Sheri Veronica – As school children in Barbados we were taught to hate Jamaicans

“Respect Jamaicans”

by Sheri Veronica

THE TRUTH IS, we were taught to hate JAMAICANS.  As a little girl in primary school, our teacher taught us that Barbados was the jewel of the Caribbean.  We were taught that any mad/crazy slave or any slave who could not take instructions, were shipped off to Jamaica.  This was the mandate, I supposed in my little head (or was that taught to me also), of every Caribbean island.  Send the mad and **aggressive slaves to Jamaica.  Then as time passed and you start to see clearer, meet people and question things, you soon realize that the insurgent slaves were the brave ones.  They were the men and women who could not be broken…

… continue with a good read at Sheri Veronica’s blog

Reader asks for assistance in planning a Barbados Red Legs tour

Dear Barbados Free Press

I will be coming to Barbados in February, 2015. I’ve always wanted to visit as I have an interest in the Red Leg people and the history of the Irish who were sent to Barbados by Oliver Cromwell.  I hope to take back a tour group with me in 2016 to show them the island with particular emphasis on its Irish history. I’m wondering if there are any locations that I could visit that might have some connection with this history and with the descendants of the Red Legs.

(Name withheld by editor)

AN ESTIMATED 50,000 “white slaves” were transported from Ireland to Barbados between 1652 and 1657. Having succeeded in recruiting Irish men to die in the services of France, Spain, Poland and Italy, Cromwell turned his attention to others – men and women press-ganged by soldiers, taken to Cork and shipped to Bristol where they were sold as slaves and transported to Barbados.

… see BFP’s article Irish Times: Most Barbados Red Legs have bad or no teeth.

Independence Day: Emera wants 100% of Barbados Light & Power

Four years after Emera Incorporated bought majority interest in Barbados Light and Power, we look back to our 2010 Independence Day article where we asked…

“Should we sell Barbados Light & Power to the Canadians?

Good for Barbados, or selling the family silver?”

All these years later… what do you think folks? Did we do the right thing selling BL&P to the Canadians?

Barbados Free Press

Should we sell Barbados Light & Power to the Canadians?

Good for Barbados, or selling the family silver?

by West Side Davie with Cliverton

Independence Day is a fitting time for Bajans to consider the difference between dreams and goals, and the difference between blind celebration and a grounded perspective on reality. For too long we have celebrated November 30th with much flag waving and remembrance of the heady days of the 1960’s – but little serious consideration given to where the good ship Barbados is sailing now and how the machinery is holding up.

We dance and sing about how we love the ship and what a good ship it is (and it is too!) – but I fear we’ve been putting off some needed maintenance and refitting because it’s easier and cheaper to slap on a coat of paint and say “It still looks good!”

Indeed, it could…

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Looking ahead to Barbados 50th Independence Celebration

In plenty and in time of need…

For all our current economic problems and the failures of a corrupt political class to provide principled, unselfish leadership over the decades, Barbados on our 48th National Independence Day is still a country and a society to be envied.

Millions of people from countries around the world would get down on their knees and thank God if they were blessed enough to have had their navel string buried in Bajan soil. Stand still anywhere on this island for ten minutes and take it all in: even inner B’town’s worst is only a short walk from the salt water and beauty.

And isn’t that the truth? No matter where you are in Barbados you are only a minute or two from beauty the likes of which people from other countries spend thousands of dollars to see and experience for a few days.

The beauty of these fields and hills though, is nothing compared with the beauty of our people, our children and the ordinary folk who give Bim its character and reality.

It is true that we should be worried about the excesses of celebration for lowered achievements and about some of the youth whose activities could not be more ‘un-Bajan’ – but despite these things, can you not ask for assistance from a stranger on this island and still receive a helping hand? Of course you can!

Try that in New Jersey, or Soho. Been there, “have the t-shirt” as they say.

We naturally focus upon the decades, and our 48th anniversary is an uninspiring number compared to our 45th or our 40th. Remember our 30th? Remember the rains and no one cared? Soaked or not the party went on for three days. A bit different from these last two days, yes?

