Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 9)

Caribbean archives under threat: Grenada

Unbeknownst to almost any Grenadian a submission was put to Unesco for funding towards the further “Digitizing and Preservation of Grenada’s National Archives” and in July of 2014 Unesco approved a tiny sum of US$22,000.

Back in June 2012, a year after Grenada’s National Archive official closure (though it hadn’t functioned since 2004), a group in Reading (UK) known as the “Diasporic Literary Archives Network” (diasporicarchives.com), headed by Alison Donnell (Professor at the University of Reading), held a two-day opening Workshop on the “Questions of Location, Ownership and Interpretation“. At this workshop a presentation was given by Merle Collins and Alison Donnell which bought a good deal of attention to the situation of archives caught up in problems of a material and political nature, such as Grenada’s not having at the moment an accessible building for its archive.

The group continued discussions about how best to work with and support local initiatives to improve library and archival facilities in Grenada. On behalf of the Network, David Sutton sent an expression of support that was warmly received by Minister Franka Alexis-Bernardine.

At the same time Merle Collins announced the establishment of a not-for-profit organization called Grenada Libraries, Archives and other Heritage Support Group (GrenLib), that could raise awareness and funds in the diaspora. Articles have been drawn up with signatories in Grenada, New York and Washington. An inaugural fundraising event, Grenada Cultural Extravaganza, was held in New York in November 2013.

A “Grenada Library and Archives Committee”, organized from within Grenada, was purportedly established with both Merle Collins and Alison Donnell as members with one meeting to date. Ms Collins talked to her international Grenada diaspora organization which has members from Canada, the U.K. and various parts of the U.S.A, and Grenada’s Diaspora Office.

Follow-up work took place at the Caribbean Studies Association 38th Annual Conference in Grenada in June 2013, were Lillian Sylvester (Director of Libraries, Grenada Library Services), Collins and Donnell presented a panel on “Valuing the past: libraries, archives and the ‘development’ of literary culture in the Anglophone Caribbean” which focused special attention on Grenada.

Two years later, in 2014, Glenlib held their first annual “Diaspora Give-Back Fundraising Event” at the University of Maryland with the Friends of Grenada Library, Archives and other Heritage Committees.

In September that year another Workshop was held in which Cheryl Sylvester (Faculty Librarian at St George’s University) highlighted the situation in Grenada:

“…it is not just a shortage of professional expertise that prevents full exploitation of archival material, but the fundamental absence of a building suitable for housing a national library and archives since the damage caused by the hurricane of 2004. A transnational campaign to replace the former Public Library, supported by the Friends of Grenada Library, Archives and other Heritage Committee (GRENLIB), is attempting to fundraise for a new building, but for Sylvester, a higher level of government commitment is required if the building is ever to become a reality.”
“Whilst there remains no national archive building in Grenada important holdings remain at risk of being lost, stored in inadequate conditions and liable to environmental degradation.”

Further, at the Society of American Archivists’ August 2014 Issues & Advocacy Roundtable (IART), Ms Sylvester discussed the “Threat to national archives and library in Grenada” and reported:

• Since 2011, the library/archives building has been closed, with the collection stuck inside, and the collection (including records of the 1983 American invasion) is at risk
• Library building was already in a state of disrepair when Hurricane Ivan did further damage in 2004; archives on top floor was damaged (shelves are being eaten away by termites)
• In the meantime, political supporters of the library lost power
• The previous Minister of Education sought several alternative locations, didn’t work out because of internal wranglings
• There’s been a change in government, but the situation remains the same
• Director of Libraries role is uncertain – unclear whether the government still considers the role to be active
• A request to the SAA that they consider joining other international information
  professional organizations (ICA, Association of Caribbean Academic Libraries, etc.) in writing to the Minister of Education, who has responsibility for libraries and archives
• Other advocacy efforts related to this issue:
  • last year, a paper was presented at the CARBICA conference about archives that need attention
  • In March 2014 a paper was written on the state of archives in Grenada
• Next steps: Sarah Quigley said I&A would be glad to draft a letter and send it to our SAA Council Rep (and the appropriate SAA committees), remembering the SAA had already donated through CARBICA US$1,000 back in March 2005 to the Grenada Archives Mission.

In its 2015 mandate on “Caribbean archives in the Caribbean: a new future” Alison Donnell (DLAN), said the group is committed to finding ways of sustaining and supporting this work into the future. The Network expects also to continue its solidarity work with archivists in Grenada in 2015 and beyond.

