Lyford Cay is a private

gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...

located on the western tip of New Providence island in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The former

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

that lent its name to the community is named after Captain

William Lyford Jr. Captain William Lyford Jr. was born in the year 1719 on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. He was a Captain of many ships transporting goods between North American colonies and the Caribbean. He was also a privateer and loyalist. The g ...

, a mariner of note in Colonial and Revolutionary times, and is built on a 448-acre (181 ha) grant he received for his services as a Loyalist in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Captain Lyford also received a 92-acre (37 ha) grant on

Cat Island, Bahamas Cat Island is located in central Bahamas, and is one of its districts. Cat Island also has the nation's highest point, Mount Alvernia (formerly known as Como Hill). It rises to and is topped by a monastery called ''The Hermitage''. This asse ...

for playing a key role in Andrew Deveaux’s raid of April 1783 that drove the Spanish from

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

Cay

Lyford Cay, also called Simms Cay, was a

a few hundred metres off the north west coast of New Providence Island, 1.4 km long east-west, and up to 200 metres wide. On the map in the 1901

Edward Stanford Edward Stanford (27 May 1827 3 November 1904) was the founder of Stanfords, now a pair of map and book shops based in London and Bristol, UK. Biography Born in 1827, and educated at the City of London School, Edward Stanford developed his i ...

Atlas it is noted: "The

Isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

at Lyford Cay has grown since 1830, when boats could pass at H.W. It is now 10 fṭ high & covered with bushes."

Character

Considered one of the world's wealthiest and most exclusive neighbourhoods, the Lyford Cay Club was built during the latter part of the 1950s by prominent

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman Edward Plunkett Taylor, who bought the land in 1954 from Bahamian developer Sir Harold Christie. In December 1962, U.S. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

stayed at E. P. Taylor's home in Lyford Cay while he held talks with British Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

. There are about 450 homes.

Notable residents

* The

Bacardi Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...

family *

Louis Bacon Louis Moore Bacon (born July 25, 1956) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive of Moore Capital Management. ''Forbes Magazine'' estimates his net worth to be US$1.81 billion, mak ...

, U.S. hedge fund manager * The German-Dutch

Brenninkmeijer family Brenninkmeijer (german: Brenninkmeyer) is a Roman Catholic Dutch/German/Swiss family of manufacturers, which own an international chain of clothing stores. Originally the family came from Tecklenburger Land (Westphalia), selling linen in Fri ...

* R. Couri Hay, a Couristan carpet heir and the society editor of ''Palm Beach'' magazine and ''

Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...

'' magazine *

Viktor Kožený Viktor Kožený (born 28 June 1963 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a fugitive financier. According to Bloomberg News, he graduated from Harvard in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in economics. However, he cannot be located in the Harvard Alumni di ...

, Czech fugitive financier * Joe Lewis, British businessman

Former residents

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

, British actor, Connery died at Lyford Cay in 2020 *

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...

, son of

Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...

, grandson of

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

, former president of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

* Prince Azamat Guirey, of the ruling family of

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Stavros Niarchos Stavros Spyrou Niarchos ( el, Σταύρος Σπύρου Νιάρχος, ; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both ...

, Greek shipping magnate *

Peter Nygård Peter J. Nygård (born Pekka Juhani Nygård; born July 24, 1941) is a Finnish-Canadian fashion executive. In 1967, he founded Nygård International, a Winnipeg-based company that made women's apparel. In 2020, Nygård was accused of long-term se ...

, Finnish-Canadian former fashion executive * Sir Tony O'Reilly, Irish media tycoon *

Sir John Templeton Sir John Marks Templeton (29 November 1912 – 8 July 2008) was an American-born British investor, banker, fund manager, and philanthropist. In 1954, he entered the mutual fund market and created the Templeton Growth Fund, which averaged gro ...

, American-born British investor and philanthropist]

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1950s establishments in the Bahamas Gated communities Golf clubs and courses in the Bahamas New Providence Peter Nygård Populated places in the Bahamas Resorts in the Bahamas