thumb|[[Baron Bliss Light in Belize City]]
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 British Honduras dollars to a trust fund for the benefit of the citizens of what was then the colony of British Honduras, now Belize.
Biography
Baron Bliss was born in 1869 and lived in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England as a youth. 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.
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.
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. 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, inheritance, or a combination thereof.
Bliss became paralysed from the waist down in 1911 at the age of 42, likely due to polio, and began using 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; 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.
National Heroes and Benefactors Day
Soon after his death, the government declared to be Baron Bliss Day, a national public holiday. This was later renamed to National Heroes and Benefactors Day, and is now observed the Monday closest to , unless it falls on a Saturday or it has been moved by decree. In 2024 the holiday date was 11 March.