In January 2015 at the “Politics of Location” workshop held at Yale, Helena Leonce (Trinidad Archivist) gave an update in which she stated “The Caribbean region has embarked on a number of digital initiatives, in an attempt to keep abreast with the technological advances that are taking place in the world. Plans to digitize literary archival material have also been given great consideration.”
The DLAN’s principal investigator (and Director of Research Projects in the University of Reading Library since 1982), David Sutton, reiterated what Cheryl Sylvester had told him about the situation of Grenada’s National Archives:

“A digitization project has been started which is on-going. This project was initiated by the UNESCO Secretariat through IFAP. The aim is to digitize old records at the library.
Progress Report

• Government gazettes from 1880’s to 1920 are completed;
• West indian chronicle 1880’s to 1890’s with gaps;
• Blue books 1900’s & colonial letter registers from 1800’s begun.

Also an attempt was made with the Alister Hughes newsletters and the revolutionary documents at the fort were nominated for Unesco ‘Memory of the World’ registers but this clearly failed because the newsletter had already been digitized on DLOC (Library of Congress website) and so is therefore no longer under threat.

The Revolutionary documents have to be cleaned and inventoried so that proper documentation can be carried out to enable their digitization.“

However Cheryl Sylvester completely overlooked the US$60,000 work that Dr Laurence Brown team from University of Manchester had initiated in 2010 with the help of “Endangered Archives Project” of The British Library and completed in February 2014 which had 2500 pages of twelve volumes digitized material at the Supreme Court Registry (from 132 identified).

[See Grenada's Endangered Archives (part 6)]


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Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 10)

Update: Grenada National Archives – New hope

Today (3rd March 2015) Grenada’s Information Service (GIS) informs us that:

The University of the West Indies (UWI) has “brushed aside suggestions that the Keith Mitchell administration is to be blamed for the delay in the Open Campus project in Hope St. Andrew“.
Principal of UWI Open Campus (Grenada) Eudine Barriteau made the disclosure in St. George’s after presenting our political cabinet with a proposal for the project.

Claims that the current government was delaying the project have been attributed to opposition sources.

“The feedback is that the cabinet is supportive of the project as we have in fact anticipated, so if they are any misconceptions that there was a delay coming from the government that is totally incorrect”, Barriteau said.

The UWI Open Campus Principal told local journalists that the search for a reliable architect firm was the cause of the delay.

“In fact what was the delay…the Open Campus needed a partnership with a reliable quantity surveying architectural firm and we found that partnership with a firm out of Trinidad and Tobago that has expertise in engineering”.

The Open Campus project in Hope involves two phases during construction.

To us the most significant fact is that the first “Phase A”, which features the construction of administration offices, classrooms, and early child centres, the phase also promises the construction of a National Archives.

Professor on gender and public policy, Violet Eudine Barriteau who is Pro-Vice Chancellor had assumed office as Principal of our University of the West Indies Open Campus (Grenada) on 1st August 2014 (having succeeded then Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald). Now she has successed Hilary Beckles as new Principal of UWI (Cave Hill, Barbados) from 1st May 2015. The 60 year old professor Grenadian by birth, with a distinguished record as a Caribbean scholar and administrator, Professor Barriteau has served in various roles at The University of the West Indies for more than 30 years. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Howard University, an MPA in Public Sector Financial Management from New York University and a BSc, Upper Second Honours in Public Administration and Accounting from The University of the West Indies. She also holds a professional certificate in editing and scholarly publishing from the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, the Philippines. References: 20/07/2012: Government of Grenada hands over land to UWI 09/08/2012: Grenada to get UWI campus 11/10/2013: Open UWI Suppliment

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Grenada Heritage: Vital Records

HELP TO GET GRENADA BMD INDEXED AND ONLINE

Family History and Genealogy Records

When will Grenada be able to Discover their family history.

 

Since 1974, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has been extracting records of births/baptisms and marriages from filmed records in its collection for countries around the world. Most of these extracted records are indexed by name in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) available on www.familysearch.org.

However, IGI / FamilySearch has *NOT* indexed much of Grenada’s vital records.

Fortunately as of October 2017 serveral of the Grenada Church Family Registers have been digitized and are (with heavy restrictions) now available to view online. Recently the LDS have offered more locations from which to view these records through their Family History Centres and their Affiliates, however in the Caribbean, there none on Grenada and only one (often broken) computer each on Barbados, St Vincent. You may also get access from the one on each island of Trinidad, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Antigua, and St Kitts, and the five that are reportedly on Puerto Rico. Of cause from the UK, Europe, North America, Canada and Australia you will have hundreds of access points.

The Family History Library Film numbers on file for the seven parishes (St George, St John, St Mark, St Patrick, St Andrew, St David and Carriacou) of Grenada are:

1.1 No. 1523145 – Births for 1866 to 1874
1.2 No. 1523169 – Births for 1874 to 1888
1.3 No. 1523187 – Births for 1888 to 1892
1.4 No. 1523204 – Births for 1893 to 1905
1.5 No. 1523217 – Births for 1905 to 1910
1.6 No. 1523259 – Births for 1911 to 1916
1.7 No. 1523339 – Marriages for 1903 to 1910
1.8 No. 1523352 – Marriages for 1910 to 1918
1.9 No. 1523353 – Marriages for 1919 to 1922
1.10 No. 1523361 – Marriages for 1922 to 1932
1.11 No. 1523537 – Deaths for 1866 to 1890
1.12 No. 1523656 – Baptisms 1784 to 1932, confirmations 1901 to 1931, marriages of Anglican, slaves, St Pauls, St Luke, St Peter, special, burials, burials of slaves and St Pauls, [not indexed nor digitized]
1.13 Land Registers - Not indexed nor digitized†.

