James Carlisle was born in 1937 in Antigua and was brought up in a relatively poor household, in which his mother struggled to bring up five children on her own – his father having been killed towards the end of the Second World War, fighting with British Forces. He had his early education in Antigua and after (he says) achieving relatively poor GCE results, he joined the RAF in the UK. He was allocated to the medical services division. It was his occasional work in the dental department, as an assistant, that started an interest in dentistry which ultimately became an obsession to be a dentist.



In life, opportunities often arise from the unlikeliest of encounters.

The then Prime Minister of Antigua had become a patient of James some years earlier and in 1993 he asked James to accept a nomination to Her Majesty the Queen, to become Governor-General. Sir James says he was astonished, but accepted and the recommendation was confirmed by Her Majesty. He sold his practice, using an advert in the BDJ, but as he did not really know exactly what the new position entailed he contracted to continue working at the practice as a dentist for half a day a week. Of course, we do not really expect Her Majesty to have another 'day job' other than Queen, so as her representative in Antigua he could not have one either and he had to give this up after a short while. then Prime Minister of Antigua had become a dental patient of James some years earlier and in 1993 he asked James to accept a nomination to Her Majesty the Queen, to become Governor-General.

So, on June 10 1993 he was sworn in as the second Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda, the first native-born Antiguan to be appointed to the office. He was appointed to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG) later that year and was invested at Buckingham Palace in July 1994. He was awarded an honorary FDSRCS from Edinburgh in 1996; and an honorary Doctor of Law from the Andrews University of Michigan for his work for the Seventh Day Adventist Church.