Hamilton Lavity Stoutt (7 March 1929 – 14 May 1995) was a British Virgin Islander politician and the first and longest serving

Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands The Premier of the Virgin Islands is the head of government for the British Virgin Islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Premier is appointed by the Governor on behalf of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. Until 2007, the h ...

. He won five general elections ( 1967, 1979,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

) and serving three non-consecutive terms of office from 1967 to 1971, again from 1979 to 1983 and again from 1986 until his death in 1995.

Biography

Early life

Stoutt was born on 7 March 1929 in Long Bay, Tortola. He was the eighth child of Isaiah and Iallia Stoutt. He married Hilda E. Stoutt in 1956 and had three sons and three daughters. He was a staunch

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, and served as both a Sunday school superintendent and a lay preacher.

Career

Stoutt served as a parliamentarian in the Legislative Council from 1957 until 1967 prior to the adoption of the 1967 constitution, and at the time of his death was thought to be the longest serving Parliamentarian in the Caribbean. He was a founder of and the leader of the United Party, but after splitting from the party in 1971 went on to found the

Virgin Islands Party The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a political party in the British Virgin Islands. It is presently led by Acting Premier Natalio Wheatley. It is the oldest active political party in the British Virgin Islands, and it has won more general elect ...

. Since Stoutt's death in 1995, a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

in the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

has been declared annually on the first Monday in the month of March in memory of his birthday. The

H. Lavity Stoutt Community College The H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (often referred to locally as HLSCC) is a community college in the British Virgin Islands. At present there are only two tertiary institutions in the territory: The University of the West Indies, and H. La ...

in Tortola bears his name. Stoutt himself left school after his primary school education, and obituary writers have suggested that it was his own lack of a formal education which so strongly inspired him to create and promote opportunities for BVIslanders to further their own educations. During his lifetime, Lavity Stoutt was extremely fond of the quote from

Proverbs A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...

29:18 — "''Where there is no vision, the people perish''", a phrase he would recite frequently when arguing in favour of development projects.

Electoral history

Lavity Stoutt's percentage of the votes in the 1990 general election remain records for a district seat in the British Virgin Islands (the margin of victory was a record at the time, but has since been surpassed). Stoutt's 11 electoral victories are also a record. Stoutt's 38 years as a parliamentarian was a record, but was surpassed by Ralph O'Neal in late 2013.Lavity Stoutt died shortly after the commencement of his 11th term. But during the early part of Lavity Stoutt's political career electoral terms only lasted 3 years (since 1967 they have lasted 4 years), both which account for how Stoutt served more terms than O'Neal, but O'Neal's career as a legislator was longer. Stoutt's was first elected in April 1957 and died in May 1995, and so served just under 38 years and 2 months. O'Neal was first elected on 1 September 1975, and so passed Lavity Stoutt on or about 1 November 2013.

Political offices

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoutt, Lavity 1929 births 1995 deaths British Virgin Islands Methodists British Virgin Islands politicians Chief Ministers of the British Virgin Islands Leaders of the Opposition (British Virgin Islands) United Party (British Virgin Islands) politicians Virgin Islands Party politicians