The problem is that Grenada’s civil birth records do not name the child it is only the Church Baptism registers which do this. Sadly, too, the only THREE Family History Library (FHL) films that HAVE been indexed are from birth registers:-

Film number 1523145 – This is a copy of parts of the Civil Register of Births from all seven parishes for 1866 to 1875 in twelve items corresponding to batch numbers I02551-1 to 1 to 12.
Film 1523169 – Births from all seven parishes for 1875 to 1882 (eleven batch numbers I02552-1 to 11).
Film 1523187 – Births from all seven parishes for the years 1882 to 1891 (eleven batches I02553-1 to 11).

THE SERIOUS PROBLEM WE HAVE IS THAT THESE FILMS, THOUGH NOW DIGITIZED, HAVE NOT YET BEEN INDEXED:-

Film 1523204 – Births from all seven parishes for 1891 to 1905.
Film 1523217 – Births from all seven parishes for 1905 to 1910.
Film 1523259 – Births from all seven parishes for 1910 to 1916.
Film 1523537 – Birth registers – five items 1 through 7 for 1900 to 1935 more specifically –
August 1910 to December 1910 in Carriacou
January 1911 through to June 1915 in All seven parishes
January 1916 through to December 1916 in All seven parishes

Film 1523362 – Index to 3 marriage volumes for 1903 to 1932.
Film 1523339 – Marriages from all seven parishes for 1903 to 1910.
Film 1523352 – Marriages from all seven parishes for 1910 to 1918.
Film 1523353 – Marriages for 1919 to 1922 and 1924 to 1928.
Film 1523361 – Marriages from all seven parishes for 1928 to 1934.
Film 1523537 – Death from all seven parishes for 1928 to 1934.
Film 1523394 – Births from all seven parishes for 1905 to 1924 has not been digitized nor indexed.
Film 1523396 – Births from all seven parishes for 1905 to 1935 has not been digitized nor indexed.
Film 1523429 – Births and Deaths from St John and St Andrew parishes for 1900 to 1932 has not been digitized nor indexed.
Film 1523408 – Deaths all seven parishes for 1909 to 1936 has not been digitized nor indexed.

THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT FILMS NOT INDEXED NOR DIGITIZED

These four films are the ONLY source of the christian name of a child in Grenada.

Film 1523692 – This most important film and ONLY record of a childs birth-name is of Baptisms, Births, Marriages, Burials all seven parishes for 1798 to 1931 has not been digitized nor indexed.
Film 1523752 – This most important film and ONLY record of a childs birth-name is of Baptisms, Marriages, Marriage Banns, and Burials all seven parishes for 1861 to 1931 has not been digitized nor indexed.
Film 1523767 – This most important film and ONLY record of a childs birth-name is of Baptisms, Marriages, Burials St Mark, St John and Carriacou parishes for 1900 to 1931 has not been digitized nor indexed.
Film 1523656 – This most important film and ONLY record of a childs birth-name is of Baptisms – it also covers other Confirmation, Bann, Marriage, and Burial registers from the Archdeaconry of Grenada in the Anglican Rectory registers (manuscripts) of the districts of St. Luke, St. Peter and St. Paul in the parish of St. George’s, Grenada for the years 1784 to 1971. So this is film covers:-

Item 2 – Baptisms and burials for 1784 to 1804.
Item 1 – Baptisms, marriages and burials for 1806 to 1831.
Item 3 – Baptisms, marriages and burials for 1812 to 1815.
Item 4 – Baptisms, marriages and burials for 1816 to 1831.
Item 5 – Slave baptisms, marriages 1817-1834, burials 1833-1834.
item 6 – Baptisms and marriages for 1831 to 1837.
Item 7 – Baptisms, marriages and burials for 1837 to 1844.
Item 8 – Baptisms for 1844 to 1892.
Item 9 – Baptisms of the district of St. Luke for 1851 to 1884.
Items 10-11 – Baptisms for 1892 to 1932.
Item 12 – Confirmations for 1901 to 1931.
Items 13-14 – Marriages for 1844 to1930.
Item 15 – Marriages for St. Luke and St. Peter 1909 to 1933.
Item 16 – Banns for 1903 to 1931.
Item 17 – Special marriage register 1912 to 1942.
Items 18-19 – Burials 1844 to 1930.
Item 20 – St Paul Marr. 1861-1902, Bapt. 1860-95, Bur. 1861-1971.

