Turks and Caicos Islands
 

to 1870                              1870 - 7 Nov 1968                           7 Nov 1968 - 1999                               Adopted 1999     Map of Turks and Caicos Islands Hear National Anthem  "God Save the Queen"  Hear Local Anthem "This Land of Ours" Constitution (9 Aug 2006; suspended 14 Aug 2009) ---------------------------------- Former Constitution   (30 Oct 1976; suspended 1986 - 5 Mar 1988) Capital: Cockburn Town (on Grand Turk)  Currency: U.S. Dollar (USD) National Holiday:  3 Aug (1834) Emancipation Day Population: 22,352 (2008) GDP: $299 million (2003) Exports: $169.2 million (2000) Imports: $175.6 million (2000) Ethnic groups: black 90%, mixed, European, or North American 10%  Total Police Force: 90 (1987) Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K. Merchant marine: 1 ship (2008)  Religions: Baptist 40%, Methodist 16%, Anglican 18%, Church of God 12%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2%, other 12% (1990)  International Organizations/Treaties: ACS (associate), Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), UPU Turks and Caicos Islands Chronology 12 Oct 1492                Discovered by Columbus and claimed for Spain. 1678                       Turk Islands settled by English salt collectors                              from Bermuda. 1706 - 1710                Spanish occupation. 1753 - 1754                French occupation. 1778                       French occupation. 1783 -  3 Sep 1783         French occupation. 1783                       Caicos Islands settled by British loyalists. 1799                       Both island groups annexed by Britain as                               part of the Bahamas.  1848                       Separate colony. 1873                       Part of Jamaica.  4 Jul 1959                Separate colony (Turks and Caicos).  4 Jul 1959 - 31 May 1962  Part of the Federation of the West Indies                              (see Trinidad and Tobago).  6 Aug 1962                Crown colony. 1979                       Independence agreed upon in principle for 1982, a                              change in government causes a policy reversal.

Commissioners
1766 - 1799                ....
Council Presidents
1848 - 1854                Frederick Henry Alexander Forth
1854 - 1862                William Robert Inglis              (b. 1823 - d. 1888)
1862 - 1869                Alexander Wilson Moir              (b. 1825 - d. 1897)
1869 - 1872                Alexander Augustus Melfort
                             Campbell
1872 - 1874                Daniel Thomas Smith
Commissioners
1874 - 1878                Daniel Thomas Smith
1878 - 1879                Edward Noel Walker
 3 Jan 1879 - 1883         Robert Baxter Llewelyn             (b. 1845 - d. 1919)
1883 - 1885                Frederick Shedden Sanguinetti      (b. 1847 - d. 1906)
1885 - 1888                Henry Moore Jackson
1888 - 1891                Alexis Wynns Harriott
1891 - 1893                Henry Huggins
Mar 1893 - 1899            Edward John Cameron                (b. 1858 - d. 1947)
1899 - 1901                Geoffrey Peter St. Aubyn           (b. 1858 - d. 1901)
1901 - 1905                William Douglas Young              (b. 1859 - d. 1943)
1905 - 1914                Frederick Henry Watkins            (b. 1859 - d. 1928)
1914 - 1923                George Whitfield Smith
Jun 1923 - 1932            Harold Ernest Phillips             (b. 1877 - d. 1941)
1933 - 1934                Hugh Houston Hutchings             (b. 1869 - d. 1937)
1934 - 1936                Frank Cecil Clarkson
1937 - 1940                Hugh Charles Norwood Hill          (b. 1890 - d. 19..)
1940 - 1946                Edwin Porter Arrowsmith            (b. 1909 - d. 1992)
1947 - 1952                Cyril Eric Wool-Lewis              (b. 1906)
1952 - 1955                Peter Bleackley                    (b. 1915)
1955 - 1958                Ernest Gordon Lewis                (b. 1918 - d. 2006)
1958 -  4 Jul 1959         Geoffrey Colin Guy                 (b. 1921 - d. 2006)
Administrators
 4 Jul 1959 - 1965         Geoffrey Colin Guy                 (s.a.)
1965                       Robert Everard Wainwright          (b. 1913 - d. 1990)
                             (1st time)
1965 - 1967                John Anthony Golding               (b. 1920)
1967 - 1971                Robert Everard Wainwright          (s.a.)
                             (2nd time)
1971 - Apr 1973            Alexander Graham Mitchell          (b. 1923)
Governors
Apr 1973 - May 1975        Alexander Graham Mitchell          (s.a.)
May 1975 - Jul 1978        Arthur Christopher Watson          (b. 1927 - d. 2001)
Aug 1978 - Sep 1982        John Clifford Strong               (b. 1922)
Oct 1982 - Jan 1987        Christopher J. Turner              (b. 1933)
Jan 1987 - Jun 1993        Michael J. Bradley                 (b. 1933)
Jun 1993 - Sep 1996        Martin Bourke                      (b. 1947)
Oct 1996 - Jan 2000        John Kelly                         (b. 1941)
27 Jan 2000 - 26 Nov 2002  Mervyn Jones                       (b. 1942)
26 Nov 2002 - 16 Dec 2002  Cynthia Astwood (f) (acting)       (b. 1946)
16 Dec 2002 - 21 Jun 2005  Jim Poston                         (b. 1945 - d. 2007)
21 Jun 2005 - 11 Jul 2005  Mahala Wynns (f) (1st time)(acting)(b. 1948)
11 Jul 2005 - 16 Jul 2008  Richard Tauwhare                   (b. 1959)
16 Jul 2008 -  5 Aug 2008  Mahala Wynns (f) (2nd time)(acting)(s.a.)
 5 Aug 2008 -              Gordon Geoffrey Wetherell          (b. 1948)