Admittedly things back then looked a bit brighter economically, but it was more than that: the mood was about us as a nation, about our wonderfully rosy future. About us as a people.

A short two years from now and we will be facing our 50th year as an independent, fully sovereign nation.

The question we should be asking ourselves now is not “How shall we celebrate our 50th?”, but “What do we want Barbados to be on our 50th, and what should we do to reach that goal?”

Wycliffe Hall Oxford University looking for a portrait of Lodge School principal Harry Beaujon Gooding

Dear Barbados Free Press,

I am Clerk of Works at Wycliffe Hall, a theological college, part of Oxford University, England.

I am undertaking a project to have all our former principals portraits hung in our main foyer. I have been unable to locate any portrait of Harry Beaujon Gooding who I believe was a former principal at the Lodge School, Barbados.

I have been unable to contact the Lodge School, and would appreciate assistance.

Kind regards

Phil

Phil Chapman
Clerk of Works
Wycliffe Hall
52-54 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 6PW
Tel: 01865 274219
E-mail: maintenance (AT) wycliffe.ox.ac.uk

Jodie Kidd stages Yarico: “The shame of slavery in the Caribbean”

“The story has its origins, however, in around 1650, when traveller Richard Ligon met a female Amerindian slave in Barbados and returned to England to write A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados, telling of “poor Yarico” who “for her love, lost her liberty”.

It’s a musical. Don’t know what to think about it because I haven’t seen it, but I lost my liberty for love one time. Lost a house too.

Somehow, I don’t think that’s what they are talking about in Yarico.

Jodie’s quotes in the Guardian are interesting because they totally ignore the issue of white historical privilege in Barbados.

Yes… we’re free, but the old boys still control the money and the economy… and where they don’t, the new black political elites are gaining fast. The ordinary man, especially the light skinned mixed-race man, has not progressed in Bim since about 1960. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Robert, BFP

“When I was at school in Barbados I did learn about the history of the island, but there was not much sense of a racial problem when I was growing up because it is such a modern island and has people from all over the world coming in and out all the time,” she said. “More than any other of the islands in the Caribbean, it has always been super popular. So when it came to racial conflict, I didn’t really get to see any one incident of it as I grew up.”

Jodie Kidd quoted in the Guardian article, Jodie Kidd brings story of love and slavery to the London stage

A bit ‘o Barbados history: Walter Tull, first black British Army officer died at Somme Valley, France 1918

“There were military laws forbidding ‘any negro or person of colour’ being commissioned as an officer, despite this, Walter was promoted to lieutenant in 1917.”

Royal Mint to issue coin to honour the first black British Army officer

Walter Daniel John Tull was born on April 28, 1888 in Folkestone, Kent, England – the son of Barbadian carpenter Daniel Tull and Kent-born Alice Elizabeth Palmer. Orphaned at about seven years old, he was raised in an orphanage. The start of World War I found Tull doing quite well as a professional footballer, but he volunteered to serve and in 1916 fought in the Battle of the Somme, rising to the rank of Sergeant.

You have to understand that a negro/person of colour was not allowed to command white soldiers, but because of the need and Tull’s talent and earned respect, he was placed in charge of white soldiers and eventually promoted to lieutenant.

Tull was machine gunned to death on March 25, 2918. According to reports, several of his men (white soldiers all) tried to recover his body but could not due to the battle. His body was never found and Tull remains on the field of battle with thousands of his comrades.

There are efforts to recognize Walter Tull with a statue or a belated medal, but perhaps the best recognition is for Bajans to tell his story to others.

For the interested, here is where you can find a little more depth and details…

Wikipedia: Walter Tull

Walter Tull Sports Association: Who is Walter Tull?

The Guardian: Walter Tull, the first black officer in the British army, to feature on £5 coin

Our thanks to our old friend Christopher for reminding us of Walter Tull.

