I wonder if you could help us in our search for facts about my husband’s father, Clifford Leslie Baron?
The solid facts that we know are that he was born in Barbados in 1909. His father was Clifford Rothwell Baron who married Marjorie Porrit, in Barbados, presumably in 1908. The family had trade in cotton.
At this far distance, I am not quite sure who to contact for records of Births/Marriages on the island, and hope that you may be able to help me in this.
We shall be indebted to you for any help you may be able to offer.
I am searching for any information which may be of assistance in helping locate the birthplace and ancestry of a lady named Mary Piggott, whose tombstone is in the churchyard of St George, Everton, Liverpool,UK, which states she was of Barbados, but unfortunately no information as to whether she was a resident or visitor to the UK, her place of residence before death, or familial status exists.
Here lieth the Body of
MARY PIGGOTT,
of Barbadoes, who departed this life
on the 20th day of July 1825,
Aged 57 Years. (57 or 37?)
Here the wicked cease from troubling:
and the weary are at rest.
To the present I have been unable to find any record of Mary Piggot, other than the record dating her interment at the above graveyard. However, I was intrigued to find that there was there was a slave owner called Mary Piggott in Barbados, and that there is a Mary E.Piggott primary school in Barbados, and that on neighbouring islands there also exist Mary E.Piggott streets. I was wondering if there may, however tenuous, be a link between the similarly named persons. Any information on the ancestral background of Mary E. Piggott may assist in my future search with my Liverpool Mary Piggott.
Thank you for taking the time to read my request, a little short of detail I know.
I’m hoping you or maybe some interested party may find my plea worthy of consideration.
Maybe we should have done up something special to reflect back on five thousand posts in almost seven years, over 110,000 comments by readers, over 13 million visitors and that one special day when 44,087 people stopped by Barbados Free Press and read about how our corrupt Prime Minister Owen Arthur got caught depositing a $75,000 campaign donation cheque into his personal bank account.
Instead, we thought we’d thank KFC for setting up free WiFi in seven of their thirteen restaurants because it is all the free and unprotected WiFi hotspots around this rock that have allowed us to do what we do for so many years. Without free WiFi we couldn’t bring Barbados Free Press to the people.
Back in 1837 William Cullen Bryant wrote the following as he sought to defend the rights of abolitionists to free speech. His words are as true today as they were then:
“The right to discuss freely and openly, by speech, by the pen, by the press, all political questions, and to examine and animadvert (speak out) upon all political institutions, is a right so clear and certain, so interwoven with our other liberties, so necessary, in fact to their existence, that without it we must fall at once into depression or anarchy. To say that he who holds unpopular opinions must hold them at the peril of his life, and that, if he expresses them in public, he has only himself to blame if they who disagree with him should rise and put him to death, is to strike at all rights, all liberties, all protection of the laws, and to justify and extenuate all crimes.”
Very few people really change the world, and do it for the better. Shona and I believe that Steve Jobs did.
So we had to explain ourselves this morning to our #1 son when he found us at the table. Say what you will, doesn’t matter. We miss Steve.
Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs
February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011
Steve Jobs on death and life (Steve was a Buddhist)
From his 2005 Commencement Speech, Stanford University…
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…
Sister places wreath upon grave of Barbadian Royal Air Force bombardier
Royal Air Force personnel, villagers and family members recently unveiled a memorial to the crew of RAF Lancaster bomber ED 549 that crashed near Plungar, on March 5, 1943. Six of the seven crew members died in the crash, including Barbadian Grey Cumberbatch.
Grey Cumberbatch was the eldest child and only son of Charles WIlkinson Cumberbatch and Ocatavia Ceciliy Cumberbatch née Jordan, of St. Lucy, Barbados. He was born 2nd June 1921 and baptised 34rd July 1921 as Greystone Doyle Cumberbatch at St. Lucy Parish Church. He died 5th March 1943, aged 21, when his Lancaster bomber went down returning from a mine-laying mission over the French port of St. Nazaire – a wartime base for German submarines.
Second contingent. Cumberbatch is front row, left. Barrow is back row, right.
