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Our People

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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Len Harris

 

  Len Harris holding the shield Leonard Alphonso Harris, the son of Kenneth and May Rose Harris pf McKnight was born on the 3 September 1934. He was educated at the St. Joseph Catholic School then went on to work at the Sugar Factory. He moved to the Youth and Community Department where he worked as a truancy officer, making sure that children went to school and stayed off the streets and later was a sports officer...

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Elvis "Star" Browne

 

Elvis "Star" Browne Elvis Browne was born on the 9 February 1961 to Margaret Browne. He grew up in La Guerite Village and received his early education at De Village Primary School before moving on to high school and then to the Technical College where he received a diploma in Carpentry, a trade he practiced for a number of years. Browne was an accomplished track and field athlete, a competent cricketer but it was his passion for...

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Our Places

The University Centre and Technical College

 

The University Centre and Technical College occupy an area at the western end of the Bay Road, just east of the War Memorial. Although the western boundary of Basseterre stretched to Fort Thomas in 1768, only dwellings in Irish Town extended beyond Olivees Ghaut, now called Westbourne. Beyond those buildings was cane land belonging to Greenlands Estate which by the mid-19th century was the property of the Berkeley family. The part of the estate south...

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The Berkeley Memorial

 

Berkeley Memorial, The Cirucs, St. Kitts The Berkeley Memorial was erected in 1883 and was for a long time the only public memorial commemorating an individual in St. Kitts. It was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Berkeley Hardtman Berkeley, a legislator and owner of the estates called Fountain, Greenland, Greenhill, Ottleys, Shadwell and Stone Fort. The structure contains a clock and drinking fountain. It was designed and produced by George Smith and Co of Glasgow, Scotland...

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Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College

 

THE CUNNINGHAM HOSPITAL was located on the Western side of Basseterre on land that was now occupied by the the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College and the Public Library. This was not the first hospital on the island. De Poincy had built one soon after his arrival in 1639 but it was destroyed during the wars of the 17th century. Health on the Plantation At a time when the lives of the many were at the mercy of...

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Our Events

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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The Arts Festival - 18 Aug 1964

 

Arts Festival - String Band, St. Kitts   On the 18th August 1964, the Education Centre, now the Basseterre High School, was the venue of “an evening of One Act Plays”. The plays were The Doctor in spite of Himself, by Moliere produced by Eustace John and Sunday Costs twenty-five dollars produced by Aimee Dinzey. This was the beginning of the first Arts Festival in St. Kitts that was to last for 15 days. The idea of an...

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

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