Clement Arrindell


Sir Clement Athelston Arrindell was the first Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis, serving from 1983 to 1995, and also served as the country's final colonial governor, from 1981 to 1983.
Arrindell was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts, and educated at the St. Kitts–Nevis Grammar School, where he was top of his class in his final year. He left to study in England in 1954, and was called to the bar in June 1958, as a member of Lincoln's Inn. Arrindell returned to Saint Kitts in December 1958. He initially worked in private practice, but was eventually made a magistrate. From 1972 to 1978, he served as a senior magistrate, both in Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla and in the British Virgin Islands. In July 1978, Arrindell was made a judge of the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court. He served in the position until November 1981, when he succeeded Sir Probyn Inniss as Governor of Saint Kitts and Nevis. On independence in September 1983, he was appointed governor-general, and remained in the position until his retirement in December 1995. Arrindell was created a Knight Bachelor in June 1982, and was also later made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in February 1984 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in October 1985. He died in March 2011, after a short illness, and was awarded a state funeral.