The British Honduras' Legislative Assembly of 1854…

The British Honduras' Legislative Assembly of 1854 is to have eighteen elected members, each of whom is to have at least £2,400 sterling worth of property.

The assembly is also to have three official members appointed by the superintendent.

The fact that voters have to have property yielding an income of £27 a year or a salary of a £2,100 a year reinforces the restrictive nature of this legislature.

The superintendent can defer or dissolve the assembly at any time, originate legislation, and give or withhold consent to bills.

This situation suggests that the legislature is more a chamber of debate than a place where decisions are made.

The Colonial Office in London becomes, therefore, the real political-administrative power in the settlement.

This shift in power is reinforced in 1862 when the Settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras is declared a British colony called British Honduras, and the crown's representative is elevated to a lieutenant governor, subordinate to the governor of Jamaica.