Cumberbatch had volunteered for the RAF and was part of the ‘second contingent’ going overseas that included the future first Prime Minister of Barbados, Errol W. Barrow. Continue reading →
Chinese government officials order extra-judicial execution of protestor by steamroller
Like his predecessor, SIR David Simmons, Barbados Chief Justice Marston Gibson joined the politicians to honour China’s Communist government – celebrating with representatives of one of the most brutal and oppressive regimes on earth. (Barbados Advocate: China marks 63 years)
There is no doubt that the Chinese press will cover the appearance of the Chief Justice just as they covered and propagandized the participation of SIR David at the time he was Chief Justice. The appearance of members of the Judiciary and police officers from other countries is regularly publicized in China to enhance the sorry image of the Chinese judiciary with the masses.
The festivities were held in Bridgetown on Wednesday night to mark the 63rd Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China when Mao and his gang took over, seized all privately held lands, businesses and assets and started the world’s largest slaughter of peasants and anyone else who disagreed with the communists. During the 1950s, the ChiComs established the world’s largest slave camp system where entire families of Christians, business people and other dissidents were imprisoned and forced to work for the state. China still maintains this slave camp system where Christians and others now make consumer products including soccer balls and auto parts for China’s economy.
“I have always found it shameful that Barbados – a nation founded with the assistance of chains, whips, rape and cultural genocide – now so easily supports nations involved in slavery and human rights violations.”
Human Rights in China delivered by road building machine
The arbitrary theft of land by the communists still goes on, and that leads us to the horrific story of He Zhi Hua – a Changsha villager who was forcibly evicted from his home so the land could be given to local business interests closely tied to the communist government officials. He Zhi Hua laid down on the road in protest to prevent the construction equipment from moving in.
The response from the government officials was to order the execution of He by driving over him with a steamroller in the same fashion as has been reported in North Korean executions. Continue reading →
“The criminals threw the firebombs, but it was an irresponsible government, building owner and shop owner that made the firebombs inescapable death.”
Six died at Campus Trendz because there was no fire exit
by WSD
For the last few days the papers and the television focused upon the growing violence in our society as Barbados remembered the six young women burned to death two years ago at Campus Trendz store. That is natural because everybody knows somebody who lost a friend or a sister on that day.
The man who threw the firebomb is put away in jail for six life terms. No one knows what happened to his accomplice and speculation is that the court and government are waiting for the anniversary to pass before he is given a light sentence as part of the negotiated court deals that saw no trial.
The government authorities are happy with the press coverage because the focus is on the criminals who robbed and threw the firebomb, and not upon the other criminals who allowed our loved ones to work and shop in commercial buildings with bars on the windows and no fire exits.
The press does not discuss the fact that our six sisters died because our government, the building owner and the shop owner gambled these lives away. Nobody in government thought these women’s lives were important enough to pass a building code and laws that make fire exits mandatory. That is still true to this day.
The government, the building owner and the shop owner bet that no spark, no short circuit, no forgotten cooker would set an accidental fire. They bet others’ lives and the women lost.
Memories of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire – New York 1911
On March 25, 1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught on fire in New York City. One hundred forty six workers lost their lives when they could not escape because the managers had locked the stairwells and fire exit doors to prevent thefts. The building owners were charged with manslaughter, but were not convicted because the prosecution could not prove they knew the fire exits were locked.
In the case of the Barbados Government, the building owner and shop owner of Campus Trendz, the case is clear because there was no fire exit at all. Continue reading →
“Beer: Sparkling, golden, pure, refreshing. A beverage as old as history…”
I’m surfing the web on a Saturday morning – a little hung over from last night – and I came across this 1952 beer promotional film “As we like it”.
It’s a fantastic film of the times made some 60 years ago. I love looking at the people, technologies and the lifestyles of post-war America – but where are the ‘Negroes’ ? Where are the Chinese, Indians, dark-skinned Sicilians?
According to the vision of the United States Brewers Foundation Inc., those kinds of people don’t exist.
Still, the film is worth watching for what it shows, and what it doesn’t show.
UPDATED: August 10, 2012 – Andrea Stuart’s book now listed for sale
To be the descendant of Barbadian slaves and white British sugar plantation owners is an extraordinary legacy, for it means that one side of your family once owned the other. But that is the strange inheritance that Andrea Stuart discovered when she began to investigate her family history…
“I think that in Britain there’s still a degree of denial or an unwillingness to really confront the back story of British slavery and so on. So there’s a sense of it being something that happened sometime a long time ago in some far away place, rather than realizing that the British colonies were, at that point, Britain, that they were British territories and the connection between the colonies and Britain is incredibly intimate. Not something that happened far away and a long time ago, but something that happened in Britain in the world of British life and something that still has repercussion today, and I think that’s the thing that, as a culture, Britain hasn’t quite come to terms with.” Continue reading →
That’s a four pass Scotch marine boiler you’re looking at – made by EASCO in the Bronx, New York City, United States of America. EASCO stands for A.L. Eastmond and Sons Inc., a multi-million dollar company that is one of the largest boiler manufacturers on the Eastern seaboard. With almost one hundred employees EASCO is also the largest black-owned boiler manufacturer pretty well anywhere.
