OGHM
  • Home
    • Slideshow
  • House History
    • Origins
    • Cameron Lodge
    • The 1924 Hurricane
    • Old Government House
    • New Goverment House
  • House Tour
    • Ground Floor
    • Upper Floor
    • Gardens
    • Cannons
    • Stamp Room
    • Gift Shop
  • Governors
    • Role of the Governor
    • List of Governors
    • Royal Visits
    • Commentary from recent Governors
  • Museum News
    • Upcoming Events
    • 2019 News
    • 2017/18 News
    • 2016 News >
      • 20th April 2016 - Deloitte FAS Party
      • 23rd February 2016 - New Royal Slideshow Exibit
    • 2015 News >
      • 6th June 2015 - Rotary
      • 22nd April 2015 - Appleby BVI 10 Year Celebration
      • 27th March 2015 - Farewell to Edward Bannister
      • 27th February 2015 - SHRM 10th Anniversary Party
    • 2014 News >
      • 12 December 2014 -Walkers Christmas Party
      • 1st November 2014 - 30 Year BVIOC Celebration
    • 2013 News >
      • 24 February 2013 - VISAR Gourmet Gathering
      • 16th February 2013 - Princeton Rugby
      • 17th January 2013 - Walkers New Years Party
    • 2012 News >
      • 12th December 2012 - $25,000 Donated to Museum
      • 6th Dec 2012 - KRyS Global Christmas Party
      • 8th November 2012 - Digicel 4G Launch Party
      • 22nd July 2012 - Maples host Summer Party
      • 7th June 2012 - Ogier Economic Outlook - The BVI Pie
      • 31st May 2012 - Zolfo Cooper - Farewell to William Tacon
      • 5th March 2012 - Duke of Gloucester visits the Museum
      • 15th February 2012 - Harneys launches legal textbook
      • 27th January 2012 - Walkers Open Their Busy Season
  • Publications
    • The B.V.Islader - May 1974
    • Government Information Service -1993
    • The Times - 26th August 1998
    • The BVI Welcome - November 2003
    • The BVI Welcome - January 2004
  • Contact Us
    • Visitor Information
    • Location
    • Host a Function at OGHM
    • Sponsor the Museum
    • Sponsors

cameron lodge

Picture
A change in the political structure of the colony converted the title of President to that of Administrator in 1887 to reflect the different role of the position. The first official to hold the post was Edward John Cameron who had been educated at Shrewsbury School and Clifton College. Cameron arrived in the British West Indies as Private Secretary to Sir Charles Cameron Lees, KCMG, Governor of the Bahamas; and gradually through a series of appointments rose to become Administrator of the British Virgin Islands.

In 1887, he married Eva Selwyn, daughter of Robert Mackintosh Isaacs, who was the brother of William Rogers Isaacs, the former President of the British Virgin Islands during the 1830’s. When the Camerons arrived on Tortola, the house which Sir Arthur

Carlos Henry Rumbold had occupied at the top of Joes Hill had been destroyed during the 1867 hurricane so they consequently rented accommodation on Main Street in a house which still exists today. Because Eva Selwyn’s family still owned land on Tortola, the Camerons decided to build a house close to where William Rogers Isaacs had lived overlooking Road Harbour in Sandy Bay where a military barracks had once stood. When finished, the house was named Cameron Lodge and is identified as such on a map of Tortola from 1898.

The picture above is of an oil painting by local artist Ruben Vanterpool. The painting was commissioned by Captain Hugh Whistler MBE on behalf on the British Virgin Islands Government and presented to Government House when it opened in December 2003.  Today it hangs in the living room to be enjoyed by the Governor of the day and his guests. Painted from the 1912 Fishlock photograph shown below right, it depicts Commissioner Capt OL Hancock OBE, who lost his leg in WW1 raising the Union Jack watched by his wife and two small children.

Prints of this painting can be purchased from the Museum gift shop.

A photograph of Cameron Lodge (shown here on the right) taken in 1912 shows a house constructed on the bottom floor of stone with a wooden second storey; which was reached by a sweeping exterior staircase. The building sat on a grassy hillock on the south-west side of Road Harbour close to the shoreline in an idyllic setting. The Camerons remained on Tortola for seven years until Edward was reassigned to the Turks and Caicos Islands, which he administrated until 1901.

Having left Tortola, the family sold their house to the British Foreign Office and it officially became Government House. A further seven Administrators occupied Cameron Lodge including Major Herbert Walter Peebles who was responsible for constructing the cottage hospital amongst the ruins of William Rogers Isaacs’ former great house (shown below), adjacent to Cameron Lodge.

The last Administrator to occupy Cameron Lodge was Otho Lewis Hancock, who arrived on Tortola with his wife in 1923. It was the Hancock's unfortunate experience to be present on the island when the ‘Gale of 24’ struck; probably the most vicious hurricane to hit the British Virgin Islands during the twentieth-century. It was during this storm that Cameron Lodge was destroyed, leaving the Administrator and his wife homeless. The most accurate description of the storm was written by Hancock’s wife Agnes and is reproduced in its entirety in the article titled "The 1924 Hurricane" described in the section "History".


Website by Chapman Consulting