A TINY HOPE FOR HELP

FamilySearch do run ‘projects’ to continue the indexing of FHL films on file. However they insist:-

“Information about upcoming collections is not made available prior to publication due to various factors that can affect the publication time line, such as contract agreements with record custodians or partnership societies, final assembly considerations, server capacity, geographic considerations, prioritization of collections at risk, delivery type, and so forth”.
Further “…there is no specific time frame for the publication of indexing projects, since they are governed by the same considerations as indicated above“.

This terrible situation may only be overcome by having everyone making a request that the entire GRENADA COLLECTION be added to their online collections, to do this please follow these instructions:-
1. Go to the FamilySearch website (http://familysearch.org).
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the Feedback button.
3. Click on Share your ideas, and post to request ALL OUR FILMS BE INDEXED AND PUT ONLINE.
Or use a direct link to FamilySearch “Send Us Feedback” website. Then click on Share your ideas and post your request.

Note: Posting does not guarantee that familysearch.org will be able to acquire the collection or have rights to publish it, but the requests will be seen by those who make decisions about which collections are published.
 
A further note: Much earlier French records from the era 1765-1790 of Grenada’s history have now been digitized and can be freely viewed online via the British Library EAP website at link, link, link, link, and link.

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Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 8)

Grenada’s endangered archives programme (EAP295)

Update: Grenada National Archives – New access

Wonderful news – the link from the British Archive’s Catalogue to our Endangered Digital Collection is now live (as of 01 Aug 2014). So, for example, on this page http://bit.ly/1q8e2tt , click on ‘Browse this collection’. On the new page, you can now click ‘View digital version’.


This is the British Library Catalogue search screen. Using the referecnce to one of our Endangered Archives series, “EPA295/2/6/1″ for example, we can then see the option to “Browse this collection”…


You will then be taken to this screen listing our “Endangered Archives Programme” collection held on the British Library service. As you can see you are now able to “View digital version” of the collection.


Here is the screen showing the thumbnails and actual JPEG images* of the scanned archives. In this case one of the 82 pages of the “Court of Oyer and Terminer for Trial of Attained Traitors record book” for 1796 from the “Collection of court records held by the Grenada Supreme Court Registry” for 1765-1797. Reference EAP295/2/6/1.

Note: The "JPEG" imaging standard is an acronym for the Joint Photographic Experts Group (defined in RFC 1341) a commonly used method utilizing a lossy compression for digital images. This compression inherently degrades the actual quality of the image, therefore loosing vital detail information. More commonly, images created by digital cameras are now recorded in the RAW (unprocessed) image format based on the ISO 12234-2 standard (or TIFF/EP). Although not confirmed we believe the BA has the original images in RAW format.

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Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 7)

Grenada’s endangered archives programme (EAP295)

Update: Transcription from Grenada’s Archives Published

Dr Laurence Brown (University of Manchester) has published a 73 page transcription of images from “Court of Oyer and Terminer for Trial of Attained Traitors record book 1796” [part of Grenada’s endangered archives digitised series EAP295/2/6/1]. It includes notes, the transcription and an alphabetical list of names from 1796.


[eap295_2_6_1_transcription.pdf]
Download

Note: A page is missing between 037 and 038 (it was never copied). It containes trial information for 8th August 1796.

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Grenada Heritage: May Day – Save Our Archives

Getting Ready for May Day 2014

15 April 2014 · in Continuing Education, Digital Preservation, Disaster Planning, Outreach and Advocacy, Policies and Procedures, Preservation, Society of Archivists. ·

To download your this logo or similar ones, please visit SAA’s website at http://www2.archivists.org/initiatives/mayday-saving-our-archives/mayday-logos

It’s that time of year again for archivists–the annual May Day event where we highlight the necessary activities for disaster preparedness. The news is full of disaster that strikes, whether natural or man-made. Once the safety of the people involved is secure, our thoughts as archivists go towards the records–both paper and digital, to ensure that that they are recoverable. Often we are so busy with reference requests, processing, visiting alumni events and classes, that we think we’ll get to the disaster plan later.

“But on 1st May – this year and every year – you can do something that will make a difference when and if an emergency occurs. That’s the purpose of MayDay – a grassroots effort whose goal is to save our archives.” (SAA Website)

We are at the mid-month, so we don’t have long until 1st May, but it is plenty of time to plan to do something simple to honor MayDay 2014. Here are some suggestions from SAA:

1.  Create or Update your Contact Lists.
2. Review or Establish Basic Emergency Procedures
3. Conduct a Disaster Drill
4. Conduct Scenario Exercises
5. Invite Your Local Firefighters to Visit Your Repository
6. Survey the Building for Risks
7. Make Sure All Collections Are in Boxes
8. Make Sure Boxes Are Off the Floor
9. Identify the Most Critical, Essential, Important Records
10. Inventory Emergency Supplies
11. Review Your Emergency Preparedness Plan
12. If Your Repository Doesn’t Have an Emergency Preparedness Plan…MayDay is a good time to get started.