Sam Lord’s Castle – A request for information about George Cunningham Cook, died in 1928

George Cunningham Cook. (1871-1928) Commander Royal Canadian Navy, Superintendent and representative of a the Canadian Government Merchant Marine (CGMM) in Barbados.

by Jonathan Bryan

Unfortunately, I never knew of Sam Lord’s Castle until this year, four years after it became a camp fire and opportunity to make s’more’s or charcoaled hot dogs. The pictures are amazing. The Castle must have been quite the experience in first person, and I can’t help but feel empty for what could have been. Reading the comments of many about their visit is inspiring for me though…….but you might ask yourself, why do I have any feelings for the place at all?

Well, besides being a lover of the historical, I am a genealogy researcher, live in Virginia, USA, and through my research, have been introduced to the former edifice. My wife’s had a ‘cousin’ who passed away while living in the Castle on November 21, 1928. Was he renting or owner? I’m not sure, not having access to deed information. If he owned it, what happened after he died? This cousin was George Cunningham Cook. He was a Commander in the Royal Canadian Navy, a Superintendent and representative of a the Canadian Government Merchant Marine (CGMM) in Barbados. He would often travel from Halifax, NS, Montreal, Que, and St Phillip, Barbados. Sadly, he died young due to complications of an explosion on board a steamship a few months later. He was 57, leaving a wife, Lilly, and son, George Elliott Cook (born 1901).

When George C. Cook passed away, he was buried next to Lord family tomb. That further leads me to think he may have been owner of Lord’s Castle at the time of his death. His headstone is located in St Phillips Parish Church cemetery. I don’t know where Lord’s tomb is, but would love to have a photo of George’s stone and any family buried with him.

Would anyone mind looking into Mr. Cook there in Barbados? Any photo’s and info could be posted here.

I must give credit to a fellow researcher, Patricia Lumsden, who provided much of the info I’ve shared.

(BFP Editor’s note: see book “Cook Descendants – Inlaws and Outlaws” by Patricia Lumsden)

Will Owen Arthur write his memoirs?

Who will write our Caribbean history?

By David Jessop

As far as I can determine, few if any of the current group of Caribbean Prime Ministers, or opposition leaders keeps a diary recording events and conversations of importance. Moreover, on demitting office no longer does there appear to be any desire to produce an autobiography or even encourage a biography explaining the detail of their experience in government or in politics. The same holds true for the private sector.

Unlike their counterparts in other parts of the world senior Caribbean figures either do not have the time, or they lack the desire to explain to history what drove them, or the reasons why decisions, domestic, regional, or international were taken or avoided.

It was not always so. Many internationally respected figures in the region’s past, including Michael Manley, Errol Barrow, and Edward Seaga, and some who came before, either wrote about their experience, their philosophy, or to a lesser extent their exchanges with colleagues and regional counterparts; while a small number of others, with or without permission, have published books about regional figures.

Some like the late Tom Adams and a few of the region’s diplomats carefully recorded while in office the events and conversations that changed the region; but almost without exception, these private records have yet to see the light of day.   

A Bit of Barbados History: 1855 letter to W.W. Somerville, 69th Regiment of Foot in Barbados

  (click photo for large)

by Cliverton

There was a time on this rock when governments, both colonial and post-independence, did everything they could to erase every vestige of our origins. It was almost as if some people thought we could progress only if we forgot about the past. What foolishness!

Our government left gorgeous plantation houses and noble public buildings to rot – forgetting (or maybe not forgetting) just who built these structures: slaves and the children of slaves. Not satisfied with destroying historical buildings, they also let the humidity, salt air and rot take care of books, letters and historical objects. The destruction was so long term and widespread that it simply must have been deliberate.

It is true to say that much of Barbados history has faded away irrecoverably – gone forever.

So it is that when I see a tangible bit of Bajan history I get excited, because I know that with a little bit of work on the internet I will discover so much more about this piece of soil where my navel string is buried.

