Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines
 

1762 - 1877                                1877 - 1907                               1907 - 1 Jan 1940              1 Jan 1940 - 3 Jan 1958 Windward Islands                         3 Jan 1958 - 27 Oct 1979                    27 Oct 1979 - Mar 1985                     Mar 1985 - 22 Oct 1985                   Adopted 22 Oct 1985     Map of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Hear National Anthem "St. Vincent! Land So Beautiful" Text of National Anthem Adopted 1967 Constitution (27 Oct 1979) Capital: Kingstown  Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (XCD)  National Holiday: 27 Oct (1979) Independence Day Population: 103,869 (2011) GDP: $1.22 billion (2011) Exports: $64.4 million (2011) Imports: $348 million (2011) Ethnic groups: black 65.5%, mulatto 23.5%, East Indian 5.5%, white 3.5%, black-Amerindian 2% (1999) Total Police and Paramilitary Forces: 634 (1992) Merchant marine: 444 ships (2010) Religions: Protestant 47%, unaffiliated Christian 20.3%, independent Christian 11.7%, Roman Catholic 8.8%, Hindu 3.4%, Spiritist 1.8%, Muslim 1.5%, nonreligious 2.3%, other 3.2% (2000) International Organizations/Treaties: ACP, ACS, AOSIS, APM, C, Caricom, CDB, CTBT, ENMOD, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, ICSID, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IRENA (signatory), ISA, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, KP, MIGA, NAM, NPT, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCLOS, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFCC, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Chronology 22 Jan 1498                Discovered and claimed for Spain by Christopher                              Columbus, named Isla de San Vicente. 1627 - 1636                Claimed by England, unsettled. 1672                       Claimed by England, unsettled. 1673 - 1762                Neutral territory (as agreed by England                              and France). c.1700                     French settlers arrive (Saint-Vincent). Feb 1762                   British occupation. 10 Feb 1763                British colony (subordinated to Grenada). 1776                       British crown colony. 19 Jun 1779 -  3 Sep 1783  French occupation.  1 Apr 1833 -  1 Jan 1960  Part of the Windward Islands colony (see Grenada).  3 Jan 1958 - 31 May 1962  Part of the Federation of the West Indies                               (see Trinidad and Tobago). 27 Oct 1969                Associated state 27 Oct 1979                Independence (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). 25 Nov 2009                Republic constitution defeated in vote 55%-43%.

