Cayman Islands
 

to 4 Jul 1959

Adopted 4 Jul 1959

Government Ensign Adopted 25 Jan 1999

Map of the Cayman Islands Hear National Anthem "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" 1837-1901, 1952-2022) Hear Local Anthem "Beloved Isle Cayman" Adopted 21 Jul 1993 (from 1930) Constitution Order (6 Nov 2009, 18 Nov 2020) -------------------------------- 1972 Constitution (22 Aug 1972 - 6 Nov 2009) Capital: George Town (Bodden Town c.1773-c.1879) Currency: Caymanian Dollar (KYD); 1900-1959 Jamaican Pound (JMP) National Holiday:  2nd Sat. in Jun (1948) Birthday of King Charles III --------------------------------------- Local Holiday: 1st Monday in July (1959) Constitution Day Population: 66,653 (2024) GDP: $5.7 billion (2023)  Exports: $5 billion (2022) Imports: $3.3 billion (2022)  Ethnic groups: Cayman Islander 35.4%, Jamaican 24.8%, Filipino 5.5%, British 5.3%, American 5.2%, Honduran 4.2%, Canadian 3.3%, Indian 2.1%, Cuban 1.6%, Nicaraguan 1%, other 11.1%, unspecified 0.5% (2021) Total Active Police Force: 393 (2018) Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K. Merchant marine: 130 ships (2023) Religions: Protestant 60.8% (includes Church of God 19.5%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.7%, non-denominational 8.3%, Baptist 6.9%, Pentecostal 6.8%, Presbyterian/United Church 5.7%, Anglican 2.8%, Wesleyan Holiness 1.5%, Methodist 0.5%), Roman Catholic 13.6%, Hindu 1.7%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 4.8%, none 16.7%, unspecified 1.4% (2021) International Organizations/Treaties: Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UNESCO (associate), UNFCC, UNFCC-KP, UPU  Cayman Islands Chronology 10 May 1503                Cayman Brac and Little Cayman first sighted and                              claimed for Spain by Columbus, the islands are                              named Islas Las Tortugas (no settlement). 22 Apr 1586                Sir Francis Drake's (b. c.1540 - d. 1596) fleet                              stops for two days at Grand Cayman (Caiman). 1661 - 1671                First recorded settlements located on Little Cayman                              and Cayman Brac (withdrawn after Spanish raids).  8 Dec 1662                Islands considered as an integral part of Jamaica                              by the instructions appointing the first governor                              of Jamaica. 18 Jul 1670                Recognized as English possessions with Jamaica in                              Treaty of Madrid by Spain (called Caymanas). 1700                       Permanent settlement has begun by this time.  7 Sep 1734                First royal land grant deed (registered in Jamaica                              28 Feb 1735). 1734 - 1741                Permanent settlements established.  5 May 1835                Emancipation, slaves were made "absolutely and                              unconditionally free" immediately. 22 Jun 1863                Formally made a dependency of Jamaica by "The Act                              for the Government of the Cayman Islands"                              (ratified 24 Mar 1865).  4 Jul 1959                Separate British crown colony (Cayman Islands).  4 Jul 1959 - 31 May 1962  Territory within the Federation of the West Indies.  6 Nov 2009                Autonomy, self-government.