Today’s discovery is offered by Scotia Philately – a letter to Medical Doctor W. W. Somerville of the 69th Regiment in Barbados, West Indies postmarked September 2, 1855 at Plymouth and stamped received in Barbados on September 21, 1855. That’s nineteen days from England to Barbados, a distance of 3504 nautical miles for an average speed of 7.5 knots postal stamp to postal stamp. Meaning that the Royal Mail sailing vessel probably averaged over 10 knots on the journey. Clippers (fast sailing vessels on the mail and opium runs) could easily make 13 or 14 knots and maintain that speed in all but the worst weather.

Who was Doctor Somerville and why was the 69th Regiment of Foot in Barbados? (or “Barbadoes” as it was then called.)

Prince of Wales who later betrayed his duty, disliked Barbados, found ‘coloured population revolting’. That’s okay, we didn’t care much for racist Edward VIII either!

(HMS Renown, Barbados 1919 – click photo for large)

‘There are over 170,000 of them the white population is very small and they aren’t much to look at all too deadly dull and of course depressingly primitive.’

Local scenery ‘ugly’, ‘coloured population revolting’, Barbados a ‘bum place’

… Edward VIII, Prince of Wales, talks about Barbados and Bajans in letters to his friend’s wife in the Mail Online

Royal adulterer wrote to his mistress – who was someone else’s wife

Edward VIII with Mistress, MRS Freda Dudley-Ward and friend, William Dudley-Ward (click for large)

It takes a special kind of man to be photographed with a friend – knowing that you are secretly banging his adulterous wife.

Apparently the spoiled royal brat Edward VIII was that kind of man.

Edward was also a vile racist, according to recently offered letters written by the then Prince of Wales on a goodwill tour to Barbados in 1920.

Concern for his fellow man? Empathy? Ha! When a man was lost at sea on the HMS Renown (history link), Edward wrote to his friend’s wife: “Of course one man’s death means nothing.”

The little shit later went on to abdicate his throne and duty to Britain and the Empire for another piece of quiff – American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

When I think of all the good he could have done in his life, or at least could have tried to do, and how self-centered his choices were – Edward VIII seems nothing but a pathetic excuse for a man.

Reading his letters, as a proud Bajan I can say that Edward VIII wasn’t fit to clean Bajan toilets, let alone be our monarch.

contributed by Passin thru

How Bridgetown built the economic foundation of the British Empire – only to be discarded when the profits were gone.

Slavery Reparations have never interested me because I know that whatever we receive will never be enough for the victims class, and that anything we do receive will be stolen by the political class. No reparations will ever touch my hand. No amount of reparations will provide a steady flow of clean water from my pipes or establish a modern sustainable economy.

Britain could pay us 10 billion pounds and not one new hospital bed or surgery will appear at that slum we call the Queen Elizabeth Hospital – or anywhere else. A trillion pounds will not erase the arrogance of government employees towards citizens, nor will it cure the ‘Island Time’ syndrome that makes foreign business investors run like mad from the Caribbean once they get over the rum, sun and sand.

Barbados is incapable of receiving and delivering reparations honestly and effectively for the general good.

Whose fault is that? I’m not sure, but I do know that at one time Barbados was the driving economic force and secure military base that built and maintained the British Empire.

Whatever Tristram Hunt has written in his new book Ten Cities that Made an Empire, he’s probably 50% correct and 50% nonsense. After all this time, who can say?

But I look forward to the read.

Cliverton

Ten Cities that Made an Empire by Tristram Hunt, review: ‘enthralling and compelling’

A fascinating account of 10 cities that were shaped by, and helped shape, British rule

Bridgetown, Barbados has always held a particular appeal for the British. The legacy of empire is all too apparent, and is, indeed, exploited for tourists. The series of historical attractions based on Plantation House present, as Tristram Hunt writes, “a sepia version of the colonial past”. Nostalgia for cricket, rum cocktails and the old plantation lifestyle trumps the blood-drenched history of slavery on the island. Bridgetown is a modern city, but the colonial memory continues to reverberate. 

Time for the Barbados Museum to stop hoarding! Must become an active worldwide promoter of Barbados History… and of Historical Tourism

Barbados Museum & Historical Society suffers from a Hoarding Mentality

Submitted by BMHS longtime member Sinsten Merriweather (BFP editor: as contrived a name as we’ve every seen!)

