cameron lodge
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".
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".
