Robert Symonette
OfficeSpeaker of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas
Prime ministerRoland Symonette
Lynden Pindling
Term start6 December 1962
Term end9 February 1967
PredecessorAsa Hubert Pritchard
SuccessorAlvin Rudolph Braynen
Birth date31 January 1925
Death date1 March 1998 (aged 73)
PartyUnited Bahamian Party
Robert Symonette
Full nameRobert Hallam Symonette
Classes5.5m
Show-medalsyes

Robert "Bobby" Hallam Symonette (31 January 1925 – 1 March 1998)[1] was a Bahamian yachtsman, businessman and politician. Symonette was an accomplished international yachtsman. He represented the Bahamas at five Olympic Games and won one gold, three silvers, and one bronze at six World Championships. He also served as a Member of Parliament and the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas.

Early life and family

Bobby Symonette was born in Miami[2] on 31 January 1925,[3] into a prominent Bahamian family. His father was Sir Roland Symonette,[3] the first Premier of the Bahama Islands and his mother, the former Thelma Bell Clepper of Andalusia, Alabama.

Symonette attended Queen's College and Bolles Military School in Florida, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)[3] before enlisting in the US Navy in 1944.[2] He also attended Tufts College.[3]

Sporting career

Symonette was an accomplished international yachtsman. He represented the Bahamas at five Olympic Games, at Melbourne in 1956, Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964, Mexico in 1968 and Munich in 1972.

Symonette twice won gold in the 5.5 metre keelboat event at the Sailing World Championships, in Sydney in 1980 and 1986. He also won silver at three World Championships in 1962 in Poole, Dorset, England, in 1973 in Lysekil, Sweden and in 1977 at Bénodet, France.

Symonette was a founding member of the Nassau Yacht Club and an International Yacht Racing Union judge. Symonette served as President of the Bahamas Olympic Association[4] from 1957 to 1972. In 1977, hosted the International 5.5 Metre Class World Championship and the Scandinavian Gold Cup in the waters off Key Biscayne, FL.

Business and political career

In 1952,[citation needed] Symonette was part of a group of business who bought the Nassau Guardian, one of the countries leading two daily newspapers.[5] In 1956, he was the paper's president.[5]

In 1956, Symonette was elected to the House of the Assembly.[2] In 1967, he was the UBP representative for the constituency of Exuma.[3] He served as Speaker of the House[3] from 1962 to 1967. As speaker, he wrote the House's 1964 Manual of Procedure.[6] Symonette was the Speaker of the House during the famous stoppage of Parliament when Lynden Pindling launched the speaker's mace out of the window.

In 1958, an exclusive agreement between Symonette's taxi company and the major hotels became the catalyst for the 1958 General Strike,[7] which saw the capital shut down for 3 weeks and would lead to social change in the country.

Symonette was also the Chairman of Commonwealth Bank[8] and Chair of the Bahamas First Insurance Company.[9]

Death and personal life

In 1961, he married Diana Critchley McKinney in Greenwich, Connecticut.[10] Symonette died on 1 March 1998 in Nassau.[11] He was survived by his wife and three stepsons.[11]

Symonette's half-brother, Brent Symonette, would later become Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas and Deputy Leader of Free National Movement (FNM) political party.

References

  1. ^ "www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sy/bobby-symonette-1.html". Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Carleton (August 1961). "Boatman of the Month: Foreman of the Foredeck: Bobby Symonette". Popular Boating. 10 (2): 42–46. Carrick, Robert W. (ed.). Richard Manning. – via Google Books
  3. ^ Bahamas Handbook and Businessman's Annual. Nassau: Etienne Dupuch, Jr. Publications. 1967. p. 141.
  4. ^ Barker, Philip (2012-04-15). The Story of the Olympic Torch. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-1028-3.
  5. ^ Saunders, Gail (2017). Race and Class in the Colonial Bahamas, 1880-1960. Electronic ed. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-8130-5155-0.
  6. ^ "Editorial - A Lesson to be Learned". Nassau, Bahamas: Tribune newspaer. June 8, 2009. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-07-18. – via University of Florida Digital Collections.
  7. ^ "The 1958 General Strike and the Making of the Modern Bahamas - Bahama Pundit". Bahama Pundit. Archived from the original on 2013-05-28. Retrieved 2025-07-20. The opening of Nassau's international airport in November 1957 was a significant event - but it was accompanied by an even more significant display of greed and political stupidity. A group of major hotels proposed to sign an exclusive agreement with a new taxi company set up by Bobby Symonette, the son of government leader Roland Symonette.
  8. ^ Hutchinson, Tanya (May 16, 2011). "Commonwealth Bank Continues a Tradition of Sloop Sailing Sponsorship". www.thebahamasweekly.com. Bahamas Weekly. Retrieved 2025-07-18. Commonwealth Bank Continues a Tradition of Sloop Sailing Sponsorship Commonwealth Bank’s late Chairman, Robert “Bobby” Symonette was an avid helmsman
  9. ^ "Celebrating Forty Years of 'Firsts'". Bahamas First. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  10. ^ "Entry for Robert H Symonette and Diana C Mckinney.". FamilySearch. Connecticut, Marriage Index, 1959-2001. 1960. Retrieved 18 Feb 2025.
  11. ^ "Announcements: Deaths: Symonette, Robert Hallam". The Daily Telegraph. 4 Mar 1998. p. 22. Retrieved 19 July 2025. – via Newspapers.com

See also