The Barbados Museum’s website claims they have a collection over half a million ‘artefacts‘ (yes, that’s how they spell the word to the world online) that “tells the story of the people of Barbados and preserves our history for future generations.”

“Indeed, our history is preserved for future generations because none of the current generation can access it.”

… BFP’s Cliverton

The Museum has photos of precisely 19 of those 500,000 artifacts displayed online, with no explanation, description or provenance attached.

Do you want to know what the Barbados Museum has in inventory that might interest you? Well, don’t look for a list or a working searchable database online – you’ll have to email Mrs. Marcia Griffith and in a few days she might (or might not) get back to you with further clarifications. God forbid that the museum actually put a database online where people can search for topics, historical periods, artifacts and documents that interest them!

And half the time the existing website (as limited as it is in vision and function) doesn’t work, or maybe sometimes might perhaps work… if, sort of.

Missing: A vision of Telling the History of Barbados to the world

What is the Mission Statement of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society? Your guess is as good as mine and I’ve been a member for over ten years. If I had to guess, I’d say that the mission of the BM&HS is to do whatever the current management, staff and Board desire as their whim without reference to any written mission statement.

It is true that in the last ten, and especially the last five years, the leadership have done some wonderful things with little money. In particular some of the bus tours of the island (not many recently though) awakened a thirst for Bajan history amongst some of the young people.

But…

… the Barbados Museum is falling down disastrously in making history accessible to the people. In this day, that means online – not just certain items displayed in a glass case to those who visit a physical building. The mission statement should be to make Barbados history available to anyone around the world, instantly, and in so doing to encourage people to take an interest in Barbados and to visit our country (and to spend their money while doing so!)

What the Barbados Museum should be  

Barbados Red Legs flag – A symbol of cultural affirmation

Barbados Red-Legs can now boast their own cultural flag

“I know as an outsider, no symbology can be foisted onto another culture;

yet my humble offering might spark the imagination of someone who is from there, and inspire some movement toward cultural affirmation.”

contributed by Three-fold Now

The Red Legs are a cultural community in the Caribbean island of Barbados. They are descendants of Irish and Scottish indentured servants—some forcibly enslaved by Cromwell—and remain as “poor whites” in what is otherwise a predominantly Afro-Caribbean nation. The performer Rihanna claims some family ties to this Irish-Barbadian lineage. 

Graves Of Barbados – Respect and Love For Our Families, Our Friends and Our History… Or NOT!

More discarded human bones, coffins at Barbados Cemetery

Updated June 18, 2014

Once again it’s time to report on the latest indignities to buried friends and relatives. Every six months we read of another ‘find’ in this churchyard or that: human skulls, coffin parts, bones of the dead still dressed in their burial clothing. The latest is in The Nation: Relative jolted by scene at cemetery.

We’ve destroyed all the historical buildings we can on this rock. Practically nothing remains of our slave history.

Practically nothing remains of the military forts and bases that ringed this island right up to the cold war. Now we destroy our generational history and disrespect our friends and family members. Every person for themselves! Full speed ahead with that new iPhone or Samsung big screen handset! Fancy trucks! Party Party Party!

And cast the bones of the dead on a heap of garbage.

That’s our modern Bajan culture.

Here are BFP’s prior reports on this phenomena…

Barbados Free Press

UPDATED: October 11, 2012

Six skulls, bones, body parts found in open graveyard pit

With Monday’s discovery of an open pit containing burned skulls, bones and other body parts at the Christ Church Parish Church, our thoughts immediately turned to a previous article by our own Robert.

Sad. So sad. And what does it say about us?

Somebody should lose their job over this, but you know that’s never going to happen.

Here is the current story from the Nation, and then BFP’s original story…

Shocker in Christ Church graveyard

Mourners attending a burial in the Christ Church Parish Church’s cemetery on Monday evening were mortified when they stumbled upon a hole containing burnt skeletal remains.

