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the stories of our proud and friendly people, our charming and colourful villages, our fascinating ruins, our intriguing rain forests,
and our traditions that span centuries.

Our People

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Cromwell Ira Bowry

 

Cromwell Ira Bowry Cromwell Ira Bowry was born in Dieppe Bay on the 24th November 1925. He was the last of nine children born to Jedidiah Bowry and his wife Catherine nee Gumbs. His friend Lloyd Francis, whom Bowry saw as a champion cyclist taught him how to ride a bicycle and made him “venture into the ‘deep’ of Dieppe Bay’s waters and learn to swim. Mrs Bowry had been the Headmistress of the Dieppe Bay Methodist...

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Edgar Bridgewater

Edgar Bridgewater

 

Edgar Samuel Bridgewater Edgar Samuel Bridgewater was born at Westbury, Nevis on 3rd October 1900. He was one of eight children born to George Bridgewater and his wife Amanda. As the father was a policeman, the family moved around a great deal. Edgar first emigrated with the family to Antigua, where he attended the Buxton Grove Primary School. At twelve years of age, young Edgar was taught by his father to play the organ. He came...

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Donald Lloyd Matheson

 

D L Matheson On the 24th January 1914, Donald F. Matheson and his wife Charlotte Matheson nee Mercer welcomed a son into the world. They called him Donald Lloyd. The world that the Mathesons lived in was one of privilege and young Lloyd, driven by a desire to learn, moved without much difficulty from the St. Kitts Grammar School to West Buckland School in Devon, England. The young man returned to St. Kitts in 1931 and joined...

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Our Places

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Government House

 

Government House 2015 The land that became known as Springfield was a small part of Diamond Estate. It 1828 it was the property of Sir James Henry Blake, the second son of Sir Patrick Blake of Langham, an absentee land owner. Besides Diamond, he also owned Pinnel, an estate of one hundred and ninety seven acres in the Parish of St. Ann and had land in Montserrat and the counties of Middlesex, Suffolk and Sussex in...

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Government Headquarters

 

GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS is located on Church Street and occupies the land on which the Newstead and the Waterloo buildings as well as some smaller private residences once stood. In the late 19th century the lower western corner of Church and Central Street was dominated by an impressive building known as the Newstead Hotel. It was a guest house owned by a Mrs. Millard and it catered to a small tourist trade mostly from North America. During...

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Buckley’s Estate

 

BUCKLEY’S ESTATE is located on the western outskirts of Basseterre. In 1753 the plantation was the property of William Buckley. His only surviving daughter and heir Jeannette married Abednego Matthew (b. 1724). He was the son of William Mathew who in 1715 had been appointed Lieutenant-General of the Leeward Islands and from 1735 was Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief. His ancestors included other governors of St. Kitts and the Leeward Islands. When Jeannette Mathew inherited the plantation from...

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Our Events

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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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Statehood 28th February 1967

 

Statehood flag The West Indies Federation was an experiment in unity for the English Speaking Caribbean and should have resulted in an independent West Indian nation.. After long discussions it came into being in 1958. Elections took place that year but Jamaica and Trinidad did not join the new political unit with the same commitment as the other islands. Economic prosperity meant that these two islands did not feel the need to be part of a...

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Cholera Epidemic 1854

 

  The Phantom of Cholera   Cholera is an infectious disease of the small intestine that causes severe watery diarrhea over a few days.  It , can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. In 1850, cholera made its presence felt in Barbados and St. Vincent and by 1853 it was in Nevis.  St. Kitts attempted to control the flow of people from places where...

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

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