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.
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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May Stevens Yvonne May Stevens was born on the 28th May 1910 into the large family of James Henry Stevens and his wife Ethlinda Leonora nee Penn. Her father was at the time, the Master of the Leper Home in Sandy Point but by 1914 the family had moved to Nevis where he held the post of Assistant to the Surveyor on that island. May grew up in a disciplined close-knit house hold that valued family and...
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Edward Margetson Edward Margetson was born in Parsons on the 31st December 1892. Music was in his blood, in fact it had brought his parents together. His father Henry Francis Margetson was a choral director and his mother, Marie (nee Thomas) was considered the finest pianist of her time. It was therefore no surprise that young Edward showed signs of musical talent at a very early age. At age five, when his feet could barely reach...
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The Westley Chapel, also referred to as the Methodist church, is a solid square stone building located on Seaton Street just off of Victoria Road. It is slightly to the north of St. George’s Anglican Church. Methodism arrived in St. Kitts late in the 18th century. On the 18th January 1787, Thomas Coke and three Methodist missionaries, Messrs Baxter, Hammet and Clarke arrived in St. Kitts from Dominica. News of their intended visit had preceded them...
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Bayfords Estate, St. Kitts This estate is in the Parish of St. Peters, in the hills above Basseterre. Its first known owner was Thomas Bridgewater. At the time of the sale of the French lands on St. Kitts, Bridgewater was already in occupation of the estates but had to pay the Commissioners for it in 1726. The plantation then consisted of approximately 84 acres. At the time of bidding Bridgewater had 28 acres under new cane...
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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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Treaty of Basseterre Historical BackgroundThe idea of unification within the Caribbean region gained the interest of the British Colonial Office in the late nineteenth Century mostly as a colonial administrative device designed to cut the cost of managing the colonies with failing economies and a growing reliance on Britain. The 20th century however saw a growing discontent with regards to the unrepresentative nature of the island governments. In 1914, T. Albert Marryshow of Grenada, founded the Representative...
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British Enslavement existed mostly in the colonies but the Abolition movement was strongest in Britain. It was there that the laws that limited the trade and introduced the registry of slaves were first passed. The trade in slaves with Africa had been abolished in 1807 and the trade with other slave trading nations ended in 1812 but this had not produced the changes that the Abolitionist had hoped would follow. They continued to press for...
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The St. Kitts Music Festival takes place every year at the end of June. It was the brain child of then Minister of Tourism and Culture, G A Dwyer Astaphan who wanted to create an event that would attract visitors to St. Kitts in the off season and to expose the creative elements on the island, and the general public to the different genres of music. The festival’s website sets out its objectives as follows: to...
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