St Kitts-Nevis Independence (1982-1983)

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): ICS 98

Title: St Kitts-Nevis Independence (1982-1983)

Date(s): 1982 - 1983

Level of description: Fond

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 3 files

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): Birch, Chris, fl 1982, journalist

Administrative/Biographical history: St Kitts-Nevis comprises the islands of St Kitts or St Christopher, in 1623 the first West Indian island to be settled by the British, and Nevis which was colonised in 1628. The two islands, together with Anguilla were united in 1882, and became an independent state in association with the United Kingdom in 1967. There were objections by Anguilla to the administration, which it considered to be dominated by St Kitts, and independence was declared by Anguilla later that year. Negotiations to resolve the dispute failed, and after being placed directly under British control in 1971, Anguilla was granted its own constitution in 1975 and union with St Kitts and Nevis formally severed in 1980.

There was a Constitutional Conference in London in 1982 to discuss the independence of St Kitts and Nevis. Despite disagreements over special provisions for Nevis in the proposed constitution, the independence process continued and was formally achieved on 19 September 1983. The objections came principally from the Labour Opposition, which until recently had dominated the administration and was still the largest party. Since 1980, however, the Government had consisted of a coalition of the People's Action Movement and Nevis's Reform Party, which held the balance of power and which the Opposition felt was instrumental in achieving Nevis's strong position in the new constitution.

Archival history: The papers were accumulated and donated to ICS by Chris Birch, a West Indian journalist born in St Kitts, and nephew of Professor Bryan King, to whom a number of the papers concerning objections to the proposed constitution relate.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: Documents relating to the achievement of independence by St Kitts-Nevis in 1983, including papers concerning objections to the proposed form of the new Government; official proceeedings of a Constitutional Conference and of the UK Parliament to grant independence; and copies of newspapers and bulletins.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

System of arrangement: The papers are grouped into three sections according to the type of document

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access:

Conditions governing reproduction: A photocopying service is available, at the discretion of the Library staff. Copies are supplied solely for research or private study. Requests to publish, or to quote from original material should be submitted to the Information Resources Manager

Language/scripts of material: English

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: A descriptive list is available in ICS Library.

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals:

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Publication note:

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2002

Interest: Caribbean

Specific group:

Subjects

Newly independent states

Decolonization

Personal/Corporate names

King, Bryan

Anguilla Labour Party

Places

Caribbean

Saint Christopher and Nevis