Annual report on the Falkland Islands and Dependencies / Colonial Office.

  • Great Britain. Colonial Office.
Date:
[1957]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the Falkland Islands and Dependencies / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/96 (page 2)
    The visit to the Falkland Islands was highly successful in every way and enabled the inhabitants of this loyal Colony to welcome a member of the Royal Family for the first time since 1871. Mr. E. P. Arrowsmith, C.M.G., arrived in the Colony on 28th April, 1957, to assume duty as Governor and Commander-in-Chief in succession to Sir O. R. Arthur, K.C.M.G., C.V.O., who was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahamas. The year 1956 saw much progress in the laying of the concrete main front road in Stanley. The work was completed in 1957 and the capital now has one first-class thoroughfare. The re-laying in tar macadam of the other roads in Stanley will begin in 1958. The water filtration plant which will provide Stanley with a constant supply of clear water was begun in 1956 and neared com¬ pletion at the end of 1957. Work on Camp tracks progressed during the period and certain of the larger settlements are now linked by unsurfaced tracks, approximately 10 feet wide, which can be used by Land Rovers during dry weather. Bridges were built over a number of streams. The R.M.S. Darwin, the new vessel built by the Falkland Islands Company, Limited, and one of the Colony’s few links with the outside world, arrived in Stanley on her maiden voyage in August, 1957. With her comfortable accommodation the vessel is far superior to her predecessor, the R.M.S. Fitzroy, which served the Colony so well over a period of 26 years. The new boarding school at Darwin, completed in 1955, has proved an unqualified success and has done much to overcome the difficulties of education in the Camp. A smaller boarding school was built at Port Howard on the West Falkland but shortage of domestic staff has so far prevented boarders from being enrolled. An aerial survey of the Colony was undertaken during 1956 and 1957 by Hunting Aero Surveys. The cost was met by a grant from Colonial Development and Welfare funds. Ordinary revenue during the financial year 1955-56 amounted to £306,828, £51,940 more than was estimated. During 1956-57 ordinary revenue at £243,378 was £57,807 less than the approved estimate. Ordinary expenditure in 1955-56 was £260,348, being £27,696 more than the approved estimate and in 1956-57 ordinary expenditure at £243,476 exceeded the approved estimate by £4,326. The following table shows Colonial Development and Welfare schemes in progress during the period under review, with their appropriate numbers and titles and the amount spent on each scheme both from Colonial Development and Welfare and local funds.