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.
Ralph Cleghorn was a free coloured who was born in St. Kitts. Robert Cleghorn, his white father sent him to England at age five to acquire an education. Shortly after he returned to the island in 1823 at the age of 18, his father died at sea. Ralph returned to England to conclude some business arrangements and made his way back to St. Kitts two years later. He married Maria Berkeley, a free coloured woman...
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Lady Allen Annie Maude Matilda Locker was born in Montserrat on the 20th March 1893. She was the eldest of three daughters of Police Sergeant Michael Locker and his wife Ellen. Annie’s early education was in Montserrat and Antigua. She came to St. Kitts at the age of twelve years when her father who served in the Leeward Islands Police Force was transferred to the Dieppe Bay police station. Annie attended the Bethel Moravian School and...
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Milton Rentonville Allen Sir Milton Pentonville Allen was born at Palmetto Point on the 22 nd June 1888. He was the son of Daniel Allen a stone mason of Challengers and Henrietta Garvey. He received his early education at the Methodist school in his village. Although he had academic potential, young Milton preferred a trade to teaching, much to the disappointment of his teacher Miss Geraldine Locker. He was therefore apprenticed to a tailor in Basseterre...
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Joseph N. France General Hospital, St. Kitts by Sonia Daly-Finley, Director, Institutional Nursing Service Under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Health and Welfare, construction of The Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital began in March of 1966 and was expected to be completed in September 1967. The master plan for the Hospital was prepared by Sir John Weekes of Llewellyn Partners, United Kingdom. The facility was built by Clarence Johnson Construction Company Limited of Antigua...
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Wingfield The area now occupied by Wingfield and Romney estates, just outside the village of Old Road, was the site of the first permanent plantation settlement in the English Caribbean. It was close to the Kalinago holy places and the fortified buildings along with possible socially unacceptable behaviour may have provoked them into attempting to remove the intruders. Wingfield Estate was the property of the John Jeafferson, who along with his brother Samuel accompanied Thomas Warner in...
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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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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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Bull The Christmas Sports takes place in the days between Christmas and New Year. These are street performances. However some elements on the sport, particularly the Masquerade, is used as cultural performances throughout the year. THE BULLis based on a story that had its origins in St. Kitts itself. It is said that Arthur Davis, the owner of Belmont estate, and brother of Basil Davis, Manager of the Sugar factory bought a young bull for breeding purposes...
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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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