Guyana is a former British colony on the South American mainland. The area was first colonised by the Dutch. Britain assumed control following the French invasion of the Dutch Republic in 1795. The London Convention of 1814 ceded part of the Dutch possessions to Britain, which from 1831 governed them as British Guiana. The economy was based on slave plantations. Following emancipation in the 1830s, Indian indentured workers were imported to supply labour. The country’s border with Venezuela has been in dispute since the time of the latter’s independence in 1824, with Venezuela claiming ownership of parts of Guyanese territory. Guyana became independent as a Commonwealth Realm in 1966 and adopted a republican constitution in 1970. Current population, c. 795,000.

Jerome Chew A Tow

Jerome Chew A Tow

Jerome Chew A Tow was born in British Guiana in the late 1930s and came to the UK when he was 18 years old on a...

David Lammy

David Lammy

The Rt Hon David Lammy MP was born in the UK to parents of Guyanese heritage. He studied law at SOAS and became the...

Sir Mark Trevor Phillips, OBE

Sir Mark Trevor Phillips, OBE

Sir Mark Trevor Phillips OBE is a journalist and business leader.  He was author of A Contemptuous Betrayal of the...

Michael Russell Profitt, MBE

Michael Russell Profitt, MBE

Michael Russell Profitt MBE was born Russell D’Anjou in British Guiana (present-day Guyana) in the late 1940s.  In...

Arthur Torrington CBE

Arthur Torrington CBE

Arthur Torrington CBE was born in British Guiana and moved to the UK in the 1960s as a teenager.  In 1996 he and Sam...