On 1st May, we will be reviewing our Emergency Preparedness Plan and submitting it to review. In our new Records Retention Schedule, we are noting which records are “vital” in the event of a disaster.

Be sure to see the latest post from HERA, “Disaster Prevention on the Fly,” and if you can, attend the free webinar on Thursday, 17 April at 1:00pm (EST) The Supercharged Management System: Applying the Incident Command System in Cultural Repositories by David Carmichael, ‎Director, Records and Information Management at Atlanta Housing Authority. Here’s the description of the class:

Every cultural repository needs two management structures: the day-to-day, business-as-usual hierarchy, and a “supercharged” management structure that takes over temporarily during a crisis or whenever events threaten to overwhelm normal business routines. Emergency responders have used just such a supercharged structure for years: the Incident Command System (ICS). Whether you are preparing for fires and floods—or planning a major public event—the Incident Command System is a proven management tool that safeguards lives, property, and priceless collections. Learn how to put it to use at your cultural organization!

So be thinking about what activity (or activities) you will be conducting at your school, and send them to SAA at MayDay@archivists.org. They would like to track who participated, what they did, and how it might help another similar institution. Be sure to also post in the comments here what you did at your school. Maybe we can get our list to grow every MayDay!
 
Resources

• Heritage Preservation National Task Force: Includes links to resources, both online and in print, in preparing and responding to disasters.
• Watch Heritage Preservation’s Facebook page for weekly disaster preparedness tips throughout the month of May.
• HP’s Alliance for Response: Alliance for Response is a national program on cultural heritage and disaster management. Through a series of local Forums, it builds bridges between the cultural heritage and emergency response communities before disasters happen. Find a group near you!

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Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 6)

Grenada’s endangered archives programme (EAP295)

Update: Grenada National Archives – Protection, conservation, access

The threat to archives –

“Documentary heritage reflects the diversity of languages, peoples and cultures. It is the mirror of the world and its memory. But this memory is fragile. Every day, irreplaceable parts of this memory disappear for ever.”
UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

Ric Greaves on histories in peril

Sadly very little protection or conservation has been undertaken by Grenada and reconstructing this important and endangered archive relies heavily on a 1968 document produce by E. C. Baker’s called A Guide to Records in the Windward Islands.  Thankfully the Endangered Archived Project number 295, undertaken by the British Library (with the financial support of Arcadia) has now managed to give us a little ‘access’ to at least some 4500 digital images from our existing archives.
Back in 2009 the British Library (with the financial support of Arcadia) began an US$64,000 project to protect and disseminate historical records of pre-industrial societies such as our own.

This British Libraries EAP was part of the US$18.0 million awards of some 41 research grants for records throughout the world, including the Caribbean, which are fast disappearing through neglect, physical deterioration or destruction – the Endangered Archives Programme is aimed at safeguarding some of this documentary heritage world-wide. The entire programme now has over one million images available online!  They have new online collections every month which has taken the total number of images available in our collections over this one million mark. These collections come from India (EAP201), Lesotho in Southern Africa (EAP279), Mongolia (EAP529) and finally our own Grenada (EAP295).

Although 132 volumes of deed records and local government correspondence were identified in Grenada, the EAP295 Project had to remain modest in conception and rooted in practicality – it was not aimed at promoting theoretical advances in archival management or cutting-edge technology in digital preservation – it was about quick achieving result on the ground.

Project EAP295 began with two weeks of digital photography under a team from the University of Manchester led by Dr Laurence Brown and photographer James W Robinson which took place in November 2010.  This was only a part of the unique historical archives of our island, material which provides a micro-vision of how Grenada was transformed in the late eighteenth century by imperial conflicts, the expansion of plantation slavery and revolutionary politics.

The two main sources of records are from Government House and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court records reveal the multi-racial alliances and conflicts that marked slave society while the Government House correspondence shows the local negotiations and conflicts that shaped the prolonged transition to a free society during the mid-nineteenth century.

During Hurricane Ivan in 2004 the Grenada Public library (our National Archives) lost part of its roof and the Government House correspondence became displaced and out of order. There was no item-level index of this material so series P material needed to be ordered chronologically then digitisation focused primarily on those works which were seen as the most fragile due to their age or unbound condition. This greatly hampered the project which needed to have material chronologically reordered before digitising could take place.

Just Twelve Volumes Rescued

The project focused on digitising just twelve volumes and files of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor’s correspondence covering the period 1764-1879 and the Letter Books of the Administrator and Colonial Secretary (series P) because these were far more fragmented than the Governor’s correspondence.

