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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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Ralph B Cleghorn

 

    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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Kathleen Manchester

 

Kathleen Manchester Kathleen Dorothy, the only daughter of Thomas Manchester and his wife Ada Killikelly was born in Sandy Point on the 4th December 1923. Kathleen’s memory of those years are idyllic, picnics with her parents, hiding in the garden. They were marred by the memories of the Hurricane of 1928 which tore the roof of the family house. That same year Ada died and the little girl passed into the hands of four aunts. With...

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Charles Ashton Halbert

 

Charles Ashton Halbert Charles Ashton Halbert born in Bath Village, Nevis on the 25th April 1880. His mother worked as a nurse for the Parmenter family. At the end of his schooling young Charles earned his Seven Standard Certificate and became a pupil teacher. In 1896, at the age of sixteen he found employment as a store boy at the Charlestown branch of the S.L. Horsford. In 1900 when the business of the branch was acquired by...

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Our Places

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Charles Fort

 

Charles Fort Entrance   Based on “The Military and institutional Occupations of Charles Fort, St. Kitts, West Indies” by Gerald Schroedl and Todd M Ahlman in Historical Archaeologies of the Caribbean: Contextualizing Sites through Colonialism, Capitalism and Globalism edited by Todd M Ahlman and Gerald F Schroedl (Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press, 2020) The Second Anglo-Dutch war was fought between 1665 and 1667. France became involved as it had a defensive alliance with Holland. In St. Kitts where...

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The Westley Chapel

 

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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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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Our Events

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Carnival - New Years Day

 

In June 1957 Basil Henderson, Major L.N Alphonso, Tony Lawrence, Leroy Coury, Alexis Knight, E Vanterpool and Al Barker formed a temporary committee entrusted with the planning of St. Kitts’ first Carnival. It was felt that a Carnival along the lines of the Trinidad one would help the economy and give visitors something to look forward to. By the end of that year St. Kitts had its first queen show, Calypso Show and street parade...

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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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The Christmas Sport - last week of December

 

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

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