British Virgin Islands 
 

to 1871                        1871 - 1956  Leeward Islands                            1956 - 15 Nov 1960                         Adopted 15 Nov 1960 Map of British Virgin Islands  Hear National Anthem  "God Save the Queen"  Text of National Anthem Constitution Order (19 Jun 2007) ----------------------------------- Former Constitution Order (1 Jun 1977- 2007) Capital: Road Town (Spanish Town 1680-1741) Currencies:  US Dollar (USD) (since 1959); British Virgin Islands Dollar (VGD) (from 30 Jun 1973) National Holiday: 1 Jul (1956) Territory Day Population: 31,148 (2012) GDP: $1.32 billion (2009) Exports: $35.2 million (2010) Imports: $228 million (2010) Ethnic groups: black 83.3%, white 7.2%, mixed 5.3%,  East Indian 3.1%, other 0.84% (1999) Total Police Force: 96 (1987) Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K. Merchant marine: 1 ship (2010) Religions: Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)  International Organizations/Treaties: Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU  British Virgin Islands Chronology 14 Nov 1493                Discovered by Columbus and claimed for Spain,                              island chain named Las Islas Once Mil Virgenes. 16.. - Sep 1625            Dutch settle on Tortola. 1628                       Santa Ana (Tortola) claimed for England (but                              not settled until 1645).  5 Feb 1646                Spanish destroy English colony on Tortola. 1648 - 1672                Dutch colony on Tortola Island (Nieu ter Tholen)                             (on Anegada and Virgin Gorda until 1680). 1665                       English occupation of Tortola. 1672                       English colony; part of Antigua. 1672 - 1816                Part of Leeward Islands colony (see Antigua). 1680                       English settle Anegada and Virgin Gorda. 1713                       British crown colony (Virgin Islands). 30 Nov 1773                British Virgin Islands administratively united                              (Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke,                              Peter, Norman, Guana, Ginger and Salt Islands). 1816 - 1871                Part St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the                               British Virgin Islands colony (see St. Kitts). 1833 -  1 Jan 1960         Part of Leeward Islands colony (see Antigua).  1 Jan 1960                Separate colony (British Virgin Islands). 18 Apr 1967                Autonomous

