William Hart-Bennett

William M. Hart-Bennett, C.M.G. (1861-1918) was a British government official who served overseas. He was a British colonial minister in Nassau, Bahamas and a Governor of British Honduras (now known as Belize) from January 29, 1918 to September 4, 1918, and before that was employed as Colonial Secretary of the Bahamas. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D03EFDC1F39E633A25752C3A9639C946596D6CF&oref=slogin "WIFE OF BAHAMA OFFICIAL.; Mrs. W. Hart Bennett, Who Was Lost, Prominent in Life There."] , The New York Times]

Hart-Bennett was married to Ella Mary Tuck, the daughter of Charles E. Tuck of Norwich, Ontario. Ella was an author and a prominent figure in Naussau's society. She was president of the Nassau Dumb Friends League and a member of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire. She is best rembered as the author of the book " [http://www.bol.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/an_english_girl_in_japan_1906/ella_m_hart_bennett/ISBN1-4367-7031-9/ID15950795.html| An English Girl In Japan] " (1906). Ella died in the May 29, 1914 sinking of the "RMS Empress of Ireland" at the age of 49. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D03EFDC1F39E633A25752C3A9639C946596D6CF&oref=slogin "WIFE OF BAHAMA OFFICIAL.; Mrs. W. Hart Bennett, Who Was Lost, Prominent in Life There."] , The New York Times] Bennett himself died on September 4, 1918 from injuries sustained in an August 17, 1918 fire, when a flagpole at the courthouse fell on him. [Andrew Steinhauer, [http://www.imagefactory.bz/exhibitions/exhbtnfrehstry.htm "8 of the Most Devastating Fires in the History of Belize"] ] A new building (which now serves the Supreme Court) was completed in 1926, and its clock tower memorializes him. [John Noble and Susan Forsyth, "Belize", pg 81]

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