The material at the Supreme Court Registry was far better preserved than at Government House as it was relatively unaffected by Hurricane Ivan. Loose-leaf documents previously identified as connected to the eighteenth century French Deeds formed the initial focus of in situ digitisation in the Supreme Court Registry. Many of the bound volumes of French Deeds identified by the project required such extensive preservation and conservation work that their digitisation would have destroyed their physical structure. By stabilising their storage and digitising those materials in the Supreme Court Registry which were already fragmentary or fragile, the project was able to make a significant step towards its original aims.

Digitisation also continued in the Supreme Court Registry on the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registers for St Georges and records related to Forfeited Estates, 1794-1802. During this time one of the Archival researchers employed by the project cleaned, sorted and ordered the French Deed bound volumes and unbound materials.

The material at the Supreme Court Registry was far better preserved than at Government House as it was relatively unaffected by Hurricane Ivan in September of 2004. Loose-leaf documents previously identified as connected to the eighteenth century French Deeds formed the initial focus of in situ digitisation in the Supreme Court Registry.  Digitisation also covered some of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registers.

1 Image 3

A total of 4589 pages were finally digitised, indexed, catalogued and a full list of digitised documents now available online are:

EAP295/1
“Holding of Government House are listed in Baker (1968), pp. 14-18. After Hurricane Ivan, around half this material has survived, with particularly heavy loses of documents from the late 1800s and first half of the twentieth century. Digitisation focused on the earliest surviving records of Government House”.

• Governor correspondence [1764 – 1768] (198 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1829 – 1833] (200 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1833 – 1840] (378 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1846 – 1850] (329 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1850] (16 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1853-1855]  (455 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1854 – 1856] (487 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1856 – 1862] (573 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1859 – 1869] (358 pages)
• Lieutenant Governor correspondence [1862 – 1865] (321 pages)
• Despatches to Lieutenant Governor Barbados [1873 – 1877] (458 pages)

EAP295/1/2
“Holding of Government House are listed in Baker (1968), pp. 14-18. After Hurricane Ivan, around half this material has survived, with particularly heavy loses of documents from the late 1800s and first half of the twentieth century. Digitisation focused on the earliest surviving records of Government House”.

• Proclamation of customs duties by George III [July 1764] (1 pages)
• Proclamations by Governor Ninian Home [January 1793 – January 1795] “Proclamations by Governor Ninian Home on importation of goods in British vessels, disarming immigrants in the island, declaration of martial law” (6 pages)
• Proclamation by Governor Kenneth Mackenzie [June 1795] Proclamation by Governor Kenneth Mackenzie on registration of foreigners (2 pages)
• Legal papers [December 1844 – April 1851] “Correspondence by J Riddel on extradition agreement between colony of Grenada and Venezuela, the death penalty in Grenada and on eligibilities of town councillors” (22 pages)
• Inquiry into the state of the Colony Hospital of Grenada [October March 1850] – Inquiry into the state of the Colony Hospital of Grenada (35 pages)
• Correspondence on discontinuing the Government House guard [April 1850] Correspondence on discontinuing the Government House guard (4 pages)
• A Bill to further ammend the Law as to the distribution of the pews in the parish church of St George [October 1858] (8 pages)
• Reports on indentured immigration to Grenada [July 1867] Report on the sanitary condition and the mortality of Indian Immigrants and a return showing the location of the Indian Immigrants in the Island of Grenada (3 pages)
• Proclamation by Colonial Secretary Leslie Probyn on celebration of Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria [June 1897] (1 pages)
• An Agreement between Montagu Frederick Ommanney and Ernest Edward Blake with the General Concessions Syndicate Limited [1890s] (12 pages)

EAP295/2
The earliest court records held by the Grenada Supreme Court Registry is for the period 1762-1785.

• St George Register of Baptisms, marriages and burials [1765] (101 pages)
• St George Register of Baptisms, marriages and burials [1765 – 1785] (83 pages)
• Gouvaye Register of Baptisms, marriages and burials [1779 – 1782] (46 pages)
• Gouvaye Register of Baptisms of Slaves [1780 – 1782] (29 pages)
• St Jacques Register of Baptisms, marriages and burials [1782] (46 pages)
• French Marriage Register [1765] (20 pages)
• Sales of forfeited slaves [1797] (24 pages)
• Commissioners of Forfeited Estates Letter Book [1797 – 1802] (42 pages)
• Commissioners of Forfeited Estates claims allowed and paid [1794 – 1796] (38 pages)
• Court of Oyer and Terminer for Trial of Attained Traitors record book [1796] (82 pages)

Unbound French legal document.

