By Monique Forbes

Guardian Features Reporter

If you ask, many Bahamians will tell you they most remember him for throwing the hour glass out of the window of the House of Assembly.

Today, Lifestyles remembers a fallen Bahamian hero and great politician who fought for majority rule and later became the first Bahamian Governor General - Sir Milo Butler.

He was born in Nassau on August 11,1906, to George Raleigh and Frances M Butler and educated at the public school at Rum Cay, the Boy's Central School, Nassau and George Washington School, Florida.

He held the strong belief that blacks, comprising 85 percent of the population, should control the government and embarked on a political career, spanning more than three decades, to bring that about.

In the 1936 elections, Sir Milo ran against the late Sir Harry Oakes and lost; the following year he ran against the late Dr K.V. A Rodgers in a by-election and won. He was unopposed in the 1942 election.

In the 1949 election he was unsuccessful, but in 1956, after joining the three-year-old Progressive Liberal Party, he won the Western District and became a powerful voice for the PLP inside and outside of the House.

Sir Milo's political career was not an easy one. In 1965, in defiance of the 12-minute speech rule, he tossed the Speaker's hour-glass through the window of the House after Sir Lynden Pindling had thrown out the mace.

Sir Milo represented The Western District up to the January, 1967 election, when he was elected for the new Bain Town Constituency.

He was appointed Minister of Health and Welfare following the general election of April 10, 1968, in which the PLP an overwhelming majority.

Sir Milo retained his ministerial post, which subsequently included Agriculture and Fisheries.

Following the September, 1972, general election in which the PLP won 29 of the 38 seats, Prime Minister Pindling advised Her Majesty the Queen to appoint Sir Milo, "an outstanding patriarch," as Governor General of The Common wealth of The Bahamas after Independence on July 10, 1973.

He was made a Grand Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George by Her Majesty of the Queen on June 13,1973, and on the occasion of her visit to The Bahamas in February, 1975, he was made a Grand Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

In late 1976, Sir Milo became ill and was hospitalised for several months. He never fully recovered and Sir Gerald C Cash was appointed Acting Governor General.

Outside of his political career, Sir Milo, an Anglican, served as a member of St. Matthew's Vestry for 17 years, six years of which he was a member of the Synod.

A merchant, he was president of Milo B Butler and Sons Limited. He was married to the former Caroline Lorette Watson of Morrisville, Long Island and was the father of nine children, seven sons and two daughters.

On January 23, 1979 at the age of 72, he died of natural causes at the Princess Margaret Hospital. His death was said to have ended an era of struggle for black majority rule. An outspoken statesman, he was on the forefront to end racial discrimination and other civil liberties.

On January 22, 1993, a bust of Sir Milo was resurrected in Rawson Square as a tribute to the national hero.

"He championed the cause of the underclass, when such an undertaking lacked popularity and offered no glamour, at the risk of invoking even the displeasure of many of his own colleagues. He extolled the virtues and humanity of those whose cause he championed, though embodied in black skin and relegated to poverty," said his grandson Franklyn Butler, during the ceremony of the unveiling of the Sir Milo bust.

Source in part extracted from Nassau Guardian Archives

Caption: HONOURED– His Excellencey Sir Milo B. Butler was honoured by some 1,500 Bahamians at the Paradise Hotel and Villas Crown Ballroom. Pictured on his arrival at the Ballroom is the Governor–General, Sir Milo Butler second from left and Lady Caroline Butler. Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling and Mrs. Pindling are at the left of Sir Milo, while to the right are Mrs. Darrel Rolle and Minister of Home Affairs Darrel Rolle. Mr. Rolle is the chairman of the committee to raise funds for the erection of a statue in honour of Sir Milo. Charles Carter was the master of ceremonies. File Photo (March 19, 1977) SIR MILO

Posted: Thursday January 22, 2004