W. A. Branville
McCartney
Biography
William Arthur
Branville McCartney was born in Nassau on May 6, 1967 to William and
Marina McCartney.
A 1985 graduate
of Kingsway Academy, Branville McCartney read law at Holborn Law Tutors
in London, England, where he graduated in 1989 with an LLB Honors Degree.
He is a Barrister of the Inner Temple, and was admitted to the Bar of
England and Wales and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in 1990.
Mr. McCartney
commenced his legal career with Dupuch and Turnquest. He later joined
Harry B. Sands and Co., where he became a partner. Throughout his career
Mr. McCartney served as Acting Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrate for
the Civil and Traffic Division of the Magistrate’s Court and as part-time
lecturer in Business and Banking Law at the College of The Bahamas.
In 2000, Mr.
McCartney started his own law firm – Halsbury Chambers. The firm is
known for hosting an annual free legal clinic, the only one in the country
opened to the general public. In 2003, the firm achieved membership
with the International Lawyers Network (ILN), an association of 91 high-quality,
full-service law firms with over 5,000 lawyers worldwide.
In 2002, Toastmasters
International Club 1600 honored Mr. McCartney for leadership and communication
excellence in the field of law.
Mr. McCartney
is a former Director of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and a former
Chairman of the Chamber’s Crime Prevention Committee.
At the General
Elections of May 2007, Mr. McCartney was elected Member of Parliament
for the Bamboo Town Constituency. He was subsequently appointed by Prime
Minister the Right Honorable Hubert Ingraham as Minister of State for
Tourism and Aviation. On the 1st July, 2008 he was appointed
Minister of State with responsibility for Immigration, in the Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. McCartney resigned his position as
Minister of State on the 1st March, 2010.
His hobbies
are tennis, reading and traveling.
An Anglican,
Mr. McCartney is married to Lisa Sawyer, Miss Bahamas 1989 and the proprietor
of the Meridian School at Unicorn Village. The McCartneys have three
children, Kasia, Tai, and Lawrence Khail McCartney.
