Searching for relatives of Clifford Leslie Baron, born Barbados 1909

Can BFP’s readers assist?

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.

Judy Baron, Staffs, England

Looking for family history of Mary Piggott, Bajan buried in Liverpool

(click photo for large)

Dear readers at Barbados Free Press

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.

Dave Mattocks

Bajan-Brit author Andrea Stuart: Britain still in denial about British slavery

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…

Read a new account in Mail Online and purchase Sugar in the Blood: A family’s story of Slavery and Empire

“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.”

Those darn Bajans are everywhere – including in The Bronx

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…

… read the rest of the story at New York Amsterdam News

One British tourist’s view of Barbados history

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.

Karl Watson: Does Rihanna’s poor white ancestry have any meaning for her?

Growing up poor and white in 1950′s Barbados

“I often wonder whether Rihanna… ever thinks of or knows anything of her poor white ancestry, their specific role in Barbadian history, their heritage…and if it has any meaning at all for her.”

by Karl Watson

As in everything, the situation at the Yacht Club and Aquatic Club was more complex than it seems on the surface of a compartmentalized black and white scenario. In the early 1950′s and 60′s, the Yacht Club was definitely white with an emphasis on expatriates and upper and upper middle class Barbadian whites.

“Those with the wrong pedigree or background were blackballed.”

The Aquatic Club was mostly white or whitish (i.e. individuals with about a ten to twenty percent Afro admixture that everybody knew about, as genealogies are/were pretty well know for that class) middle class Barbadian with a sprinkling of more obvious i.e.darker mixed race individuals, but also of a middle class back ground.

Working class whites were simply too poor to be admitted…it probably never occurred to them to think of applying for membership.

“So as others have pointed out, in the simplistic equation of poor black and rich white…the fate of the poor whites is often omitted.”

From my personal experience and though we were Bayland poor, my family was not of the poorest, being blond and blue eyed did not save us from being run off the Yacht Club beach in those days. Yes, we “white” children were forbidden to walk on the Yacht Club beach. We would swim to the Aquatic Club with other friends and hold on to the steps like every one else. I almost lost an ear when one day, I made the mistake of stepping on the bridge and was unceremoniously “jacked up” and marched to the entrance to the club and thrown out. You shouldn’t do something like that to a child, but it was done to me.

Tourist writes: “History, beauty… no longer relevant in Barbados”

Tourists come for history and beauty, riches you can’t build with concrete.

by Cindy Martell, American visitor to Barbados

I am so saddened to read of the senseless loss of Sam Lords Castle. My husband and I took our honeymoon in Barbados at Sam Lords Castle when it was a Marriott property 19 years ago. We treasured every moment and the tales of Sam Lord, evil as he may have been. Sam Lords dinner was a highlight of our trip and history of the castle.

I learned of its tragic fate while researching for a return to trip to Barbados for our 20th Anniversary. I’m quite certain we will find a new special place as the history and riches that took us to Barbados originally appear to no longer be relevant. Tourists come for history and beauty, riches you can’t build with concrete.

Cove Bay, The Three Sisters and the Barbados National Trust

The Barbados National Trust is toothless because that’s the way the politicians planned it

by Manjack

It is rather so easy and opportunistic to hurl brickbats at Karl Watson (photo above) and the Barbados National Trust (BNT). But we should be mature and politic enough to recognise that the Trust cobbled together by the late Ronald Tree, the Bajan political elite and their courtiers was never meant to be a quango of serious clout to protect Bajan heritage. The politicians meant it to be toothless. It was never to be an organisation to influence public policy on behalf of Bajans and help in the retention and care of the heritage our ancestors left us.

The trust was created no doubt with the best of intentions, but it is an insignificant sham. This is a truism that the BNT surely recognise.

Karl Watson and his worthy colleagues must by all accounts be given the highest respect for what they have been able to achieve over the past years despite the restrictions imposed upon them by the big belly third rate politricksters who populate the talking shop in Heroes Square.

With the active connivance of corrupt politicians, a dysfunctioning and incompetent Town Planning Department managed by Mark Cummings who should of been sacked and replaced years ago, we have been witness to the obscene destruction of the West Coast, demolition of slave huts, rich white property developers/landowners behaving in the most contemptuous manner eg (Bjorn Bjerkman building barricades and fencing off black families in Road View/St.Peter), and the Williams brothers exploitation and crass concreting of fertile lands.