• Unbound French Documents, Box 4 [1779 – 1780] (35 pages)
• Unbound French Documents, Box 5 [1783] (52 pages)
• Unbound French Documents, Box 13 [1780 – 1785] (78 pages)

Note: Arcadia is a grant-making fund established in 2001. Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin form the Donor Board. Peter Baldwin is Chair of the Donor Board. The fund was formerly the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund. As of September 2013 Arcadia had awarded grants of more than $243 million.


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Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 5)

The newyear begins and we hear that Pranical Technologies and UNESCO, through the Communication & Information Sector, informs us that the IFAP plans to protect historical documentary resources on Grenada.

Archives damaged by the effects of termites,
Grenada National Library, St. Georges

The Intergovernmental Information for All Programme (IFAP) has recently launched an information preservation project in Grenada, which is helping to protect valuable and rare historical documentary resources. The project is also providing useful experiences that can inform actions in other Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It is one of several initiatives undertaken in the Caribbean during the 2012-2013 biennium with the financial support of UNESCO’s Multi-donor Emergency Fund.

According to Jasmin Garroway, from the National Commission in Anguilla (UNESCO’s newest Associate Member),

“the project undertaken in Grenada provides important technical insights that are an inspiration for the members of the National Memory of the World Committee, which is being established“.

Insights into the complex political, social and economic changes that have transformed Grenada over the past 300 years can be found in its national archives. But today, this archival heritage, which managed to survive the military exploits during the colonization of the new World and the more recent Cold-war era, is now threatened by inadequate storage and natural causes.

Hurricane Ivan, which hit the island in 2004, compromised the main library and the national archives. As a result, these collections were dispersed to makeshift emergency storage areas. The limited resources available to the Government, the need to respond to other more urgent human needs, as well as the inadequacy of what was only intended to be temporary storage has seen these precious resources become endangered.

Recently, the Government launched a ‘major effort‘ (sic) aimed at obtaining finances to restore the public library and protect its archives, but even as these plans are being put in place, the ravages of humidity and termites continue their assault on the fragile materials.

Discussions between the IFAP Secretariat and the official Delegation of Grenada during UNESCO’s 37th General Conference helped to identify some immediate interventions that could forestall this degradation. A project was conceived to train government staff and local volunteers in inventorying the archives, relocating them into more favourable locations, protecting them from termites and humidity as well as acquiring equipment to support the digitization of the archives.

N.B. None of the aforementioned consultants of the delegation have been named and ‘training governmental staff and volunteers‘ is a feeble response to the urgency of our plight, and we fear who these ‘information professionals‘ are – still this small response is better than the previous decade of no response.

Joan-Marie Coutain, Secretary-General of the Grenada National Commission, says,

“Within the space of a few weeks, our discussions with UNESCO were transformed into a proposal that was then concretely implemented on the ground. We now have young trained Grenadian volunteers working under the guidance of government information professionals and using the equipment acquired for this project to save our documentary treasures.“

The intergovernmental Information for All Programme was established in 2001. It provides a platform for international policy discussions, cooperation and the development of guidelines for action in the area of access to information and knowledge. The Programme also supports Member States to develop and implement national information policy and strategy frameworks.

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Grenada Heritage: Headmaster of Boy's Secondary School

In our continuing series on capturing Grenadian heritage we look at – David Hedog-Jones.
By Ric Greaves 18 Oct 2013

David Hedog-Jones (c1875-1942)

Grenadian School Headmaster; WWI Captain; African School Headmaster; and Vicar.

Margaret Edith (née Martin) with her new husband David Hedog-Jones,
Captain in the British West Indian Regiment, on their wedding day 29th of July 1916.

David Hedog-Jones was probably born not far from Hedog in Gwynedd North Wales, close to Aberdaron, sometime in the 1870's, however his birth and marriage details have currently not been found.

Unfortunately we know almost nothing of his early life and indead exactly how how he came to be in Grenada.

We do know that in 1910 he earned his National Diplomas (B.A., B.Sc.) in Dairying from the University College of Wales (Aberystwyth) and the British Dairy Institute, Reading and must of took up the post of Headmaster a Grenada Boy's Secondary School (GBSS) in Grenada immediately.

The GBSS was founded as a fee-paying school back in 1885 by the Cocoa and Sugar planters of the island for their children and followed the English grammar school style of education.  However, the Colonies were looking to develop education throughout the empire and at about this time the school was reorganized and reopened at the renovated premises on Melville Street, Saint George's as a free government school with between seventy and eighty boys on the 18th of September 1911.

