - 1849                George Benvenuto Mathew            (b. 1807 - d. 1879)
1849 - 1854                John Gregory
1854 - 1857                Sir Alexander Bannerman            (b. 1783 - d. 1864)
1857 - 1864                Charles John Bayley                (d. 1873)
1864 - 1869                Rawson William Rawson              (b. 1812 - d. 1899)
1869 - 1871                Sir James Walker                   (b. 1809 - d. 1885)
1871 - 1873                George Cumine Strahan              (b. 1838 - d. 1889)
1873 - 1874                Sir John Pope Hennessy             (b. 1834 - d. 1891)
 2 Dec 1874 - 1880         William Robinson                   (b. 1836 - d. 1912)
1880 - 1881                Jeremias Thomas Fitzgerald         (b. c.1830 - d. 1881)
                             Callaghan
1881 - Jan 1884            Charles Cameron Lees               (b. 1837 - d. 1898)
                             (from 24 May 1883, Sir Charles Cameron Lees)
                             (acting to 1882)
 4 Jan 1884 - 1887         Sir Henry Arthur Blake             (b. 1840 - d. 1918)
1887 - 1895                Sir Ambrose Shea                   (b. 1816 - d. 1905)
1895 - 1898                Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith (b. 1839 - d. 1928)
1898 - 29 Nov 1904         Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter          (b. 1848 - d. 1927)
29 Nov 1904 - 1912         Sir William Grey-Wilson            (b. 1852 - d. 1926)
29 Oct 1912 - 1914         Sir George Basil Haddon-Smith      (b. 1861 - d. 1931)
15 Jun 1914 - 1920         Sir William Lamond Allardyce       (b. 1861 - d. 1930)
 8 Dec 1920 - 1926         Sir Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux  (b. 1870 - d. 1943)
15 Mar 1927 - Jan 1932     Charles William James Orr          (b. 1870 - d. 1945)
                             (from 2 Jan 1928, Sir Charles William James Orr)
10 Jan 1932 - 1934         Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford          (b. 1890 - d. 1969)
                             (from 1933, Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford)
1934 - 1940                Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas   (b. 1884 - d. 1956)
                             (from 1938, Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas)
                             (acting to 3 Aug 1937)
18 Aug 1940 - 1945         Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor     (b. 1894 - d. 1972)
                             (20 Jan 1936 - 10 Dec 1936, King Edward VIII of Britain)
28 Jul 1945 - 1950         William Lindsay Murphy             (b. 1887 - d. 1965)
                             (from 1 Jan 1946, Sir William Lindsay Murphy)
 5 Jan 1950 - Dec 1950     Sir George Ritchie Sandford        (b. 1892 - d. 1950)
 7 Dec 1950 - 1953         Robert Arthur Ross Neville         (b. 1896 - d. 1987)
                             (from 5 Jun 1952, Sir Robert Arthur Ross Neville)
21 Dec 1953 - 1956         Thomas David Knox,                 (b. 1913 - d. 1988)
                             Earl of Ranfurly
 1 Apr 1957 - 1960         Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur           (b. 1905 - d. 1973)
18 Jul 1960 - 1964         Sir Robert Stapledon de Stapledon  (b. 1909 - d. 1975)
 3 Jun 1964 - 1968         Sir Ralph Francis Alnwick Grey     (b. 1910 - d. 1999)
                             (from 16 Sep 1968, Ralph Francis Alnwick Grey,
                             Baron Grey of Naunton)
 1 Nov 1968 - 1972         Sir Francis Edward Hovell Thurlow  (b. 1912)
                             Cumming-Bruce (from 29 May 1971,
                             Francis Edward Hovell-Thurlow-
                             Cumming-Bruce, Baron Thurlow)
14 May 1972 - 10 Jul 1973  Sir John Warburton Paul            (b. 1916 - d. 2004)
Queen¹
10 Jul 1973 -              the Queen of the United Kingdom
Governors-general (representing the British monarch as head of state)
10 Jul 1973 - 31 Jul 1973  Sir John Warburton Paul (acting)   (s.a.)
 1 Aug 1973 - 22 Jan 1979  Sir Milo Boughton Butler           (b. 1906 - d. 1979)
                             (incapacitated from 2 Sep 1976)
22 Jan 1979 - 25 Jun 1988  Sir Gerald Christopher Cash        (b. 1917 - d. 2003)
                             (acting [for Butler from 2 Sep 1976] to 23 Sep 1979)
26 Jun 1988 -  1 Jan 1992  Sir Henry Milton Taylor            (b. 1903 - d. 1994)
                             (acting to 28 Feb 1991)
 2 Jan 1992 -  2 Jan 1995  Sir Clifford Darling               (b. 1922)
 3 Jan 1995 - 13 Nov 2001  Sir Orville Alton Turnquest        (b. 1929)
13 Nov 2001 - 30 Nov 2005  Dame Ivy Leona Dumont (f)          (b. 1930)
                             (acting to 1 Jan 2002)
 1 Dec 2005 -  1 Feb 2006  Paul Lawrence Adderley (acting)    (b. 1928?)
 1 Feb 2006 - 14 Apr 2010  Arthur Dion Hanna                  (b. 1928)
14 Apr 2010 -              Sir Arthur Foulkes                 (b. 1928)

Chief minister
1955 -  7 Jan 1964         Sir Roland Theodore Symonette      (b. 1898 - d. 1980)  UBP
                             (from 1 Jan 1959, Sir Roland Theodore Symonette) 
Premiers 
 7 Jan 1964 - 16 Jan 1967  Sir Roland Theodore Symonette      (s.a.)               UBP
16 Jan 1967 - 1969         Lynden Oscar Pindling              (b. 1930 - d. 2000)  PLP
Prime ministers
1969 - 21 Aug 1992         Lynden Oscar Pindling              (s.a.)               PLP
                             (from 1 Jan 1983, Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling)
21 Aug 1992 -  3 May 2002  Hubert Alexander Ingraham          (b. 1947)            FNM
                             (1st time)
 3 May 2002 -  4 May 2007  Perry Gladstone Christie           (b. 1943)            PLP
 4 May 2005 - 22 Jun 2005  Cynthia "Mother" Moxey Pratt       (b. 1945)            PLP
                             (acting for Christie)
 4 May 2007 -              Hubert Alexander Ingraham          (s.a.)               FNM
                             (2nd time)

                AIM Flag to 1974

Territorial Dispute: Disagrees with the U.S. on the alignment the northern axis of a potential maritime boundary; continues to monitor and interdict drug dealers and Haitian and Cuban refugees in Bahamian waters.

Party abbreviations: FNM = Free National Movement (center-right, conservative);
PLP = Progressive Liberal Party (center-left, liberal); 
- Former parties: AIM = Abaco Independence Movement (regionalist, advocated continued crown rule, mainly white, to 1974); UBP = United Bahamian Party (conservative, mainly white)