Hamilton Lavity Stoutt
Ian Thomson | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Willard Wheatley |
| In office 12 November 1979 – 11 November 1983 | |
| Governor | James Alfred Davidson, David Robert Barwick |
| Preceded by | Willard Wheatley |
| Succeeded by | Cyril Romney |
| In office 17 November 1986 – 14 May 1995 | |
| Governor | Mark Herdman, Peter Penfold |
| Preceded by | Cyril Romney |
| Succeeded by | Ralph T. O'Neal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 March 1929 Tortola, British Virgin Islands |
| Died | 14 May 1995 (aged 66) Tortola, British Virgin Islands |
| Political party | United Party Virgin Islands Party |
| Spouse | |
Hamilton Lavity Stoutt (7 March 1929 – 14 May 1995) was a British Virgin Islander politician and the first and longest serving
Biography
Early life
Stoutt was born on 7 March 1929 in Long Bay,
Career
Stoutt served as a parliamentarian in the
Since Stoutt's death in 1995, a public holiday in the British Virgin Islands has been declared annually on the first Monday in the month of March in memory of his birthday.
The H. Lavity Stoutt Community College 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.[1]
During his lifetime, Lavity Stoutt was extremely fond of the quote from Proverbs 29:18 — "Where there is no vision, the people perish", a phrase he would recite frequently when arguing in favour of development projects.[3]
Electoral history
| Year | District | Party | Votes | Percentage | Winning/losing margin | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1st District | Non-party election | -- | -- | -- | Won |
| 1960 | 1st District | Non-party election | -- | -- | -- | Won |
| 1963 | 1st District | Non-party election | 215 | 68.0% | +114 | Won |
| 1967 | 1st District | BVI United Party | 221 | 65.4% | +54 | Won |
| 1971 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | -- | -- | -- | Won |
| 1975 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | 334 | 75.1% | +223 | Won |
| 1979 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | 328 | 57% | +72 | Won |
| 1983 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | 421 | 53.0% | +85 | Won |
| 1986 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | 416 | 64.9% | +203 | Won |
| 1990 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | 520 | 85.8% | +464 | Won |
| 1995 | 1st District | Virgin Islands Party | 489 | 68.3% | +292 | Won |
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.[4]
Political offices
Footnotes
- ^ a b c "OBITUARY : H. Lavity Stoutt". The Independent. 23 May 1995.
- ^ "Lavity Stoutt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "Stoutt for BVI". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ 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.
 |  | ||