Howard Reynold Penn

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1903–1994), more commonly known simply as H.R. Penn, was a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served during the years immediately after the reintroduction of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

in the British Virgin Islands in 1950. He was elected as a member of First Legislative Council and continued to serve until his defeat in the 1963 general election. Prior to the introduction of Ministerial government in 1967, various executive type posts were delegated to members of the Legislative Council in a ministerial-like fashion. From 1957 to 1960 H.R. Penn was appointed Member for Trade and Production, and he was reappointed to that post from 1960 to 1963. H.R. Penn later served as the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

from 1971 to 1975 under Willard Wheatley's administration. Record keeping during the early years of politics in the British Virgin Islands was poor; electoral records are incomplete, and there were no

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s published in the Territory at the time (the first newspaper in the British Virgin Islands, ''

The Island Sun ''The Island Sun'' is a weekly newspaper in the British Virgin Islands . Founded on 23 June 1962, it is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the British Overseas Territory. The Sun is published weekly by Sun Enterprises (B.V.I.) L ...

'', was first published in 1962). Much of the information on politics from the early days come from H.R. Penn's memoirs.

Electoral history

Footnotes

1903 births British Virgin Islands politicians Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of death missing 1994 deaths {{BritishVirginIslands-politician-stub