Keep the Old Indian Trail open for our children: Join the January 1st walk

UPDATED: December 30, 2010

Lots of interest. Many folks coming out for January 1st Trail Walk.

In response to multiple queries we are happy to provide more details and directions.

We will meet at the Indian Ground playing field at 3 p.m. on January-01-2011. For directions see map 001. We will have to leave latest at 3:15 p.m., as we want to finish before it gets dark around 5:30 – 5:45 p.m.

Come in good foot ware (runners or hiking boots) and with a water bottle. Our hike will be similar to the weekly hikes of the Barbados National Trust, except for the route. We will walk along the Old Indian Trail as marked on the attached map 002. The terminus will be Apes Hill. Vehicles will be waiting there to return the drivers of the participants’ vehicles to Indian Ground, so that they can drive back to Apes Hill to pick up the other members of their parties.

<Map 1<Map2

Public right of access: Use it… or lose it!

One of Richard Goddard’s ongoing battles is to keep the Old Indian Trail open to public use, especially near and across the Springhead plantation. It is a battle grounded in history: this was a public road-of-way in the days when Barbados had a vibrant sugar industry, used it for transport of crops, goods, as well as a way to church and market. The trail is almost forgotten now but for its records on old maps (see attachments, where it is traced it in red).

Kammie Holder asks why Barbados has no regulations about foreign ownership of land, water and national institutions

An alarm sounded too late?

by Kammie Holder

I am no Messiah or seer. I am no saboteur or maverick. I am but a Barbadian who seeks to exercise his right to free speech and provide feedback to those entrusted with governance. Some scoff at me for challenging the status quo rather than following the crowd blindly. My honesty is not for hire or rent just to maintain a social invite. It`s better to stand alone like a rough diamond, than stand among hypocrites like autumn leaves to be found everywhere.

We became independent 44 years ago because we felt self rule was better for us rather than governance by our former colonial master. But have we been strict craftsmen of our fate? Sadly, Barbados’ land mass of 166 sq miles with its population of approximately 300,000 persons is being lost to foreign ownership and control.

Kammie Holder: Are we fooling ourselves about being Independent?

What is your mirror image?

by Kammie Holder

Barbados as a sovereign nation became independent from Britain 44 years ago. As an island we have achieved much in the last 44 years, thanks to the foresight of our past leaders. Most Barbadians, enjoy a standard of living which is the envy of many of their neighbors and others. Free bus fare for school children, free lunch for primary school children, free health care and free education.  How much better can it get? A per capital income of $19,300 and a Human Development Index Rating of 42 out of 169 countries.

However, have our progress and successes blinded us from being strict guardians of our fate?

Barbados Police Commissioner sacked over Bridgetown fire, 1948: Colonel Oriel St. Arnaud Duke

Colonel Oriel St. Arnaud Duke ‘sacked’ over support for Chief Fire Officer

Was it Fair? Was it Just?

Hello everyone.

I retired from the Dorset Police in the UK in 2006. Their website can be found at http://www.dorset.police.uk. Although this website might seem quite impressive, it should be remembered that the force has an equally impressive budget with which to invest in its website!

I am resident in the UK, although I am lucky enough to visit the beautiful island of Barbados once or twice a year.

I am and researching my family history, and in particular my Great Uncle, who was named Colonel Oriel St A Duke and who was Commissioner of Police in Barbados from about 1939 – 1947.

Are there any people still alive who remember him or who have heard stories about him?

I know that he was ‘retired’ following a major fire in Bridgetown. I have heard that the reason for his forced retirement was because he supported the Chief Fire Officer who had been subject to criticism by the Colonial Secretary.

Barbados 1936: Happy natives dive for coins, Nazi swastika flies in Bridgetown

Critical Past archival film shows an edited version of Bajan life in 1936

Our thanks to a reader who directed us to the CriticalPast.com archives where we found some 1936 film footage of “Barbados Island” showing the way we were. Well, the way we were at least according to some American tourist who edited their home movie. Lot’s of stereotypes and a big Nazi surprise too!

