Legislative Council (British Guiana)
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The Legislative Council was the legislature of British Guiana between 1928 and 1953 and again from 1954 until 1961.
History
[edit]The Legislative Council was created by constitutional reforms in 1928, which abolished the 22-member Combined Court and replaced it with the 30-member Council. The new Council included an extra eight appointees,[1] and consisted of the Governor, two ex-officio members, eight official members, five unofficial members and 14 members elected in single-member constituencies.[2] The new council met for the first time on 28 November 1928.[2] The first elections were held in 1930 and 1935.
Due to the outbreak of World War II, elections did not happen again until 1947, with the Council elected in 1935 becoming known as the "Long Parliament". Constitutional amendments in 1943 saw the number of appointed members reduced from 16 to 11, giving the elected members a majority. The 1947 elections were held under this system.
As a result of the Waddington Commission, further constitutional reforms were enacted in 1952; universal suffrage was introduced and the Legislative Council was to be replaced by a House of Assembly. The term of the final Legislative Council was extended in order to allow preparations for elections under the new system on 27 April 1953. The Council was dissolved on 8 April 1953.[2]
However, the constitution was suspended on 9 October 1953 and the House of Assembly was prorogued, before being dissolved on 21 December. A wholly appointed Interim Legislative Council was established and met for the first time on 5 January 1954. The Interim Legislative Council had 28 members, including the Speaker, three ex-officio members, four members with portfolio, three members without portfolio, two official members and 15 unofficial members,[2] several of whom had previously been elected members.
The Interim Legislative Council remained in place until it was dissolved on 29 June 1957, after which elections for a new Legislative Council were held on 12 August. It consisted of the Speaker, three official members, six nominated members and 14 elected members.[2]
A new constitution was promulgated in July 1961. It abolished the Legislative Council for a second time, replacing it with a bicameral Legislature including a 13-member Senate and a 36-member Legislative Assembly. Elections to the new Legislature were held on 21 August.
Members
[edit]1928–30
[edit]| Position | Member | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unelected members | ||||||
| Governor | Gordon Guggisberg | |||||
| Colonial Secretary | Crawford Douglas Douglas-Jones | |||||
| Attorney General | Hector Archibald Josephs | |||||
| Colonial Treasurer | Thomas Millard | |||||
| Director of Education | William Bain Gray | |||||
| Inspector General of Police | William Ernest Horatio Bradburn | |||||
| Director of Public Works | John Cormack Craig | |||||
| Conservator of Forests | Bernard Reader Wood | |||||
| Colonial Transport Department MD | Sydney Howard Bayley | |||||
| Commissioner of Lands and Mines | John Mullin | |||||
| Surgeon General | William George Boase | |||||
| Nominated members | Arthur Piercy Gardiner Austin | |||||
| Thomas Traill Smellie | ||||||
| Francis Dias | ||||||
| James Smith | ||||||
| Sydney Howard Seymour | ||||||
| Elected members | ||||||
| Berbice (Senior) | Edward Alfred Luckhoo | |||||
| Berbice (Junior) | Albert Raymond Forbes Webber | |||||
| Demerara | Arnold Emanuel Seeram | |||||
| East Demerara | Hubert Chester Humphrys | |||||
| Georgetown (Senior) | Nelson Cannon | |||||
| Georgetown (Junior) | Percy Claude Wight | |||||
| Georgetown (Other) | Joseph Gonsalves | |||||
| New Amsterdam (Senior) | Eustace Gordon Woolford | |||||
| New Amsterdam (Junior) | Joseph Eleazar | |||||
| North West Essequibo (Senior) | Robert Edward Brassington | |||||
| North West Essequibo (Junior) | Stanley McDonald DeFreitas | |||||
| South East Essequibo (Senior) | Robert Victor Evan Wong | |||||
| South East Essequibo (Junior) | Edmund Fitzgerald Fredericks | |||||
| West Demerara | Alfred Victor Crane | |||||
| Source: Parliament of Guyana | ||||||
1930–53
[edit]| Position | 1930–35 | 1935–47 | 1947–53 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unelected members | |||
| Governor | Edward Brandis Denham | Geoffry Northcote | Charles Campbell Woolley |
| Colonial Secretary | George Douglas Owen | Eubule John Waddington | Desmond John Parkinson |
| Attorney General | Hector Archibald Josephs | Hector Archibald Josephs | Edgar Mortimer Duke |
| Colonial Treasurer | Thomas Millard | Edwin Frank McDavid | Edwin Frank McDavid |
| Director of Education | William Bain Gray | William Bain Gray | |
| Director of Agriculture | John Sydney Dash | John Sydney Dash | |
| Comptroller of Customs | William Albert D'Andrade | William Albert D'Andrade | |
| Director of Public Works | John Cormack Craig | John Cormack Craig | |
| Colonial Transport Department MD | Sydney Howard Bayley | – | |
| Commissioner of Lands and Mines | John Mullin | John Mullin | |
| Surgeon General | Percy James Kelly | Quirino Bonifacio DeFreitas | |
| District Commissioner | – | Malcolm Buchanan Laing | |
| Nominated members | Frederick Jacob Seaford | Thomas Traill Smellie | Frederick Jacob Seaford |
| Gilherne Joseph De Freitas | Malcolm Burnett Gardiner Austin | George Arthur Cyril Farnum | |
| George Earnest Anderson | Francis Dias | Vincent Roth | |
| Sydney Howard Seymour | Joseph Waterton Jackson | Thomas Theophilus Thompson | |
| Edward Miles Walcott | Edward Miles Walcott | William John Raatgever | |
| Cramat Ally McDoom | |||
| Geoffrey Haward Smellie | |||
| Elected members | |||
| Berbice River | Joseph Eleazar | Joseph Eleazar | Clement Patrick Ferreira |
| Central Demerara | John Ignatius De Aguiar | John Ignatius De Aguiar | Cheddi Jagan |
| Demerara-Essequibo | Jung Bahadur Singh | Jung Bahadur Singh | Jung Bahadur Singh |
| Demerara River | Alfred Victor Crane | Arthur George King | Joseph Patrick Coghlan |
| Eastern Berbice | Edward Alfred Luckhoo | Edward Alfred Luckhoo | George Mayo Gonsalves |
| Eastern Demerara | Arnold Emanuel Seeram | Hubert Chester Humphrys | Daniel Prabhudas Debidin |
| Essequibo River | Edmund Fitzgerald Fredericks | Alfred Railton Crum Ewing | Theophilus Lee |
| Georgetown Central | Percy Claude Wight | Percy Claude Wight | John Fernandes |
| Georgetown North | Nelson Cannon | Frederick Jacob Seaford | Jacob Alexander Nicholson |
| Georgetown South | Joseph Gonsalves | Joseph Gonsalves | Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow |
| New Amsterdam | Eustace Gordon Woolford | Eustace Gordon Woolford | William Oscar Rudyard Kendall |
| North Western District | Victorine Antonio Pires | Charles Ramkissoon Jacob | William Phang |
| Western Berbice | Albert Raymond Forbes Webber | Peer Bacchus | Aaron Theophilus Peters |
| Western Essequibo | Robert Edward Brassington | Sydney Howard Seymour | Claude Vibart Wight |
| Source: Parliament of Guyana | |||
References
[edit]- ^ New constitution of 1928 Guyana.org
- ^ a b c d e Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of Guyana