Dutch Governors of Tortola
16.. - Sep 1625            Joost van Dyke
1648 - 1663                ....
1663 - 1672                Willem Hunthum                     (d. bf.1678)
1672?                      Peter Balderick
English Governors of Tortola
1645 -  5 Feb 1646         ....                               (d. 1646)
1665                       John Wentworth
1672                       William Burt
English Deputy governors of Tortola
1678 - c.1683              ....
c.1683 - 1686              Thomas Bisse
1686 - 1690                Jonathan Turner
1690 - 1707                ....
English Deputy governors of Virgin Gorda
1680 - 1713                ....
Deputy governors of the Virgin Islands
1707 - af.1711             John Walton
1727 - 1729                Francis Phips
                             (Lieutenant governor of Anguilla and Virgin Islands)
1729 - 1741                ....
Lieutenant governors
1741 - Jun 1742            John Pickering                     (b. 1704 - d. 1768)
Jun 1742 - 1750            John Hunt                          (d. 1751)
1750 - 1751                James Purcell                      (b. c.1716 - d. 1759)
1751 - 1771                John Purcell                       (d. 1771)
1771 - 1774                John Fahie
1774                       John Nugent                        (d. 1811)
1774 - 1782                ....
c.1777                     Bezaliel Hodge                     (d. 1787)
Presidents 
1782 - 1811                ....
c.1787                     William Turnbull
c.1794                     George Leonard                     (d. 1799)
1811 - 1839                Richard Hetherington               (b. 1785 - d. 1859)
Feb 1839 - 1847            Edward Hay Drummond Hay            (b. 1815 - d. 1884)
1847 - 11 May 1851         Sir John Atholl MacGregor          (b. 1810 - d. 1851)
1851 - 1852                Richard H. Dyett (acting)
1852 - 28 Feb 1854         John Cornell Chads                 (b. 1793? - d. 1854)
1854 - 1857                Cornelius Hendricksen Kortright    (b. 1817 - d. 1899)
1857 - 1859                Thomas Price
1859 - 1862                J.P.S. Dyett (acting)
1862 - 1865                James Robert Longden               (b. 1827 - d. 1891)
1865 - 1869                Sir Arthur Carlos Henry Rumbold    (b. 1820 - d. 1869)
Oct 1869 - 1872            Alexander Wilson Moir              (b. 1825 - d. 1897)
1873 - 1879                Richard Mahoney Hickson
1879 - 1882                John Kemys Spencer-Churchill       (b. 1835 - d. 1913)
1882 - 1884                Richard Henry Kortright Dyett      (b. 1862 - d. 19..)
1884 - 1887                Fredrick Augustus Pickering        (b. 1835 - d. 1926)
Administrators
Feb 1887 - 1894            Edward John Cameron                (b. 1858 - d. 1947)
1894 - 12 Feb 1896         Alexander Robert Mackay            (d. 1896)
1896 - 1903                Nathaniel George Cookman           (b. 1869 - d. 1907)
1903 - 1910                Robert Stephen Earl
1910 - 1919                Thomas Leslie Hardtman Jarvis
1919 - 1922                Herbert Walter Peebles             (b. 1877 - d. 1955)
1922 - 1923                Reginald Hargrove
1923 - 1926                Otho Lewis Hancock                 (b. 1893 - d. 1942)
Aug 1926 - Nov 1926        Thomas Edwin Percival Baynes       (b. 1885 - d. 1952)
                             (acting)
1926 - 1934                Frank Cecil Clarkson               (b. 1882 - d. 19..)
1934 - 1946                Donald Percy Wailling
1946 - 1954                John Augustus Cockburn Cruikshank  (b. 1909 - d. 1957)
1954 - 1956                Henry Anthony Camilio Howard       (b. 1913 - d. 1977)
Administrators
1956 - 1959                Geoffrey Pole Allesbrook           (b. 1918 - d. 2010)
1959 - Jan 1962            Gerald Jackson Bryan               (b. 1921)
1962 - Apr 1967            Martin Samuel Staveley             (b. 1921 - d. 1998)
Apr 1967 - 1971            John Sutherland Thomson            (b. 1920 - d. 2008)
1971                       Hywel George                       (b. 1924)
Mar 1971 - 1972            Derek George Cudmore               (b. 1923 - d. 1981)
Governors
1972 - 29 Jul 1974         Derek George Cudmore               (s.a.)
29 Jul 1974 - Oct 1978     Walter Wilkinson Wallace           (b. 1923 - d. 2005)
1978 - 1981                James Alfred Davidson              (b. 1922 - d. 2004)
1982 - 1986                David Robert Barwick               (b. 1927)
1986 - 1991                J. Mark A. Herdman                 (b. 1932)
14 Oct 1991 - 21 Jun 1995  Peter Alfred Penfold               (b. 1944)
21 Jun 1995 - 1998         David Mackilligin                  (b. 1939)
 3 Jul 1998 -  5 Oct 2002  Frank Savage                       (b. 1943)
 5 Oct 2002 - 14 Oct 2002  Elton Georges (acting)             (b. 1943)
14 Oct 2002 - 10 Apr 2006  Tom Macan                          (b. 1946)
10 Apr 2006 - 18 Apr 2006  Dancia Penn (f)(acting)            (b. 1951)
18 Apr 2006 -  5 Aug 2010  David Pearey                       (b. 1948)
 5 Aug 2010 - 20 Aug 2010  V. Inez Archibald (f) (acting)     (b. 1945)
20 Aug 2010 -              William Boyd McCleary              (b. 1949)

Chief ministers
Apr 1967 - Jun 1971        Hamilton Lavity Stoutt (1st time)  (b. 1929 - d. 1995)  VIP
Jun 1971 - Nov 1979        Willard Wheatley                   (b. 1915 - d. 1997)  UP
Nov 1979 - 15 Nov 1983     Hamilton Lavity Stoutt (2nd time)  (s.a.)               VIP
15 Nov 1983 -  1 Oct 1986  Cyril B. Romney                    (b. 1931 - d. 2007)  UP
 1 Oct 1986 - 14 May 1995  Hamilton Lavity Stoutt (3rd time)  (s.a.)               VIP
15 May 1995 - 17 Jun 2003  Ralph T. O'Neal                    (b. 1933)            VIP
17 Jun 2003 - 23 Aug 2007  Orlando D. Smith                   (b. 1944)            NDP
Premiers
23 Aug 2007 -  9 Nov 2011  Ralph T. O'Neal                    (s.a.)               VIP
 9 Nov 2011 -              Orlando D. Smith                   (s.a.)               NDP

Party abbreviations: NDP = National Democratic Party; VIP = Virgin Islands Party;
- Former parties: UP = United Party (1963-1986)