Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla (or Saint Christopher, Nevis, and Anguilla) was a British colony in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

from 1882 to 1983, consisting of the islands of

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

(until 1980),

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

, and

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

(or Saint Kitts). From 1882 to 1951, and again from 1980, the colony was known simply as Saint Christopher and Nevis. Saint Christopher and Nevis gained independence in 1983 as the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, while Anguilla would remain a British overseas territory.

History

The islands of Saint Christopher and Nevis had been British colonies since the 17th century, though were always administered separately. A union of Saint Christopher and Nevis had been proposed as early as 1867, when Captain James George Mackenzie was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Saint Christopher with a mandate to seek an amalgamation of the administrations of the two islands. This proposal met with strong opposition, however, and was withdrawn the following year. In 1871, Saint Christopher and Nevis became presidencies within the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands, with Anguilla being attached to Saint Christopher as a dependency in the same year. However, in 1882, the legislature of the Leeward Islands passed legislation merging the two presidencies, forming a combined Presidency of Saint Christopher and Nevis.Phillips, p. 129 In 1951, the name of the colony was changed to include Anguilla. The Leeward Islands Colony was disbanded in 1958, due to frequent tension between its members. From 1958 to 1962, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla formed a province of the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean th ...

, electing two members to the House of Representatives and also having two senators, appointed by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. In 1967, the territory of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla was granted full internal autonomy, as an

Associated State An associated state is the minor partner or dependent territory in a formal, free relationship between a political territory (some of them dependent states, most of them fully sovereign) and a major party—usually a larger state. The details ...

of the United Kingdom. The UK retained responsibility for defence and external affairs, while a new judicial system was established, the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court (although the Privy Council remained the highest court of appeal). Later in 1967, Anguilla's leaders expelled the Federation's police from the island, and declared its independence as the

Republic of Anguilla The Republic of Anguilla was a short-lived, unrecognised independent state on the island of Anguilla. It lasted from 11 July 1967 until 19 March 1969, when British control was re-established. Background On 27 February 1967, Britain granted the ...

. On 7 November 1970, a commission led by Hugh Wooding, former Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, published report which unanimously refused both the idea of independent Anguilla and the return of the status of a British colony and recommended that the island should instead remain a part of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.Milutin Tomanović (1971) ''Hronika međunarodnih događaja 1970'', Institute of International Politics and Economics:

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, p. 2461 (in

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

) The report was welcomed by Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw while the Council of Anguilla rejected it.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

Minister Joseph Godber stated in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

that his government will analyze the report in light of discussions with all interested parties and that no decision unacceptable to the people of Anguilla will be made. A series of interim agreements followed that resulted in direct rule of the island from Britain, although it was not formally separated until December 1980, when it was made a separate

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

. Nevis had also attempted to separate from the federation on several occasions, but the island's leaders were unsuccessful in their efforts. However, they did manage to secure greater autonomy for Nevis in the years leading up to independence, which occurred in September 1983 after a delay of several years to allow for negotiations. Sir Frederick Albert Phillips, the first governor of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, wrote in 2013:

Politics

List of administrators

From 1882 to 1958, the federation's administrator was under the wider jurisdiction of the Governor of the Leeward Islands. From 1958 to 1962, the administrator was responsible to the

Governor-General of the West Indies Federation Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. ;President * 1882–83: Alexander Wilson Moir * 1883–88: Charles Monroe Eldridge (acting to 1885) * 1888–89: Francis Spencer Wigley (acting) ;Commissioner * 1889–95: John Kemys Spencer-Churchill ;Administrator * 1895–99: Thomas Risely Griffith * 1899–1904: Charles Thomas Cox * 1904–06: Sir Robert Bromley * 1906–16: Thomas Laurence Roxburgh * 1916–25: John Alder Burdon * 1925–29: Thomas Reginald St. Johnston * 1929–31: Terence Charles Macnaghten * 1931–40: Douglas Roy Stewart * 1940–47: James Dundas Harford * 1947–49: Leslie Stuart Greening * 1949: Frederick Mitchell Noad * 1949–56: Hugh Burrowes * 1956–66: Henry Howard * 1966–67: Sir Frederick Albert Phillips ;Governor * 1967–69: Sir Frederick Albert Phillips * 1969–75: Sir Milton Pentonville Allen (acting to 1972) * 1975–81: Sir Probyn Ellsworth Inniss * 1981–83: Sir Clement Athelston Arrindell

List of heads of government

;Chief Minister * 1960–66: Caleb Azariah Paul Southwell * 1966–67: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw ;Premier * 1967–78: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw * 1978–79: Caleb Azariah Paul Southwell * 1979–80: Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore * 1980–83: Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds

Sport and culture

The national football team debuted in 1938, in a friendly against

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

, but played only sporadically. It has played more regularly since independence. In

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, the

, and Saint Kitts national teams competed separately at regional level, although combined teams were occasionally fielded in the past. Delegations from Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla were sent to several editions of the

CARIFTA Games The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games were first held in 1972 and consist of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track ev ...

, winning medals in 1977 and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. At the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada, the federation sent four competitors (two runners and two cyclists, all male), but failed to win a medal.

Notable people

* Kelvin Jeffers (born 1963), former British Virgin Islands cricketer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla History of Anguilla Former countries in the Caribbean Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas Former colonies in North America British Leeward Islands History of British Saint Christopher and Nevis British West Indies West Indies Federation States and territories established in 1882 States and territories disestablished in 1983 1880s establishments in the Caribbean 1882 establishments in the British Empire 1882 establishments in North America 1983 disestablishments in North America 1983 disestablishments in British Overseas Territories 20th-century disestablishments in the Caribbean