David Comissiong gets it right about frivolity, entertainment and Barbados history

Remember our history – but do more than take grants and stage photos!

Photo courtesy of The Nation: Trevor Prescod at the monument in Golden Square. Prescod is probably remembering how his organisation’s carelessness and neglect destroyed thousands of irreplaceable historical documents last year.

I don’t know about you folks, but by this point in time I usually need a break from the constant late nights and too much drink. The big party seems to start earlier and end later every year – or it could be that I’m getting a little older and can’t handle it like I used to.

For whatever reason I was receptive to the message by David Comissiong in today’s Nation newspaper that we should stop the party when Emancipation Day rolls around.

Genealogy research in Barbados can be complex, but it’s worth it

Barbados Free Press received the following letter from an American reader who is having a bad experience trying to research his family roots on the island. We don’t know the people involved and we hope everything works out and soon.

They say that wherever you travel, you’ll always find a Bajan or two and we’ve found that to be true. Many folks around the world and in the USA (especially in the east) trace their family back to Barbados so there is a thriving genealogy research industry on this rock. And just like any industry, there are good people to hire and others you don’t want to talk to.

What we find a little disturbing in this reader’s account is that the researcher was recommended by the archives staff. If the staff handed out a list of 20 researchers that would be fine with us, but we all know how things work ’bout hey. The customer was probably given only one name by the archive staff. There’s a reason for that and like we say… we all know what that reason is usually about…

Barbados In Focus considers our future

“This is a toast to The Independence of Barbados. But if I might add that we as a people of Barbados were mentally independent long before we broke the chains of colonialism in 1966. And we were equally free long before we were enslaved by greed. And like in those dark days there were those not of our persuasion who aided us in the quest for our physical freedom.

The same is true today, we have to as a nation, continue to better ourselves and uphold the freedoms of our brothers and sisters. Barbados is more than the sum of its parts. On that note I wish to give thanks to the place of my birth. Join me Barbadians of every denomination, no matter what part of the world you may be, in wishing Barbados a HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.”

… from the website of Barbados in Focus

Horse Drawn Trams of Barbados

Thanks to Tramz.com and Allen Morrison for the excellent photos and article Tramways of Bridgetown, Barbados

Of Aircraft Graveyards, and rotting Bajan plantation homes

Last year I was privileged to see the photography collection of a man who worked for a time at the aircraft disposal facility at Kingman, Arizona. The photos were works of art, but so much more too. On his days off, the photographer took his camera into the cockpits of the doomed airliners and documented every switch, every scratch and what remained after ten thousand flights.

A Douglas DC6 photo showed a flight plan dropped between the seats by one “C. Moss” in 1959 that remained there until the photographer found it thirty years later. The same aircraft had a plexiglas dome installed so the navigator could take star shots in the high arctic where compasses cannot be trusted. As I looked at that photo I thought about the man who could hold a sextant steady enough in turbulence at twenty thousand feet to do any good. I admire that pilot because he was a better navigator than I’ll ever be.

Most of my friends at home don’t understand how a person can get sentimental over a junkyard for airliners that are past their useful life, but my flying friends understand immediately. The airplanes are a connection with the people, now passed on, who made the aluminum, steel and oil come alive.

I feel the presence of those gone before me as I touch a fifty-year old mixture control worn smooth by a thousand hands.

I get the same feeling when I touch the wall of the restored Morgan Lewis windmill, but with more sadness then anything when I touch some of the other crumbling bits of history around the island. When I walk the ground at Newton, I can feel the souls of the thousands who toiled and died there – but so much of what they built was deliberately left to rot.

In our haste to assert ourselves as a people and to break the chains of our colonial slave masters, we somehow decided that the structures of the plantation class were oppressive – so we let them rot.

Deliberately, I believe.

We thought that destroying the structures of the planters would somehow free us, and that is what we did.

Are we better for that?

I say that letting the plantation homes rot didn’t free us from our past. It set us adrift without the tangible bits of history that connect us to where we came from and who we are.

Robert

Special thanks to Keith Clarke of Barbados in Focus for the shot of the old mill base. A hundred years from now Keith’s photographs of contemporary Barbados will be treasured as future generations look at the past to develop a sense of who they are.