Coakley Cay
| Coakley Cay | |
|---|---|
  Coakley Cay | |
| Coordinates: 23°26′31″N 76°0′33″W / 23.44194°N 76.00917°W | |
| Country | Bahamas |
| Island | Exuma |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0,014 km2 (5 sq mi) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
| Area code(s) | 242 |
Coakley Cay in the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas is an 340 acres (140 ha) cay, located west of Great Exuma.
It was originally granted to William Lockhart of Baronald Scotland in the 1700s. Today his heirs live in the Bahamas and the United States.
Victor George Lockhart
Captain Victor George Lockhart became the legitimate owner of this private island in the late 1960s, according to documents archived in the Surpreme Court Records of the Bahamas. Sir Wallace Whitfield, Arthur Hanna and Alexander Maillis, Sr, were the principal lawyers in making Lockhart one of the first heirs of the Loyalists to the King of England to actually claim and receive ownership of their granted lands. Captain Lockhart died at the age of 99 in 2008. He had worked as a skipper on yachts, traveling the world for Richard Bertram yacht Building, Mr. Vanstrom of Texas, and the Rockefellers. He also worked on the James Bond movie shot in the Bahamas, (Thunderball), starring Sean Connery.
Lockhart spoke Creole, Spanish and English. His mother was Mazorian Lockhart, neé Munroe. Born in 1874, she lived until 1975 Mothers Day (101 years). Today his heirs, the Lockharts, own the island in the Bahamas. At various times offers to purchase the island for over 25 million dollars have been offered for the Cay, yet it remains in the family. Captain Lockhart was also one of the founding members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) with the likes of H. M. Taylor; he was very close with Governor General Arthur D. Hanna and Sir Lynden Pindling. When Lockhart was a boy his family home was visited on many occasions by Sir Clement T. Maynard, Sir Clifford Darling, Doris Johnson, during the struggle for Majority Rule and Bahamian Independence.
Lockhart was one of the most influential members of the Mail Boat Service in the Bahamas, as captain of the famed Alice Mabel. A song, "The Mail", written by Ronnie Butler, described the importance of his work with the Bahamas Family Islands. Lockhart also worked for Shell Oil Company, sailing "The Bahamas Shell and the Coral Shell". He established the Bahama Boat Company, which partnered with Muhammad Ali and famous Bahamian actor Calvin Lockhart to supply lobster and fish for the religious organizations within the United States. Captain Lockhart was also instrumental in bringing Pineapple Slips from Cuba for the Bahamas government secretly from Fidel Castro in the early 1960s at the request of Sir Stafford Sands and the United Bahamian Party. Lockhart on numerous occasions was invited to Haiti by Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Papa Doc") and was instrumental during Castro's revolt against Batista in feeding what was known as the rebels in Cuba from Ragged Island and Inagua in the Bahamas. Captain Lockhart led an adventurous and exciting life from 1909 to 2008 between the United States, the Caribbean and the rest of the world and was a well traveled merchant marine.
Coordinates: 23°26′31″N 76°0′33″W / 23.44194°N 76.00917°W