Henry Harvey Williams, OBE (6 January 1917 – 11 November 2004) was a lawyer and civil servant who served as the acting

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

between 1988 and 1989. Williams was born in the village of Gomea, in Saint Vincent's Saint George Parish, and attended Saint Vincent Grammar School. He studied law at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

, and briefly worked as a teacher before entering the

British Windward Islands The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 31 December 1959 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenad ...

civil service. In 1956, he was appointed District Officer in charge of

Carriacou Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a dependency of Grenada, and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the Carib lang ...

(now part of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

, but then administered separately). Two years later, Williams was appointed secretary to the government of Grenada, serving in that role for four years."A Tribute to our father – Henry Harvey Williams"
– ''Searchlight'' (Saint Vincent). Retrieved 21 April 2016. He was eventually appointed Chief Secretary of his home country, Saint Vincent, and in that capacity sometimes acted in the position of administrator (in the absence of the official administrator). In 1970, Williams was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (

postnominal Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

s OBE), for services rendered to Saint Vincent. Outside of his work as a civil servant, he also served as chairman of the National Independence Committee, and was a supporter of Caribbean unification. In February 1988, on the advice of the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent,

James Fitz-Allen Mitchell Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell (15 May 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a Vincentian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 1984 to 2000 and as the second Premier of Saint Vincent from 1972 to ...

, Williams was appointed acting governor-general of Saint Vincent, following the resignation of Sir Joseph Lambert Eustace. A permanent replacement, David Emmanuel Jack, was not appointed until September 1989.Leaders of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
– CaribbeanElections. Retrieved 21 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Henry Harvey 1917 births 2004 deaths Governors-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Officers of the Order of the British Empire Saint Vincent and the Grenadines civil servants Saint Vincent and the Grenadines lawyers Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London University of the West Indies alumni People from Saint George Parish, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 20th-century lawyers