And who, really, is EASCO? Glad you asked. You see, almost a hundred years ago a blacksmith named Eastmond left his home in Barbados and headed for New York City…
Here is a wonderful piece of history and an uplifting read to start your day…
EASCO is a family and community affair
A.L. Eastmond and Sons Inc. (EASCO) has made its mark all over New York City. Chances are that the boiler in your apartment building was built by them. This successful multimillion-dollar business, started by a blacksmith from Barbados nearly a century ago, now spans three generations.
EASCO’s CEO is 85-year-old Leon Eastmond Jr. He told the AmNews how it all began in 1925.
“My dad came from Barbados and worked for other companies for several years. He bought a fleet of taxicabs. In those days, there was no permanent antifreeze and you had to let the water out of the motors at night so they wouldn’t freeze. The drivers left the water in the blocks and the motors froze overnight and cracked, making the cabs useless.
“So he said, ‘Let me go back to what I know.’ He was a blacksmith. He opened a place at 37 W. 144th St. in Harlem and began shoeing horses and putting springs in cars. He eventually bought a welding machine that you push like a wheelbarrow. After several years, he bought a welding truck…
‘Coastal Dawn’ also includes Battle of Britain Jamaican Pilot Officer Herbert Capstick
by Andy Bird, author ‘Coastal Dawn’
Dear Barbados Free Press,
Pilot Officer Aubrey ‘Sinbad’ Inniss – of No 236 Squadron in 1940 will feature in a forthcoming book entitled “Coastal Dawn” to be published this July 2012, by Grub Street Publishing, London.
“Coastal Dawn” will also feature the only Jamaican to take part in the Battle of Britain, Pilot Officer Herbert Capstick also flying with No 236 Squadron.
In 1940, the defence of Great Britain rested with a handful of volunteer aircrew, Churchill’s ‘few’. Overshadowed in later folklore by the more famous Spitfire and Hurricane pilots, there were other pilots, observers and air gunners – just as courageous – flying the Bristol Blenheim MKIV-F. The future of the country and arguably that of the free world depended also on their skill, morale and sacrifice. Remarkably little has been chronicled of these men and their aircraft – the ‘Trade Protection’ squadrons formed by Hugh Dowding – allotted to 11 Group in October 1939. The aircraft’s range and endurance made it suitable for defence of coastal shipping against attack on the southern and eastern shores of Britain, and for operations further afield. Indeed during bitter fighting casualties among Numbers 235, 236, 248 and 254 Squadron Blenheims were high on operations over Norway, Holland, France, Dunkirk and then the Battle of Britain where the Blenheims were completely outclassed by Messerschmitt 109 and 110 fighters and fell easy victims, scythed from the sky. But the record of the aircraft and their crew was an immensely proud one. Drawing on contemporary diaries, periodicals, letters, logbooks, memoirs and interviews with survivors, lauded historian Andy Bird reassesses the vital role they played and repositions it in history. In doing so, he justifiably embraces the heroes we have left behind.
About the Author, Andrew D. Bird
Born in Berkshire, England in 1962 , like many of his friends, Andrew had only one ambition during his school years, and that was to fly fast jets with the Air Force. At the age of 13 he was enrolled into the Air Cadets during which time he became friends with MRAF Sir Arthur ‘Bert’ Harris C-in-C RAF Bomber Command 1942-1945, leaving the Air Cadets in 1980. Andrew then served with the TAVR before joining the RAF Regiment. Andrew is an aviation artist as well, exhibiting his work at the Guild of Aviation Exhibition, London, his work has been shown in galleries in London, the Home Counties, and Toronto, Canada.
His first book ‘A Separate Little War’ reached the number three position in The Top Ten Best Sellers List in 2003 (Glasgow Herald & Daily Mail Weekend Magazine) it was reprinted twice in hardback. The author up-dated ‘A Separate Little War’ for the paperback edition 2008.
You don’t have to pay the usual admission If you are a cook or a waiter or a good musician So if you happen to be just passing by Stop in at the Saturday Night Fish Fry.
- Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
Martin’s Bay like a loop. A loop that curls like a noose to knot a shallow beach between a black scarred reef and a black macadam road. Potted once upon a time in the sands were singularly lean coconut trees to shelter this fragile loop of beach in a speckled shade. That was a time when fishing boats had sails. A distant loop from a distant past where the sea salt blinded ambition.
And Martin’s Bay people always lingered in my mind as having a sense of privacy that was uniquely their own. There wasn’t much land but what there was was planted with bay houses and homes held precariously together by rust and paint.
Martin’s Bay is an outpost. As far from the tourist industry as imagination can make. Not interesting enough to force the tourist buses down the loop. Not even to see the remnants of a long gone train or to hear the strains of the mythical and mystical Brumley band hiding in the wind.
Martin’s Bay today is sedate and settled but how I would like to see a Martin’s Bay Saturday Night Fish Fry on the slender beach, replete with Sam Lord’s lanterns and Julian Hunte bonfires, roast breadfruit, fried plantain, potato pickings (the extra sweet potatoes) and other delights.
In a two by four island like ours everything counts. There should be no wasteland.
Tourism has developed as an industry far removed from the rest of us. It was precious to a few, hoteliers by and large, who saw their properties as oases in a dessert of primitive yahoos. And who used to get every concession, tax free holidays as if they did tourist themselves, tourist from taxes. And to some others the historical sojourn in plantation houses with silver forks was touted as the places to see.
As far as planners and developers expect, we are to be the hewers of wood and carry water buckets on our heads forever. And regardless of how sophisticated everything appears in Barbados, there are now some sophisticated hewers of wood and some sophisticated water bucket carriers. Continue reading →
How Robert Mugabe went from a man of the people to believing that he was God’s own gift to Zimbabwe, with a singular focus on maintaining his own power.
Quotes from the documentary, “Robert Mugabe… what happened?”
“Democracy in Africa is a difficult proposition because always the Opposition will want much more than it deserves…”
…Robert Mugabe
“The man’s hands are tied behind his back with wire.”
…Documentary film maker unearthing secret graves
“What do you do to a hero or to a father who has gone wayward? What do you do? Can you discipline your hero? Can you discipline your father?”
Barbados and The Maldives are half a world apart, but more closely related than you would think. Both economies rely almost exclusively upon tourism and offshore financial institutions – and both countries target the same tourist markets in the UK and Europe.
To tell the truth, the Maldives are probably more beautiful than Barbados if sand, sun and blue water is all you have in mind. But sand, sun and the ocean is all you had better have in mind because just about everything else is prohibited in The Maldives. Some exceptions are made for tourist resorts, but even those exceptions are ending. Last December all resort spas were shut down in response to public demands for more Islamic laws and standards. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the country except for certain limited resorts.
Islam is the only religion allowed in the Maldives. Possession of a Bible, Hindu or Buddhist prayer book is forbidden upon penalty of imprisonment. Women are regularly flogged for pre-marital sex. Only Muslims can be citizens. Islamic Shari’ah law is written into the constitution.
Last week the first democratically elected government in 30 years was toppled by a coup. The new President just appointed a number of Islamic hardliners to Cabinet and the fundamentalists responded in their joy by attacking the Maldives Museum and destroying all Buddhist history exhibits, including priceless 12th century statues.
Destruction of non-Islamic history is standard operating procedure for Muslim fundamentalists. It happened in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In Afghanistan the fundamentalists lopped the heads off all statues in their museum and even destroyed the famous 1500-year old Bamiyan Buddha statues, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So don’t go to The Maldives and expect to see any history outside of Islam – you’ll be greatly disappointed.
What does the Maldives coup mean for Barbados tourism?
While we’re sorry that The Maldives is moving back to the 7th Century brutality and darkness of Islamic rule, it is apparently happening with the support of the exlusively Muslim citizenry. The instability, unfriendly laws and Islamic supremacist attitudes will undoubtedly have negative consequences on the number of UK and European visitors to the islands – and Barbados should be in a good position to pick up some new business. Barbados is a wonderful, welcoming country with lots more to see and do than just sitting on the beach.
Business is business and while our competition is destroying itself, our Barbados Tourism Authority should be actively promoting our product in the same tourist markets as Barbados better than the Maldives in so many ways.
