Montserrat
 

to 1871                            1871 - 10 Apr 1909                      10 Apr 1909 - 25 Jan 1999                           Adopted 25 Jan 1999   Map of Montserrat Hear National Anthem  "God Save the Queen" Hear Local Anthem "National Song" Adopted 1992 Constitution Order (19 Dec 1989) Capital: Brades (interim) (Plymouth from 1712, abandoned in 1997; Stapletown 1668-1712) Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (XCD) National Holiday: 2nd Sat in  Jun (1926) Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II ---------------------------------- Local Holiday: 7 Aug (1834) Emancipation Day Population: 9,538 (2007) note: an estimated 8,000 refugees left the island following the volcanic activity in July 1995; some have returned. GDP: $29 million (2002) Exports: $700,000 (2001) Imports: $17 million (2001) Ethnic groups: black, white Total Police Force: 80-90 plus 40 defense force (2003) Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K. Merchant marine: None (2006)  Religions: Christian 95.45%, Bahai 1.47%, Spiritist 0.15%, Hindu 0.10% (2000) International Organizations/Treaties: Caricom, CDB, Interpol (subbureau), OECS, UPU Montserrat Chronology 11 Nov 1493                Discovered and claimed by Spain by Columbus,                              named Isla de Santa María de Montserrate. 1632                       English colony; part of Antigua. Feb 1667 - 31 Jul 1667     French occupation. 1667 - 1816                Part of Leeward Islands colony (see Antigua).  7-20 Jul 1712             French invasion repulsed. 22 Feb 1782 - Jan 1784     French occupation. 1816 - 1832                Part of Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat colony                               (see Antigua). 1833 -  1 Jan 1960         Part of Leeward Islands (see under Antigua).  1 Jul 1956                Separate colony.  3 Jan 1958 - 31 May 1962  Part of the Federation of the West Indies                              (see under Trinidad and Tobago). 18 Jul 1995                Eruptions by Soufriere Hills volcano begin                              that eventually devastate 2/3 of the island                              making those areas uninhabitable.

Deputy governors
1632 - 1649                Anthony Brisket                    (d. 1649)
1649 - 1667                Roger Osborne (acting to 1654)
Feb 1667 - 31 Jul 1667     Praille (French governor)
1667 - 1668                Anthony Brisket II
1668 - 1672                Sir William Stapleton
1672 - 1678                Edmond Stapleton
1678 - 1680                Vacant
1680 - 1682                James Cottar
1682 - 1685                Vacant
1685 - 1687                Redmond Stapleton
1687 - 1695                Nathaniel Blakistone
1695 - 1701                Thomas Delavall
1701 - 1710                Anthony Hodges
1710 - 1713                John Pearney
1713 - 1714                John Marshall
1714 - 1715                George Hay
1715 - 1722                Thomas Talmash
1722 - 1724                Charles Dilke
1724 - 1728                Paul George
1728 - 1729                John Osbrone
1729 - 1734                Thomas Diggs
1734 - 1738                William Forbes
1738 - 1782                Vacant
22 Feb 1782 - 1784?        Louis Joseph de Goullon -Commandant
Jan 1784 - ....            Michael White 
Presidents
.... - 1854                ....
1854 - 1855                Hercules George Robert Robinson    (b. 1824 - d. 1897)
1855 - 1862                Edward Everard Rushworth
1862 - 1866                William Cleaver Francis Robinson   (b. 1834 - d. 1897)
1867 - 1869                William Rowland Pyne
1869 - 1870                Robert French Sheriff
1870 - 1872                ....
 6 Feb 1872 - 1883         Neale Porter
1883 - 1888                James Meade
Commissioners
1888 - 1889                John Kemys Spencer-Churchill       (b. 1835 - d. 1913)
1889 - 1900                Edward Baynes
1900 - 1906                Frederick Henry Watkins            (b. 1859 - d. 1928)
1906 - 1918                Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston   (b. 1870 - d. 1960)
1918 - 1922                Claude Forlong Condell
1922 - 1929                Herbert Walter Peebles             (b. 1877 - d. 1955)
Jun 1929 - Sep 1929        Thomas Edwin Percival Baynes       (b. 1885 - d. 1955)
                             (1st time)(acting)
1929 - 1931                Hugh Houston Hutchings             (b. 1869 - d. 1937)
1932 - 1946                Thomas Edwin Percival Baynes       (s.a.)
                             (2nd time)
1946 - 1949                Hugh Burrowes                      (b. 1909)
1949 - 1956                Charles Worth Ross                 (b. 1910)
Administrators
1956 - 1960                Arthur Francis Dawkins             (b. 1916)
Mar 1960 - 1964            Donald Alonzo Wiles                (b. 1912)
30 Sep 1964 - 1971         Dennis Raleigh Gibbs               (b. 1922 - d. 1985)
Governors
 2 Jul 1971 - 1974         Willoughby Harry Thompson          (b. 1919)
1974 - 1976                Norman Derek Matthews              (b. 1922 - d. 1976)
1977 - 1980                Gwilym Wyn Jones                   (b. 1926 - d. 1993)
1980 - 18 Dec 1984         David Kenneth Hay Dale             (b. 1927 - d. 2001)
1985 - 1987                Arthur Christopher Watson          (b. 1927)
1987 - 1990                Christopher J. Turner              (b. 1933)
23 May 1990 - 1993         David George Pendleton Taylor      (b. 1933 - d. 2007)
16 Jul 1993 - Sep 1997     Frank Savage                       (b. 1943)
17 Sep 1997 - 28 Apr 2001  Tony Abbott                        (b. 1941)
28 Apr 2001 - 11 May 2001  Howard Archibald Fergus (1st time) (b. 1937)
                             (acting)
11 May 2001 -  2 Apr 2004  Anthony "Tony" J. Longrigg         (b. 1944)
 2 Apr 2004 - 10 May 2004  Sir Howard Archibald Fergus        (s.a.)
                             (2nd time)(acting)
10 May 2004 -  6 Jul 2007  Deborah Elizabeth Vavasseur Barnes (b. 1956)
                             Jones(f)        
 6 Jul 2007 - 13 Jul 2007  John Skerritt (acting)
13 Jul 2007 - 27 Jul 2007  Sir Howard Archibald Fergus        (s.a.)
                             (3rd time)(acting)
27 Jul 2007 -              Peter Andrew Waterworth            (b. 1957)

Chief ministers
Jan 1960 - Dec 1970        William Henry Bramble              (b. 1901 - d. 1988)  MLP
Dec 1970 - Nov 1978        Percival Austin Bramble            (b. 1931)            PDP
Nov 1978 - 10 Oct 1991     John Osborne (1st time)            (b. 1936)            PLM
10 Oct 1991 - 13 Nov 1996  Reuben Meade                       (b. 1952)            NPP 
13 Nov 1996 - 22 Aug 1997  Bertrand Osborne                   (b. 1935)            PPA
22 Aug 1997 -  5 Apr 2001  David Brandt                                            NPP
 5 Apr 2001 -  2 Jun 2006  John Osborne (2nd time)            (s.a.)               NPLM 
 2 Jun 2006 -              Lowell Lewis                       (b. 1952)            MDP

Party abbreviations: MCP = Movement for Change and Prosperity; MDP = Montserrat Democratic Party; MLP = Montserrat Labour Party; NPP = National Progressive Party; NPLM = New People's Liberation Movement; PDP = Progressive Democratic Party; 
- Former parties: PLM = Popular Liberal Movement (centre-right, predecessor of PPA); 
PPA = People's Progressive Alliance (2001 merges into NPLM);