Meet 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.