An Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws has been conferred on Anguilla’s Attorney General, the Honourable Wilhem Bourne, by the University of Buckingham. He received the distinguished award on February 23 during the graduation ceremony for a number of students from the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Education.

Honourable Wilhelm Bourne receives degree

“I am very proud and happy that this very high honour has been conferred upon me by the university,” Mr. Bourne told The Anguillian on Tuesday this week. “It came as a surprise when I received a letter from the Vice Chancellor asking me whether I would accept the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws and of course, without hesitation, I did accept that offer.”

He expressed thanks to a number of persons who supported him over the years especially his wife Mrs. Linda Bourne and children: Sabrina and Mark, his granddaughter Milon and other relatives including his sister-in-law Janet Nearon. He regretted that his mother who would have been tremendously happy was not alive to witness the grand occasion. “I am deeply honoured that the university thought enough of me and enough of what I have achieved to honour me in this way,” he stated. “I also thank my friends at the University for their support.”

At the opening and dedication of Memorial Garden Park

On February 22, the day before being honoured, Mr. Bourne, at the request of the university, opened and dedicated a Memorial Garden to the memory of a number of persons who had been on the staff and faculty and alumni of the institution but had passed on.

Mr. Bourne graduated from the University of Buckingham in 1987 with an honours degree in Law. He has been actively associated and in close contact with the institution over the years. He is also a graduate of the High Wooding Law School of the University of the West Indies and holds a Legal Education Certificate. Subsequently, he did a number of other courses and has been a student of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in the University of London.

Asked what the honorary degree meant to him, he replied: “It means a tremendous amount to me because it is one of the highest honours that one can have conferred. If people feel so strongly about you that they would confer such an honour on you, then you would be very careful how you live and how you treat that in view of the esteem and respect in which you are held.”

Family after the ceremony

Mr. Bourne is among a long list of highly accomplished and respected academics in various disciplines who the university has honoured over the years for their scholastic ability, achievements and contribution to world society. “I am very grateful to be associated with that calibre of persons who have gone before me and I feel very responsible that I should uphold that sort of reputation,” he commented.

His acceptance speech focussed, among other matters, on the standards the university has maintained. He conveyed to the graduating students the importance of adopting the right attitudes to life and to recognise the disciplines and qualities of integrity, responsibility and accountability in order to achieve success in their careers.
Prior to coming to Anguilla in December 2006 to serve as Attorney General, Mr. Bourne held the post of Solicitor General in Bermuda, the second Law Officer there, in the Attorney General’s Chambers.

“I was very excited in coming to Anguilla and working here in this capacity,” he said. “I have had a fairly quick assimilation into the community. I wanted to do so quickly and to convey to people the importance of the role of Attorney General; how that office can benefit the public and the type of guidance that I would project, in fairness for everyone and not only for a select few, in my day to day decision-making and that my office is here to serve the entire Anguillian community.”

Mr. Bourne, who is highly regarded as a people’s person, is well respected on the island and is having much success in achieving his goals.

The Anguillian congratulates him on the honour bestowed on him and wishes him continued success.

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