French commandants
1745 - 1761                Prévost
1761 - 176.                Dupont
Governors
1762                       Robert Monckton                    (b. 1726 - d. 1782)
1762 - 1763                Robert Melville                    (b. 1723 - d. 1809)
1763 - 1776                the governors of South Caribbean
                           Islands (see under Grenada)
Lieutenant governors
1763 - 1764                George Maddison                    (d. 1783)
1764 - 1766                Joseph Higginson
1766                       Lauchlin McLean
1766 - 1772                Ulysses FitzMaurice                (d. 1774)
1772 - 1776                Valentine Morris                   (b. 1727 - d. 1789)
Governors
11 Mar 1776 - 17 Jun 1779  Valentine Morris                   (s.a.)
1779                       Marie-Charles, marquis du Chilleau (b. 1734 - d. 1794)
1779 - 1781                Dumontet
1781 - Mar 1782            Duplessis 
Mar 1782 - 1783            de Feydeau (interim)
1783 - 1787                Edmund Lincoln
1787                       R. Wynne (acting)
 2 Apr 1787 -  4 Mar 1798  James Seton
 5 Mar 1798 -  4 Mar 1799  William Bentinck                   (b. 1764 - d. 1813)
 5 Mar 1799 -  4 Jun 1802  Drewry Ottley (1st time)(acting)
1802 - 1805                Henry William Bentinck             (b. 1765 - d. 1820)
1805                       Drewry Ottley (2nd time)(acting)
21 Sep 1805 - 1806         Robert Paul (1st time)(acting)
1806 - 1807                Sir George Beckwith                (b. 1753 - d. 1823)
1807 - 1808                Robert Paul (2nd time)(acting)
14 Nov 1808 - 1829         Charles Brisbane (1st time)        (b. 1769 - d. 1829)
20 Jul 1810 - 1813         Robert Paul (3rd time)(acting)
 7 Aug 1813 - 1816         Charles Brisbane (2nd time)        (s.a.)
15 Jul 1816 - 1818         Robert Paul (4th time)(acting)        
12 Dec 1818 - 1829         Charles Brisbane (3rd time)        (s.a.)
16 Nov 1829 - 1831         William John Struth (acting) 
10 Jan 1831 - 1833         George Fitzgerald Hill             (b. 1763 - d. 1839)
13 Apr 1833 - 1833         James Grant (acting)
Lieutenant governors
 4 May 1833 - 1842         Sir George Tyler                   (b. 1795 - d. 1862)
 3 Jan 1842 - 1844         Sir Richard Doherty                (d. 1862)
26 Apr 1844 - 1845         William John Struth (acting)
15 Oct 1845 - 1853         John Campbell                      (b. 1807 - d. 1853)
10 Jan 1853 - 1854         Richard Graves MacDonell           (b. 1814 - d. 1881)
25 Oct 1854 - 1854         William Laborde (1st time)(acting)
29 Dec 1854 - 1857         Edward John Eyre (1st time)        (b. 1815 - d. 1901)
24 Mar 1857 -  7 May 1857  William Laborde (2nd time)(acting)
 7 May 1857 - 26 Dec 1857  James Walker (acting)
26 Dec 1857 - 12 Jan 1858  William Laborde (3rd time)(acting)
12 Jan 1858 - 24 Jan 1858  Alexander McLeod (1st time)(acting)
24 Jan 1858 - 28 Apr 1859  Edward John Eyre (2nd time)        (s.a.)
28 Apr 1859 -  9 May 1859  Alexander McLeod (2nd time)(acting)
 9 May 1859 -  9 May 1860  William Charles Sargeaunt (acting) (d. 1888)  
 9 May 1860 - 20 May 1861  Charles Roger Nesbit (acting)
20 May 1861 - 1864         Anthony Musgrave (1st time)        (b. 1828 - d. 1888)
                             (acting to 10 May 1862)
 9 Feb 1864 - 1864         John James Hughes (1st time)(acting)
 9 Mar 1864 - 1864         Anthony Musgrave (2nd time)        (s.a.)
25 Jun 1864 - 1864         John James Hughes (2nd time)(acting)
 6 Sep 1864 - 1871         George Berkeley                    (b. 1819 - d. 1905)
 3 Jun 1871 - 18 Sep 1874  William Hepburn Rennie             (b. 1829 - d. 1874)
 3 Feb 1875 - 1880         George Dundas                      (b. 1819 - d. 1880)
1880 - 1886                Augustus Frederick Gore            (b. 1826 - d. 1887)
Administrators
1886 - 1889                Robert Baxter Llewelyn             (b. 1845 - d. 1919)
1889 - 1893                Irwin Charles Maling               (b. 1841 - d. 1918)
1893 - 1895                John Hartley Sandwith              (b. 1846 - d. 1895)
1895 - 1901                Harry Langhorne Thompson           (b. 1857 - d. 1902)
May 1901 - 1909            Edward John Cameron                (b. 1858 - d. 1947)
1909 - 1915                Charles Gideon Murray              (b. 1877 - d. 1951)
1915                       Anthony De Freitas (acting)        (b. 1869 - d. 1940)
1915 - 1923                Reginald Popham Lobb               (b. 1874 - d. 1950)
1923 - 1929                Robert Walter                      (b. 1873? - d. 1959)
1929 - 1933                Herbert Walter Peebles             (b. 1877 - d. 1955)
1933 - 1936                Arthur Francis Grimble             (b. 1888 - d. 1956)
Jun 1936 - 1938            Arthur Alban Wright                (b. 1887 - d. 1967)
1938 - 1941                William Bain Gray                  (b. 1886 - d. 1949)
1941 - 1944                Alexander Elder Beattie            (b. 1888 - d. 1951)
1944 - 1948                Ronald Herbert Garvey              (b. 1903 - d. 1991)
1948 - 1955                Walter Fleming Coutts              (b. 1912 - d. 1988)
1955 - 1961                Alexander Falconer Giles           (b. 1915 - d. 1989)
1961 - 1966                Samuel Horatio Graham              (b. 1912 - d. 1999)
                             (from 23 Oct 1964, Sir Samuel Horatio Graham)
1966 - Jan 1967            John Lionel Chapman                (b. 1910 - d. ....)
Jan 1967 - 27 Oct 1969     Hywel George                       (b. 1924)
Governors
27 Oct 1969 - Oct 1970     Hywel George                       (s.a.)
20 Oct 1970 - 1977         Rupert Godfrey John                (b. 1916 - d. 1996)
                             (from 7 Jul 1971, Sir Rupert Godfrey John) 
 1 Jan 1977 - 27 Oct 1979  Sir Sydney Douglas Gun-Munro       (b. 1916 - d. 2007)
Queen¹ 
27 Oct 1979 -              the Queen of the United Kingdom
Governors-general (representing the British monarch as head of state)
27 Oct 1979 - 28 Feb 1985  Sir Sydney Douglas Gun-Munro       (s.a.)
                             (from 29 Oct 1979, Sir Sydney Douglas Gun-Munro) 
28 Feb 1985 - 29 Feb 1988  Joseph Lambert Eustace             (b. 1908 - d. 1996)
                             (from 30 Jul 1985, Sir Joseph Lambert Eustace) 
29 Feb 1988 - 20 Sep 1989  Henry Harvey Williams (acting)     (b. 1917 - d. 2004)
20 Sep 1989 -  1 Jun 1996  David Emmanuel Jack                (b. 1918 - d. 1998)
                             (from 22 Jan 1991, Sir David Emmanuel Jack)
 1 Jun 1996 -  3 Jun 2002  Charles James Antrobus             (b. 1933 - d. 2002)
                             (from 16 Oct 1996, Sir Charles James Antrobus)
 3 Jun 2002 -  2 Sep 2002  Monica Jessie Dacon (f) (acting)   (b. 1934)
 2 Sep 2002 -              Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne     (b. 1936)
                             (from 30 Oct 2002, Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne)

