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

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater ...

from 1882 to 1983, consisting of the islands of

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a 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 Saint Martin. The territor ...

(until 1980),

Nevis Nevis is a small 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 one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and N ...

, and

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively ...

(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 Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

, 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 Rear-Admiral James George Mackenzie (1803? – 25 February 1879) was a Royal Navy officer. He was Governor of the Falkland Islands The governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the British Crown in the Falkland Islands, acting ...

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 This proposal met with strong opposition, however, and was withdrawn the following year.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 that ...

, 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 office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. 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 in a formal, free relationship between a political territory (some dependent, most fully sovereign states) and a major party—usually a larger nation. The details of such free association are contain ...

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 A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

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 commission led by

Hugh Wooding Sir Hugh Olliviere Beresford Wooding (14 January 1904 – 26 July 1974) was a lawyer and politician from Trinidad and Tobago. Legal career Hugh Wooding was born in Trinidad and Tobago into a family that hailed from Barbados. In 1914, he was a ...

, former

Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago The Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago is the highest judge of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and presides over its Supreme Court of Judicature. He is appointed by a common decision of the president, the prime minister and the leader of the m ...

, published report which unanimously refused both the idea of independent Anguilla and the return of the status of British colony and recommend 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 The Institute of International Politics and Economics ( sr-cyr, Институт за међународну политику и привреду) is one of the oldest research institutes in South Eastern Europe specialised in the field of inte ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...

, p. 2461 (in Serbo-Croatian) The report was welcomed by

Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw (16 September 1916 – 23 May 1978) was the first Premier of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and previously served as Chief Minister, legislator, and labour activist. Early life Bradshaw was born in the Saint Paul Capisterr ...

while the Council of Anguilla rejected it.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

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 mem ...

that his government will analyze the report in light of discussions with all interested parties and that no decision unacceptable to 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 administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

. 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 The governor-general of the West Indies Federation was a post in the government of the West Indies. The federation, also known as the British Caribbean Federation, consisted of Antigua (with Barbuda), Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, ...

. ;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 Anthony Camillo 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:

;Premier * 1967–78: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw * 1978–79: Caleb Azariah Paul Southwell * 1979–80: Sir

Lee Llewellyn Moore Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore (15 February 1939 – 6 May 2000) served as Premier of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 20 May 1979 to 21 February 1980. He was a member of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. He graduated with an LLB from King's Colleg ...

* 1980–83: Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds

Sport and culture

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

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 ...

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

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, 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 was first held in 1972 and consists of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track even ...

, winning medals in 1977 and

1983 The year 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 ...

. At the

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

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Canada, the federation sent four competitors (two runners and two cyclists, all male), but failed to win a medal.Glenn Osborne competed in the 100 metres, running the slowest time in any of the seven heats, Ezzard Wilson competed in the 800 metres, and Vincent Benjamin and Cedric Maynard competing in various cycling events. "Medals won by St. Kitts & Nevis"
1978 Commonwealth Games
– The Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 25 April 2016.

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