An upset woman told the MIDWEEK NATION that they were disgusted by the sight in the graveyard.

“I counted at least six skulls and I could see teeth, hair and bones and what appeared to be…

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Was a bribe paid to Town and Country Development Planning Office?

Were promises made?

by passin thru

We know how it is on this rock. How many examples do we have of historical buildings rezoned and torn down before anyone knows? How many examples do we have of land-use changes that are pushed through on a Friday afternoon with no notice, and often in opposition to common sense? One of those ‘unexplained’ land use changes murdered a family, or have we forgotten?

This time another historical was building torn down without notification and in the middle of controversy.

Was someone in the Town and Country Development Planning Office paid off? Was a promise made?

We know how it is on this rock, and my stomach turns every time I see another ‘mistake’ by which somebody profits.

To HELL with them all. My anger is righteous because the rule of law is nothing in this place. If I could only get a green card I would be gone.

Landmark torn down

“We were working with a number of Government agencies to secure this building,”

“The only difficulty we were aware of, in terms of its safety, was its balcony that was overhanging the road. The fact that we got to this stage – that an historic building was demolished without any notification being given to either the National Trust or anyone else – it shows a huge failing in the system,”

The fact the building was delisted by the Town and Country Development Planning Office “for no viable reason for which a building should be delisted” was worrying, but delisting was still of no merit since it was in the World Heritage Site.

“It should have come under consideration. It is a serious matter to demolish one of these buildings,”

… Peter Stevens, Vice President of the Barbados Historical Garrison Consortium Inc. quoted in The Nation

Political, religious, race-based agendas and fears are destroying our historical records

Successive Barbados governments have been talking for at least twenty years about the need to protect our historical places, buildings and written history with laws and actions – and then offering that heritage as part of our tourism.

Yup, they have been talking about it for years. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk – and not much else. Matter a fact, successive governments have chosen a fast buck or neglect every time over spending money to preserve and restore.

So this week was no different when Tourism Minister Richard Sealy said all the right words in front of first conference of Caribbean National Trusts and Preservation Societies. And words are about all that will be done until the next conference.

“Where’s the plan, Minister? Where’s the budget? Where’s the money put aside in your government’s budget for historical preservation?”

Words are all the DLP and BLP governments offer.

Here is an article we first published back in 2010, where our old friend Jim Lynch explains one of the reasons that we never seem to act to preserve our heritage, only talk. Maybe Mr. Sealy might read it…

Barbados Free Press

Our old friend and retired “Twotter” pilot Jim Lynch loves to preserve Barbados history and is a treasure-trove of information and advice for those seeking to learn about their Caribbean ancestry. He has published some very special books that will occupy you for weeks if you get one in your hands. Two years ago we covered his work in our article Old Barbados Newspapers Are A Treasure Of History.

Today Jim stopped by BFP and left the following comment that we think is worth a few minutes of your time.

Thanks, Jim! (I think the photo is about 25 years old, but you haven’t aged a bit, have you?) 🙂

I have been commended – and abused – in the past for saying what others think but refuse to put into words.

In Barbados, as in other Caribbean islands (and indeed in other parts of the world), records are destroyed…

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1967: When sailing the Atlantic to Barbados was a big thing…

(click photo for large)

Dear Barbados Free Press,

I hope you can help me with this request, as I  don’t really know where to start…

My Dad is the handsome young chap (then !) on the front of your newspaper (January 5, 1967)

I would love to get a better quality copy of the photocopy I have and get it framed for Fathers Day this year…

Do you have the original version please, its very poor quality the version I have… He would be totally thrilled, he tells us stories about his crossing and how the Bajan folk swam out and greeted their boat in Bridgetown and threw bottles of rum on the deck etc it was quite a feat in those days with no navigation tools to speak of etc

If you can please let me know either way that would be lovely.

Thank you very much!

Samantha Grimsteed

BFP Editor says: Hello Samantha! Wonderful story but you have the wrong newspaper. Try the Barbados Advocate: letters@barbadosadvocate.com