Chief ministers
Aug 1976 -  9 May 1980     James Alexander George Smith       (b. 1945 - d. 1980)  PDM
                             McCartney
19 Jun 1980 - Nov 1980     Oswald O'Neil Skippings (1st time) (b. 1953)            PDM
Nov 1980 - 28 Mar 1985     Norman Benjamin Saunders           (b. 1943)            PNP
28 Mar 1985 - 24 Jul 1986  Nathaniel J.S. Francis             (b. 1912 - d. 2004)  PNP
Jul 1986 - May 1987        Advisory Council (interim)
                           - Ariel Misick                     (b. 1951)            NDA
                           - Emmanuel Misick                                       NDA
                           - Clement Howell                   (b. 1935 - d. 1987)  PDM
                           - Carlos Simons                    (b. 1954)            NDA
May 1987 - Mar 1988        Advisory Council (interim)
                           - Daniel Malcolm                                        PNP
                           - Tom Lightbourne                                       PNP
                           - Herbie Ingham                                         NDA
 3 Mar 1988 - Apr 1991     Oswald O'Neil Skippings (2nd time) (s.a.)               PDM 
Apr 1991 -  3 Feb 1995     Charles Washington Misick          (b. 1950)            PNP
 3 Feb 1995 - 15 Aug 2003  Derek H. Taylor                    (b. 1951)            PDM
15 Aug 2003 -  9 Aug 2006  Michael Eugene Misick              (b. 1966)            PNP
Premiers
 9 Aug 2006 - 23 Mar 2009  Michael Eugene Misick              (s.a.)               PNP
23 Mar 2009 - 14 Aug 2009  Oliver Galmo Williams              (b. 1966)            PNP
18 Aug 2009 -              Advisory Council (interim)
                           - Joseph P. Connolly
                           - Edith Cox (f)                                         PNP
                           - Theophilus "Theo" Durham
                           - Carlton Mills                                         PNP
                           - Eugene Otuonye
                           - Doreen Quelch-Missick (f)                             PNP
                           - John T. Smith

Party abbreviations: PDM = People's Democratic Movement (center-left, pro-independence); PNP = Progressive National Party (conservative, est.1976);
- Former parties: NDA = National Democratic Alliance (split from PNP)