The Combined Court was the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

until 1928. In its final form, it consisted of a sitting of the

Court of Policy The Court of Policy was a legislative body in Dutch and British Guiana until 1928. For most of its existence it formed the Combined Court together with the six Financial Representatives. History The Court of Policy was established in 1732 by the ...

together with the elected Financial Representatives.

History

The Combined Court was established by the Dutch authorities at a time when the colonies of

Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

and

Essequibo Essequibo is the largest traditional region of Guyana but not an administrative region of Guyana today. It may also refer to: * Essequibo River, the largest river in Guyana * Essequibo (colony), a former Dutch colony in what is now Guyana; * Esseq ...

were under the control of the Netherlands. It originally consisted of a joint sitting of the Court of Policy and the

College of Kiezers The College of Kiezers was an electoral college in the Dutch colonies of Essequibo and Demerara and their successor, British Guiana. History The College of Kiezers was established by Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande, Commander of the Dutch col ...

. However, Lieutenant Governor of Demerara

Hugh Lyle Carmichael Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Lyle Carmichael (1764–1813), was a British officer of the 2nd West India Regiment. He was Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces at the Siege of Santo Domingo. He was Lieutenant Governor of Demerara Essequibo fr ...

abolished the College of Kiezers in 1812, giving its duties to the Financial Representatives. The Court of Policy was part-appointed and part-elected by the re-established College of Kiezers, whilst the Financial Representatives were elected by the public, although using a severely limited franchise. Its responsibilities included raising and spending public revenue, and from 1855 onwards, setting the salaries of civil servants.Nineteenth-Century British Guiana

Library of Congress Country Studies The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the United States Library of Congress, freely available for use by researchers. No copyright is claimed on them. Therefore, they have been dedicated to the public domain a ...

Following the 1891 constitutional reforms, the Combined Court consisted had 22 members, six of which were the Financial Representatives now elected by the public in the single member constituencies of Demerara, Essequebo North Western, Essequebo South Eastern, Berbice, Georgetown and New Amsterdam, and the remainder were the 16-member Court of Policy, half of which was elected. The Court of Policy included the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, seven government officials (the Attorney General, the Government Secretary, the Immigration Agent General and the Receiver General, together with three other appointees). The eight elected members were elected from seven constituencies by the public;Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006
Parliament of Guyana

East, Demerara West, Essequebo North Western, Essequebo South Eastern,

, City of Georgetown (2 members) and

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

.George D Bayley (1909) ''Handbook of British Guiana, 1909: Comprising General and Statistical Information Concerning the Colony'', The Argosy, p158 The franchise was severely limited. By the 1926 elections only 4.2% of the population were eligible to vote, up from 1.08% in 1921. Elections were held under this system in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

. The Combined Court was abolished in 1928 when a new constitution replaced it with the Legislative Council.New constitution of 1928
Guyana.org

References

{{reflist Dutch colonisation of the Guianas British Guiana Political history of Guyana Historical legislatures 1928 disestablishments in British Guiana