The Maldives coup and rise of Islamic fascism in the islands will cause many tourists to reconsider their Maldives vacations. Many will be going someplace else and our BTA should be working hard to ensure that “someplace else” is Barbados.
Should Barbados look to Germany and the Holocaust camps for guidance?
by John Slapp
I have visited Barbados many times over the past years and each visit is preceded by excitement at the prospect of reacquainting myself with friends made in previous years and the beauty of the island.
This excitement is, however, tempered by the knowledge that Barbados has denied and neglected its history, both architectural and human, in favour of the “Luxury Dollar”.
Architecture
Walking around Bridgetown one is struck by the number of neglected historical buildings left to rot and decay. Just one example of many is the Eye Hospital. There are many more. They are treated no better than the eyesores of empty hotels along the Boardwalk.
The Garrison area is one shining light, however Needhams Point, with its guns rusting in the sea, is now a part of the Hilton, for goodness sake! An example of the Dollar being more important than Heritage. It also seems that the Gun Collection in St Ann’s Fort is a national secret if direction signs are anything to go by.
Driving around the island one comes across many old sugar mills and boiling houses. Maybe I am at fault but I have yet to see one restored to give visitors an idea of what they were like. A few days of cane crushing at Morgan Lewis is commendable but hardly inspiring.
I could go on and on, but I think that you get the point.
Human
Barbados has a history. Much as we all wish it had been otherwise the fact remains that slavery, both white and black, is a major part of this history. Continue reading →
Building tourism upon the dark history of slavery… slavery that inspired rebellion and a soaring quest for freedoms and rights.
by Passin Thru
For the last few days the local Bajan news media has been full of stories about the Oistins Charter. Our illustrious government says the country will be establishing itself as a heritage travel destination and our Prime Minister (what’s ‘is name again?) emerged from the martini lunches at the Hilton to do some photo ops. (See Barbados Today here and here)
Heritage tourism is a good idea – maybe a great idea – as studies show that tourists need more than sun, sand, sex and rum to get excited about a destination. But while some of us move to recreate and enhance our Bajan brand with history and heritage travel, others were busy destroying the architecture of one of our oldest structures.
According to Karl Watson on his Facebook page, the oldest existing building in Bridgetown was built around 1650 – and last week the new owners decided to “renovate” it by filling in some of the roofline with concrete. This happened at the same time that the government was saying wonderful things about heritage tourism.
Herein is the lesson about “saying” and “doing”: wonderful pronouncements from our Prime Minister and other elected representatives are not reality.
Words are not laws or enforced standards. Words are not deeds. Saying words, however inspired, is not taking action. Promising to do this or protect that does not make it so.
That is the problem with Barbados and that is the problem with the wider Caribbean: we citizens are told what the government plans or says it plans, but we never follow up to see what the government really does or accomplishes. In the old days we accepted the falsehoods in exchange for tinned beef, biscuits and a smash of rum or whisky. Now we trade our acceptance of obvious falsehoods for what?
What do we gain by nodding and repeating in a zombie-like fashion “Oh Yes! We will be a heritage travel destination!”
Who can hold the government accountable or judge performance when the most basic of financial expenditures remain secret because our politicians deliberately failed to pass a Freedom of Information law?
The Oistins Charter is the latest government fashion!
The Charter of Barbados was signed at the Mermaid Tavern, Oistins, on 11th January 1652 and ratified by the Assembly on 17th January 1652. It predates the US Declaration of Independence but contains an Article much treasured in the US…
As entered in the Charter of Barbados:-
3. That no taxes, customs, imports, loans or excise shall be laid, nor levy made on any the inhabitants of this island, without their consent in a General Assembly.
In the US Declaration of Independence this clause reads:-
There shall be no taxation without representation.
Barbados can be a world-class heritage tourism destination: but only if we stop destroying the physical evidence of our history. Perhaps fifty years ago Bajans – black, whitish and in between – made a decision to let the physical reminders of slavery rot and vanish. Walls, plantation houses, public buildings and books were offered as sacrifices to the concept that if we destroyed the relics we could forget or change history.
What a travesty! How wrong we were… and here we are today being force to “recreate” buildings and places like the Mermaid Tavern where the Charter of Barbados was signed.
Bajans must watch our representatives carefully to see that they really mean what they say. We should not accept any excuses. The truth is: I don’t believe Prime Minister Stuart. I don’t believe he and his government mean what he said, nor that the government will do what he said he would.
Mende Nazer
Shin Dong-hyuk
Simon Deng
