United Kingdom Under-Secretary of State, Her Excellency Baroness Jennifer Chapman of Darlington said the UK’s historic relationship with The Bahamas is self-evident and a matter of fact. In addition, because of the UK’s colonial role, much of The Bahamas’ pre-independence story is recorded in the UK.
Her Excellency was speaking at a Handover Ceremony of Archival Gifts from the British High Commission to The Bahamas National Archives held at the Ministry of Education and Technical & Vocational Training on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
Her Excellency explained that the UK’s national archives is that country’s guardian of storing the UK’s historical documents, some going back over a thousand years. “It is a public institution where anyone and any Bahamian can visit and read documents of interest.”
She added that the national archives have 13.5 billion pages of text, 10 million maps, 40 million aerial photographs and much more.
“But we know that London is a long way away and for many Bahamians, particularly Bahamian students that perhaps makes them inaccessible.
“Therefore, the UK has digitized a small portion of the UK’s archives; a part of The Bahamas 50th Anniversary of Independence.”
She explained that these include 60 plus documents, amassing over 10,000 pages representing what the UK has stored regarding Bahamian independence.
Her Excellency said the archives fall roughly into five boxes.
She said the first one is the nation’s political journey to independence. “The papers in this section include records of Prime Minister Pindling’s meetings lobbying Her Majesty the Late Queen. They include the then Governor’s own thoughts about the likelihood of independence depending on which party won the subsequent elections and also records of Abaco’s secession movement who at the time rejected independence.”
Her Excellency said the second box contains information on The Bahamas constitution and the debate surrounding it. “These files record the legislative journey to independence including handwritten notes by UK officials and ministers on working drafts of the Constitution and the debates in Parliament.
“For Constitution experts, these papers capture the fascinating process of drafting a nation’s constitution.”
She explained that this box also captures the colour of the 10th July, 1973, the records of the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, pictures of gifts from the UK government – a handcrafted rose bowl engraved with The Bahamas crest and from the UK’s Parliament a mace, which now sits in front of the Speaker in the House of Assembly.
Her Excellency said the next box contains information regarding the nation’s post-independence policy and legislation. “This set of papers refer to post independence policy, practical papers of state including nationality policy, honours policy and the first British Commissioner’s telegrams to London in July 1974 marking one year on.”
She said in the last box, holds the UK and US defence policy, which finally and unsurprisingly holds many papers capturing the debate between the UK and US regarding the US defence policy for The Bahamas. These include Dr. Henry Kissinger’s direct lobbying and discussions around maritime access and the continuation of the submarine base in Andros.
Her Excellency said, “There is a lot of rich content, which I hope will be of interest to the Ministry, to historians and to students directly.”
By LLONELLA GILBERT/Bahamas Information Services
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