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Our People

Marcus Of The Woods

 

Marcus, a slave who had been born in St. Kitts, first drew attention in 1813 when he ran away from Hutchinson’s Estate and took refuge in the mountains. A listing of runaways that was presented to the Council, in September 1814 showed that he had been absent from the estate for ten months and was believed to have caused damage to provision grounds and three steers. He quickly gained a reputation as a “notorious runaway...

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Frederick Theophilus Williams

 

Frederick Theophilus Williams Frederick Theophilus Williams was born in St. Paul’s on the 10th November 1906. His parents were Edmund Williams, a labourer and his wife, Phoebe Ann. As a child he attended the school run by Sophia Jane Thomas and joined the St. Paul’s Parish Choir. At an early age he moved to Basseterre where he became an apprentice in the carpenter’s trade in the workshop of his brother, Charles, who was a building contractor. In...

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Sir Joseph Nathaniel France

 

Joseph Nathaniel France Joseph Nathaniel France was born on the 16th September 1907 to Thomas and Mary France at Mt. Lily, Nevis. Thomas who was a road driver and a small plot-holder sent his son regularly to Combermere School. At age thirteen, young France went to St. Kitts to spend his school holidays with relatives in New Town. But before the vacation was over he was offered a job as office boy with the St. Kitts-Nevis Universal...

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Our Places

St. George’s Anglican Church

 

ST. GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH is the largest church in Basseterre. It stands at the head of Church Street and resembles an English parish church in style. The outer walls are of heavy andesite rock and the roof is covered in slate. Like many of the buildings in Basseterre this church has had its ups and downs, often rising from ashes like the mythical Phoenix. In 1635, at the request of the directors of the Company of...

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Liverpool Row

 

Liverpool Row 2008   Liverpool Row stretches in the opposite direction from Bank Street. It heads West from the Circus. It is not clear if this street actually existed in French times. If it did, it would not have been known by its current name. Basseterre - detail from McMahon 1828 Liverpool Row was the commercial centre of Basseterre. This was where most merchants set up business. If they did not own a plantation house, they would have lived...

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Court Hou

 

When the British took over Basseterre in 1713 they slowly moved their institutions of administrations and justice from Old Road to Basseterre and more specifically to Church Street. It was not long before these early structures were outgrown by the need for space and new locations had to be found. Plans to erect a court house in the Square were first formalised in an Act passed in 1750. It was obvious even then that the building...

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Our Events

Buckley's Strike - 28 Jan 1935 (a time line)

 

Estate Workers 1934, December: The Wade Estates paid their workers a Christmas bonus of 8d per ton of cane cut. Other estates paid only 3d per ton cut. Some estates refused to pay any bonus to their workers. 1935, January: There were cane fires on several sugar estates near Basseterre. 1935, 20 Jan: Estate workers from all over the island attended a Universal Benevolent Association meeting called by its Secretary, Joseph Nathan. He advised them that since there...

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Independence 19 September 1983

 

National Flag of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis Statehood, granted in 1967 was viewed by all former territories as a transitions stage. The hope of an one independent West Indian nation had been crushed in 1962. It became necessary for the individual states to work out their own future. In the elections of 1975 the Labour Party obtained a mandate to seek independence from Britain. Discussions started in earnest in 1976 but an effective resolution of...

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An Account of the Damage to St. George's Church from the Earthquake of 1974

 

An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale occurred at about 5:55 a.m. on October 8th 1974, and did considerable damage to the St George’s Parish Church. The epicentre of this quake was some 40 miles east of Antigua, and 60 miles below the surface of the earth. The nave of the church consists of two rows of stone columns on either side. The first of these columns was separated from the east dome of...

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"In this  bright future, you can't forget your past"

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