Chief ministers
1956 - 19 May 1967         Ebenezer Theodore Joshua           (b. 1908 - d. 1991)  PPP
19 May 1967 - 27 Oct 1969  Robert Milton Cato                 (b. 1915 - d. 1997)  ULP
Premiers
27 Oct 1969 - Apr 1972     Robert Milton Cato (1st time)      (s.a.)               ULP
Apr 1972 -  8 Dec 1974     James Fitz-Allen Mitchell          (b. 1931)            NDP
                             (1st time) 
 8 Dec 1974 - 27 Oct 1979  Robert Milton Cato (2nd time)      (s.a.)               ULP
Prime ministers
27 Oct 1979 - 30 Jul 1984  Robert Milton Cato                 (s.a.)               ULP
30 Jul 1984 - 27 Oct 2000  James Fitz-Allen Mitchell          (s.a.)               NDP
                             (from Jan 1995, Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell)
                             (2nd time)
27 Oct 2000 - 29 Mar 2001  Arnhim Ulric Eustace               (b. 1944)            NDP
29 Mar 2001 -              Ralph Everard Gonsalves            (b. 1946)            ULP

  ¹Full style:
(a) 27 Oct 1979 - 1979: "By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of The Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith";
(b) from 1979: "By the Grace of God, Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth."

Territorial Dispute: Joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea.

Party abbreviations: NDP = New Democratic Party (conservative); ULP = Unity Labour Party (social-democratic);
- Former parties: PPP = People's Political Party