Timeline of Antiguan and Barbudan history

This is a timeline of Antiguan and Barbudan history, consisting of various important political and historical events. To read about the background to these events, see the History of Antigua and Barbuda.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

16th and 17th centuries

Year	Date	Event	Source
1520		Don Antonio Serrano attempts to colonise Antigua, expels indigenous people.	[1]
1627		Earl of Carlisle granted Antigua.	[2]
1629		Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and his crew attempt to colonise Antigua, leave due to lack of water.	[3]
1632		Antigua successfully settled by Sir Thomas Warner, under instructions of the Earl of Carlisle.	[4]
1640		Kalinago pillage British settlements. Members of the Governor's family may have been killed.	[5]
1654		Major Kalinago attack, Kalinago defeated	[6]
1666	4:00 am, 3 November	French attack Antigua, occupy it until the Treaty of Breda	[7]
1668	13 April	Antigua's legislature meets for the first time	[8]
1671		British Leeward Islands established	[9]
1685	9 January	Codrington family is granted lease of Barbuda	[10]
1689		Christopher Codrington becomes governor	[11]
1692	11 January	Original five parishes of Antigua are established	[12]

18th century

Year	Date	Event	Source
1702		First town markets established St. John's elects its first town wardens	[13]
1706		Daniel Parke arrives in Antigua	[14]
1710	7 December	Parke is killed	[15]
1725	22 January	Division of New North Sound (then part of Saint Peter) becomes the Parish of Saint George	[16]
1736		Kingdom of Antigua plot uncovered	[17]
1772		St. John's and English Harbour are severely damaged by hurricanes	[18]
1776		Sancta Rita, a Spanish ship, is shipwrecked off the coast of Barbuda	[19]
1793		Black Antiguans allowed to serve in the Antiguan militia's artillery	[20]
1794		Antigua joins invasion of Guadeloupe and Martinique	[21]

19th century

Year	Date	Event	Source
1800		Census conducted. Antigua has a population of 37,000	[22]
1805		French squadron nearly attacks Antigua, decides to attack Nevis instead	[23]
1808	1 March	Slave trade abolished	[24]
1813		Police force established	[25]
1816		British Leeward Islands abolished, Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat established	[25]
1820		Census is taken. Antigua has 37,031 people, Barbuda has 503 945-man militia is raised	[26][27]
1832		British Leeward Islands reestablished	[28]
1834	1 August	Emancipation Day	[29]
1834		Liberta established	[30]
1838	1 July	Militia is abolished	[31]
1842		Bermudian Valley and Bridgetown become ghost towns. Bridgetown residents moved to Freetown	[32]
1858		Point uprising due to dispute between Antiguan dockworkers and Barbudan dockworkers	[33]
1860	1 August	Barbuda reverts to British crown, becomes dependency of Antigua	[34]
1871		British Leeward Islands federalise	[35]

20th century

Year	Date	Event	Source
1904	30 April	Barbuda Ordinance goes into force, establishes system of island wardens and formalises communal land	[36]
1914	14 August	Antigua Defence Force put on active duty	[37]
1946	26 July	First election held in Antigua	[38]
1945		Village councils established	[39]
1950	December	Village council elections held	[39]
1951	20 December	First democratic election held in Antigua	[40]
1958	3 January	Colony of Antigua joins the West Indies Federation, becomes the Territory of Antigua	[41]
1960	1 January	Antigua becomes self-governing	[42]
1962	31 May	West Indies Federation abolished	[43]
1965	29 November	General election held	[44]
1966	28 February	Antigua Constitutional Conference held	[45]
1967	27 February	Associated State of Antigua established	[46]
1969		Barbudan independence movement emerges	[34]
1971	11 February	Progressive Labour Movement takes office	[47]
1981	1 November	Antigua gains independence, renamed to Antigua and Barbuda	[48][49]
1984	17 April	First election held after independence
1992		Vere Bird involved in bribery scandal	[50]
1994	8 March	Lester Bird becomes second Prime Minister after an election deemed neither free nor fair	[51]
1999	9 March	Another election deemed neither free nor fair is held, Lester Bird remains prime minister	[52]

21st century

Year	Date	Event	Source
2004	23 March	First democratic general elections since 1989 in Antigua and Barbuda are held, Baldwin Spencer becomes Prime Minister
2009	12 March	Baldwin Spencer retains office, holding a two-seat majority
2014	12 June	Gaston Browne becomes Prime Minister
2017	8 September	Nearly all of Barbuda's infrastructure destroyed, entire population evacuated to Antigua until about late 2018.
2018	21 March	Early elections held, resulting in a landslide victory for the Labour Party
2023	18 January	General election held, Labour Party holds one-seat majority
2024	4 November	Asot Michael assassinated

References

1. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 11–12.
2. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 12.
3. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 12.
4. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 12.
5. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 15.
6. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 20.
7. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 24–31.
8. Antigua (1865). The Laws of Antigua: Consisting of the Acts of the Leeward Islands in Force in Antigua, and the Acts of Antigua from 20 Car. 2., 1668, to 28 Vict., 1864; with Table of Acts, Index of Subject Matter, and Alphabetical Index. By Authority. George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode.
9. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 36.
10. "historical notes". Barbudaful. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
11. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 38–42.
12. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 43–46.
13. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 48.
14. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 52.
15. Webb, Stephen Saunders (2012). Marlborough's America. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-3001-7859-3.
16. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 63.
17. KESSE (14 April 2020). "Prince Klaas, the Ghanaian rebel slave in Antigua". Ghanaian Museum. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
18. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 80.
19. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33527518.pdf
20. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 84–86.
21. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 86–87.
22. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 87–95.
23. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 87–95.
24. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 94–97.
25. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 94–97.
26. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33527518.pdf
27. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 99–101.
28. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. pp. 99–101.
29. "ANTIGUA & BARBUDA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE". 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
30. "ANTIGUA & BARBUDA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE". 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
31. Lanaghan. Antigua and the Antiguans. p. 103.
32. "ANTIGUA & BARBUDA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE". 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
33. ""Our Side": Antigua's 1858 Uprising and the Contingent Nature of Freedom". Duke University Press. 11 November 2015. doi:10.1215/9780822375050-008.
34. "Antigua and Barbuda profile - Timeline". BBC News. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
35. "Leeward Islands Gazette". ufdc.ufl.edu. 3 April 1890. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
36. Barbuda Act (PDF). 30 April 1904.
37. "The people are getting vex: The beginnings of labor unrest and the growth of a peasantry" (PDF). Antigua History.
38. Brian Dyde (2000) A History of Antigua: The Unsuspected Isle, Macmillan Caribbean, p237
39. "UF Digital Collections". ufdc.ufl.edu. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
40. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p66 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
41. "Digital Library of the Caribbean". dloc.com. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
42. "Digital Library of the Caribbean". dloc.com. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
43. "Conceiving of the Caribbean post/neo-Colony | Institute of Languages, Cultures & Societies". ilcs.sas.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
44. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p66 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
45. "ANTIGUA (Hansard, 3 May 1966)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
46. "Historical Facts About Antigua And Barbuda". www.anbanet.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
47. "Antigua Trade Unions Political Parties And Government". www.anbanet.com. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
48. "Antigua (Termination of Association) (Hansard, 8 July 1981)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
49. Boca Raton News. Boca Raton News. 1 November 1981.
50. Roger East and Richard Thomas, "Profiles of people in power: the world's government leaders" (2003). Psychology Press, pp. 16-17.
51. Nohlen, p62
52. Nohlen, p63