Magistrate
c.1734 - 1750?             William Cartwright
Chief magistrates of Custodes (Custos rotulorum)(locally called Governors to 1855)
1750 - 1776                William Cartwright
1776 - 23 Apr 1789         William Bodden I                   (b. 1722 - d. 1789)
1789 - 1823                William Bodden II                  (b. 17.. - d. 1823)
24 Nov 1823 - 1829         James Coe "the Elder"              (b. 1769 - d. 1839)
1829 - 1842                John Drayton
1842 - 1855                James Coe "the Younger"            (b. 1799 - d. 1875)
1855 - 17 Sep 1879         William Eden                       (b. 1807 - d. 1879)
1879 - 1888                William Bodden Webster             (b. 1832 - d. 1916)
                             (senior justice of the peace)
1888 - 1898                Edmund Parsons                     (b. 1850 - d. 1915)
Commissioners of the Cayman Islands
22 Aug 1898 - 25 Oct 1906  Frederick Shedden Sanguinetti      (b. 1847 - d. 1906)
1903 - 1904                H.E. Henderson Davis
                             (acting for Sanguinetti)
Oct 1906 - 16 Mar 1907     Charles Henry Yorke Slader (acting)(b. 1867 - d. 1934)
16 Mar 1907 -  8 Jun 1912  George Stephenson Shirt Hirst      (b. 1871 - d. 1912)
Jun 1912 - Jan 1913        Hugh Houston Hutchings (1st time)  (b. 1869 - d. 1937)
                             (acting)
Jan 1913 - 1917            Aubrey Charles Robinson            (b. 1875 - d. 1946)
1917 - 1919                Cecil Everard Mellish (acting)     (b. 1872 - d. 1949)
1919 - 1929                Hugh Houston Hutchings (2nd time)  (s.a.)
1929 - 1931                Geoffrey Hammond Frith             (b. 1891 - d. 1945)
1931 - 1934                Ernest Arthur Weston               (b. 1880 - d. 1940)
1934 - Jan 1940            Allan Wolsey Cardinall             (b. 1887 - d. 1956)
Jan 1940 - Nov 1941        Albert Colonridge Panton, Sr.      (b. 1896 - d. 1956)
                             (acting)
1941 - 1946                John Penry Jones                   (b. 1887 - d. 1974)
26 May 1946 - Jan 1952     Ivor Otterbein Smith               (b. 1907 - d. 2003)
17 Jun 1952 - 1956         Andrew Morris Gerrard              (b. 1916 - d. 1994)
1956 - 1960                Alan Hilliard Donald               (b. 1917 - d. 1996)
1960 - 1962                Jack Rose                          (b. 1917 - d. 2009)
Administrators
1962 - 1964                Jack Rose                          (s.a.)
27 Jan 1964 - 1968         John Alfred Cumber                 (b. 1920 - d. 1991)
29 Oct 1968 -  3 Nov 1971  Athelstan Charles Ethelwulf Long   (b. 1919 - d. 2019)
Governors
 3 Nov 1971 - 12 Nov 1971  Athelstan Charles Ethelwulf Long   (s.a.)
12 Nov 1971 - 30 Nov 1971  Desmond Vere Watler (acting)       (b. 1914 - d. 1994)
30 Nov 1971 - Jul 1974     Kenneth Roy Crook                  (b. 1920 - d. 2012)
28 Aug 1974 - 1981         Thomas "Tom" Russell               (b. 1920 - d. 2016)
14 Jan 1982 - 10 Jun 1987  George Peter Lloyd                 (b. 1926 - d. 2007)
10 Jun 1987 - 14 Sep 1992  Alan James Scott                   (b. 1934)
14 Sep 1992 - 16 Oct 1995  Michael Edward John Gore           (b. 1935 - d. 2022)
16 Oct 1995 -  5 May 1999  John Wynne Owen                    (b. 1939)
 5 May 1999 -  9 May 2002  Peter John Smith                   (b. 1942)
 9 May 2002 - 29 May 2002  James Ryan (acting)                (b. 1944)
29 May 2002 - 28 Oct 2005  Bruce Harry Dinwiddy               (b. 1946 - d. 2021)
28 Oct 2005 - 23 Nov 2005  George A. McCarthy (acting)
23 Nov 2005 -  2 Dec 2009  Stuart Duncan Macdonald Jack       (b. 1949 - d. 2022)
 2 Dec 2009 - 15 Jan 2010  Donovan Ebanks (acting)            (b. 1947 - d. 2024)
15 Jan 2010 -  7 Aug 2013  Duncan Taylor                      (b. 1958)
 7 Aug 2013 -  6 Sep 2013  Franz Ireland Manderson (1st time)
                             (acting)
 6 Sep 2013 -  5 Mar 2018  Helen Marjorie Kilpatrick (f)      (b. 1958)
 5 Mar 2018 - 26 Mar 2018  Franz Ireland Manderson (2nd time)
                             (acting)
26 Mar 2018 - 20 Sep 2018  Anwar Choudhury                    (b. 1959)
                             (suspended from 13 Jun 2018)
13 Jun 2018 - 29 Oct 2018  Franz Ireland Manderson (3rd time)
                             (acting [for Choudhury to 20 Sep 2018])
29 Oct 2018 - 29 Mar 2023  Martyn Keith Roper                 (b. 1965)
29 Mar 2023 - 21 Apr 2023  Franz Ireland Manderson (4th time)
                             (acting)
21 Apr 2023 -              Jane Caroline Owen (f)             (b. 1963)
 

Leaders of Government Business (official post from 30 Jun 2003)
25 Nov 1992 - Apr 1995     Thomas Carroll Jefferson           (b. 1941 - d. 2006)  Non-party
Apr 1995 - 15 Nov 2000     Truman Murray Bodden               (b. 1945)            Non-party
15 Nov 2000 -  8 Nov 2001  Darwin Kurt Tibbetts (1st time)    (b. 1954)            Non-party
 8 Nov 2001 - 18 May 2005  William McKeeva Bush (1st time)    (b. 1955)            UDP
18 May 2005 - 27 May 2009  Darwin Kurt Tibbetts (2nd time)    (s.a.)               PPM
27 May 2009 -  6 Nov 2009  William McKeeva Bush (2nd time)    (s.a.)               UDP
Premiers
 6 Nov 2009 - 19 Dec 2012  William McKeeva Bush               (s.a.)               UDP
19 Dec 2012 - 29 May 2013  Juliana O'Connor-Connolly (f)      (b. 1961)            UDP
                             (1st time)
29 May 2013 - 21 Apr 2021  Alden McNee McLaughlin, Jr.        (b. 1961)            PPM
21 Apr 2021 - 15 Nov 2023  Gurney Wayne Panton                (b. 1964)            Non-party
15 Nov 2023 -  6 May 2025  Juliana O'Connor-Connolly (f)      (s.a.)           UPM;3-2025 PPM
                             (2nd time)
 6 May 2025 -              André Martin Ebanks                (b. 1976?)           TCCP

Party abbreviations: CINP = Cayman Islands National Party (centrist, populist, est.2025); PPM = People's Progressive Movement (center-left, economic liberal, est.Sep 2002); TCCP = The Caymanian Community Party (center-left, progressive, social democracy, est.Jan 2025);
- Former parties: UDP = United Democratic Party (centrist, fiscal conservative, classic liberal, later named Cayman Democratic Party, Nov 2001-Feb 2021); UPM = United People's Movement (center-right, conservative, Nov 2023-Apr 2025)