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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.
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William Florian Glasford
William Florian Glasford William Florian Glasford was born to Rachel Matthew of Parsons Ground on the 12th December 1908. He attended the Government Elementary School and then took up employment at the St. Kitts Sugar Factory in the dull season. Like many others at the time, he tried his fortune by traveling to Curacao to find employment. On his return he worked as a mechanic at the Sugar Factory. When the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union...
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John H. A. Duport
John H. A. Duport John H. A. Duport was born in the Parish of St. Thomas, Middle Island in either 1830 or 1831 and may have been the son of enslaved parents. Nothing is known of his childhood but he must have been a good student and seems to have developed an interest in the Anglican Church during his teenage years. In 1851, Archdeacon Brathwaite of St. George’s recommended two young men for training for a new...
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Inez Barker
Written in collaboration with Alphonso Barker Inez Barker Inez Barker was born on the 29th May 1911 and christened Inez Susanna Billinghurst Walker. Her father was Frederick Alfred Walker an estate manager living in Old Road. Her mother was Catherine Louisa nee French, who was born Antigua but who was living in Old Road at the time of her marriage to Walker. Catherine described herself as a seamstress on her marriage certificate The children grew up in...
Read moreOur Places
The Sugar Factory
Sugar Factory, St. Kitts From the time of settlement St. Kitts was developed as a plantation island. At first the plantations were small and produced such commodities as tobacco, cotton, and indigo. Over the 17th century sugar cane started gaining ground. It took a while for it to become the main and only crop because it required a great deal more investment than other crops. Sugar estates developed as self-contained industrial complexes, each with its own...
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St. Barnabas Anglican Chapel
ST. BARNABAS ANGLICAN CHAPEL is a small place of worship on Malone Avenue. Shortly after Governor Philippe Lonvillier De Poincy arrived in St. Kitts in 1639, he donated the service of fifty enslaved workers for the construction of a very fair Hospital, in a very healthy place, where such sick persons as are unable to effect their recovery at their own houses, are attended, and maintained, and visited by Physitians and Surgeons, till they are restored...
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Warner Park
Warner Park is bordered by Losack Road on its south side, Victoria Road in the west, the Basseterre High School on the northern side and Park Range to the east. Originally it was part of an estate owned by the Losack family, a French family that continued to live in St. Kitts after the British gained control of the whole island. In 1817, the Original List of Slaves records a return of seventy-one slaves made...
Read moreOur 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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Emancipation - 1 August 1834
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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Labour Day - first Monday in May
Labour Day March, 1955 The afternoon events at the park were well attended. The Union’s Entertainment Committee organised a Steel Band Competition. Esso, Wilberforce, Amstel, Boston Braves, Battalion and Invaders competed with the last emerging as the winners. Lord Croft sang a special Labour Day Calypso. The bands then played on the streets of Basseterre. Looking to the future, the Messenger’s editorial declared, “The idea is not yet as firmly rooted as it might have been, but...
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