ARON

ISS
tted to Ms. Sabina

tted by: Jayden

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 Baron Bliss

Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, 4th Baron Bliss, commonly known as Baron Bliss (16
February 1869 – 9 March 1926), was a British-born traveller who willed nearly two
million Belize dollars to a trust fund for the benefit of the citizens of what was then the
colony of British Honduras, now Belize.

Biography

He was born Henry Edward Ernest Victor de Barreto and lived in Marlow,
Buckinghamshire, England, as a youth.[1] His father was Henry Aldridge, who inherited
the estate of his uncle Edward Bliss of Brandon, Suffolk, a manufacturer of flintlock
mechanisms for guns,and changed his surname to Bliss under the terms of his uncle's
will.[3] In 1855, Henry Bliss inherited the estate and title of his cousin the Baron de
Alreyo of the Kingdom of Portugal, although he was styled the Baron de Bliss due to the
conditions stated in his uncle's will.[4] In June 1869, he was granted another bequest
from Colonel Carlo Antonio Barreto of the Kingdom of Spain, with the stipulation that he
change his name to Barreto, and he did so in spite of the earlier limitation from his
uncle.
Henry Edward Ernest Victor de Barreto was an engineer by trade and on the death of
his father in 1890, became the 4th Baron de Barreto.
However during the First World War he reverted to his family name of Bliss, and was
known afterwards as Baron Bliss. He was apparently successful in his career, but it is
not known how he obtained his fortune, whether due to business acumen or inheritance,
or a combination thereof.
Bliss became paralysed from the waist down in 1911 at the age of 42, likely due
to polio, and was confined to a wheelchair. Despite this, he remained active. He was
apparently an avid sailor, but had his yacht confiscated for war purposes during the First
World War. When the war ended, he was wealthy enough to retire to a lifetime
of fishing and leisure, so to that end he ordered a new 120 ft twin screw yacht from the
famous Scottish yacht designer Alfred Mylne, which he christened Sea King II. In 1920,
he sailed the yacht to the Bahamas, where he stayed for five years. Meanwhile, his wife
Baroness Ethel Alice Bliss stayed in England, living off a portion of his fortune. The
couple had no children.
Although he had some property there, he eventually grew tired of Bahamanian society
and decided to move on. Leaving the Bahamas behind, he sailed to Trinidad and was
there for a short while when he came down with a serious bout of food poisoning.
[1]
 Deciding to accept a previous invitation from his friend Willoughby Bullock, who was
then Attorney General of British Honduras, he sailed westward, stopping briefly
in Jamaica likely for medical attention, and arriving in the Belize City harbour on 14
January 1926.
Bliss's health appeared to improve over the next few weeks, and he spent much of this
time sailing around the area in his launch, exploring the coastline and fishing. However,
just days before his 57th birthday, his health took a turn for the worse, and doctors
advised him that he was terminally ill. It was at this time that he decided he would leave
the bulk of his fortune to the country, and signed a new draft of his will, dated 17
February. Several weeks later, he died on his yacht, never having landed on the Belize
mainland. He was buried in Belize City, in what is now known as Bliss Park. This was a
temporary arrangement, and he was later interred in a granite tomb near the sea, with a
lighthouse nearby, built with funds from his estate. The burial instructions were explicitly
stated in the will.
Baron Bliss day
The 9th of March is known in as Baron Bliss Day and has been set aside to
commemorate the memory of its biggest financial benefactor.