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: 3 Aug (1834) Emancipation Day Population: 5,097 (2009) note: an estimated 8,000 refugees left the island following the volcanic activity in July 1995; some have returned. GDP: $39 million (2006) Exports: $700,000 (2001) Imports: $17 million (2001) Ethnic groups: black, white (mainly of mixed Irish and African descent) Total Police Force: 80-90 plus 40 defense force (2003) Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K. Merchant marine: None (2008)  Religions: Christian (Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Seventh-Day Adventist, other Christian) 95.45%, Bahai 1.47%, Spiritist 0.15%, Hindu 0.10% (2000) International Organizations/Treaties: Caricom, CDB, Interpol (subbureau), OECS, UPU, WFTU 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. 22 Feb 1667 - 1668         French occupation. 1668 - 1816                Part of Leeward Islands colony (see Antigua).  7-20 Jul 1712             French invasion force 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.

Governors
1632 - 1649                Anthony Brisket                    (d. 1649)
1649 - 1662                Roger Osborne (acting to 1654)
1662 - 22 Feb 1667         Anthony Brisket II (1st time)
22 Feb 1667 - 1667         Joseph Antoine Lefebvre de         (b. 1662 -  d. 1688)
                             La Barre (French commander)
1667 - 1668                Anthony Brisket II (2nd time)  
                             (French governor)
Deputy governors
1668 - 1671                William Stapleton                  (d. 1686)
1672 - 1679                Edmond Stapleton
1675                       John Carroll
                             (acting for Edmond Stapleton)
1679 - 1680                Peter Cove                
1680 - 1685                James Cotter (Cottar)
1685 - 1687                Redmond Stapleton                  (d. 1687)
1687 - 1695                Nathaniel Blackistone
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
13 Dec 1728 - 1728         Adam Pancier
1728 - 1729                John Osbrone
1729 - 1734                Thomas Diggs
1734 - 1738                William Forbes
1738 - 1745                Robert Carpenter                   (d. 1745)
May 1745 - 17..            Benjamin Carpenter (1st time)
c.1750 - 1754              George Frye
1754? - 176.               Benjamin Carpenter (2nd time)
1764 - 1782                Michael White
22 Feb 1782 - Mar 1782     Jacques-Melchior, comte de         (b. 1719 - d. 1792)
                             Barras (French commander)
1782 - 1784                Louis Joseph de Goullon
                             (French governor)
Jan 1784 - 1785            Michael White
c.1790                     Alexander Gordon
af.1790 - bf.1823          Henry Charles Selwyn 
Presidents
c.1808 - 1827?             Joseph Herbert                     (d. 1836)
c.1827                     S.E. Steward
18.. - 1840                Henry Hamilton                     (d. 1840)
1840 - Aug 1841            William Shiell (1st time)(acting)  (b. 1758 - d. 1853)
Aug 1841 - Aug 1846        Edward Dacres Baynes (1st time)
Aug 1846 - 1847            William Shiell (2nd time)(acting)  (s.a.)
1847 - 1854                Edward Dacres Baynes (2nd time)
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                .... (acting)
 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)
18 May 1927 - 14 Aug 1927  A.C.K. Tibbits (acting for Peebles)
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 - Jun 1971     Dennis Raleigh Gibbs               (b. 1922 - d. 1985)
 1 Jul 1971 -  1 Nov 1971  Willoughby Harry Thompson          (b. 1919)
Governors
 2 Nov 1971 - 1974         Willoughby Harry Thompson          (s.a.)
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 - 11 Oct 1991     John Osborne (1st time)            (b. 1936)            PLM
11 Oct 1991 - 13 Nov 1996  Reuben T. Meade (1st time)         (b. 1952)            NPP 
13 Nov 1996 - 22 Aug 1997  Bertrand Osborne                   (b. 1935)            PPA
22 Aug 1997 -  5 Apr 2001  David Samuel Brandt                                   Non-party/NPP
 5 Apr 2001 -  2 Jun 2006  John Osborne (2nd time)            (s.a.)               NPLM 
 2 Jun 2006 - 10 Sep 2009  Lowell Lewis                       (b. 1952)            MDP
10 Sep 2009 -              Reuben T. Meade (2nd time)         (s.a.)               MCAP

Party abbreviations: MCAP = Movement for Change and Prosperity; MDP = Montserrat Democratic Party; MLP = Montserrat Labour Party; NPLM = New People's Liberation Movement;
- Former parties: NPP = National Progressive Party; PDP = Progressive Democratic Party (est.1970); PLM = People's Liberation Movement (centre-right, predecessor of PPA, 1973-1996);  PPA = People's Progressive Alliance (1996-2001, merged into NPLM)