In 1912 David, as Headmaster of GBSS, published his paper on "Agricultural Education in Grenada".  It illustrated the difficulty he and Grenadian schools in general had with the development of vital education in the field of agriculture.  The paper dealt with the importance of agricultural education on the island in its various aspects as consideration on the part of authorities in the West Indies, during the previous decade, particularly the work of the Imperial Department of Agriculture.  At the time attempts had been made to introduce rural teaching into Grenada elementary schools, the main purpose of the paper was to show how the re-constituted secondary school in that island would be made to bear relationship to the island in general and to the agricultural community in particular.  It seams, however, that he failed in attempts to introduce nature study as a useful subject, into Grenada elementary schools.  The lack of requisite and sympathetic knowledge on the part of teachers in the schools — a condition due specifically to the fact that lectures given to such teachers in the in the earlier years were not followed up by further courses.  The enthusiasm first engendered soon waned, and a few years later it was proposed that grants should be curtailed in the case of schools that did not use their agricultural plots.  The matter began to be serious toward 1907, and since that time the agricultural plot were finally literally abandoned.

This was followed by his attendance to the eighth West Indian Agricultural Conference held in Jamaica in January that year and prompted his 71 page paper entitled the same.

Meanwhile his experiences in Grenada promoted his drive to understand the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of the islands people - leading his to attain another M.A. from Jesus College at the University of Oxford in 1914.  This led to his next two books "Glimpses of the Caribbees and Elsewhere" and "West Indian Studies" which look into folk lore, religion, magic, agricultural conference, and glimpses of the Caribees.

Unfortunately on the 28th of July of that year, just one month after the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated by the student Gavrilo Princip, the world was thrown into the horrors of our First World War and the estimated casualties of 37 million men which included 8.5 million deaths.  A dark cloud is looming over everyone in the British Colonies and would soon reach the Caribbean and Grenada...

In April of 1915 David encourages the GBSS to published a school magazine, "The Caribbean" which outlines the progressive work school and he himself submits an article on agricultural education in Grenada emphasizing the necessity of bringing the teaching of the primary schools into a more direct connexion with that of the secondary school.  The following year the magazine contained an interesting collection of folklore and brings out the striking characteristic of West African folklore, namely, the strong personification of animals, particularly the spider and also a list of West Indian proverbs.

David had met Margaret Edith (born in 1876 in Sunderland, Durham, England), she was the daughter of Canon Henry Martin.  It wasn't too long before the couple had a son, David Henry James who went on also to have gain an M.A., have a military career as Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, receive an M.B.E, and become a Councillor in 1966 and Mayor of Cheltenham (England) by 1974.

Lt. David D. H. J. Martin-Jones

With the war looming many young couples felt a more urgent need to make their commitment to each other more permanent and likewise David married Edith on the 29th of July 1916. 

However with the heavy rains of October 1916, the looming war began calling more of it's children to fight and David had to leave the GBSS and join up.  His departure was noted as follows:-

"Owing to the departure of Mr. Hedog-Jones, science teaching at the Grenada Boys' School is in abeyance. This has caused delay in the beginning of work under the new agricultural cadetship scheme".

On the 29th of November 1916 Captain David Hedog-Jones of the Grenada Volunteer Force takes up his position as Temporary Lieutenant of the Fifth Battalion of the British West Indian Regiment.

By the May of the following year he is made Temporary Captain in the Oversea Contingent of the BWIR.  Like all staff officers he was in the classification FF which denoted gradings for War Office posts for pay and allowances of up to £400 per annum.

Finally by in August of 1919 Captain C. H. Burke relinquished his rank, David was obliged to take up the position of Temporary Major.

During the end of 1917 their second child, daughter Edith is born in Great Ouseburn, Yorkshire (England).

We haven't, as yet, found the records of his war career but we do know that when in February of 1920 David was in Haifa, Palestine on the staff of the Department of Agriculture at a time when the first of two large political demonstrations took place proceeding the events of Easter weekend David was very much there and wrote:-

"...in the absence of both police and soldiers, the breaking open of shops in the New Bazaar, and looting was absolutely unrestrained".

The war over, officially David relinquished his rank of Temporary Major two years later in October of 1920.  At about this time he became a member of the Palestine Oriental Society and Society of Cymmrodorion.

As with many soldiers of that period it is evident that the war had a profound effect on David.  Most certainly with the influence and support of Margaret Edith he turned to religion and became a Vicar and in 1923 the family are living at the Kelloe Vicarage in Coxhoe, Durham (England).

At some point in 1923 David was invited by Hugh Clifford to take up a post as the Organiser of Practical Education to control the Trade Schools in Accra on the Gold Coast and he and Margaret travelled by ship to Ghana, Africa.  He was there to aid with the development of education in Accra as Headmaster and member of the ‘European’ (as apposed to African) staff of the four JUNIOR TRADE SCHOOLS, which consisted of three other headmasters Lieut.-Col. E. St. J. Christophers (deceased by 14 Feb 1924), D.S.O., Captain H. G. Ardron, Captain A. Drake. Brockman, and one relief headmaster). The African staff were four each of Woodwork, Metalwork, Masonry, Agricultural and Literary instructors.

Although he took five months leave in the second half of that first year he spent the whole of the next two years there teaching and developing the schools.  He wrote a short report on the four Junior Trade Schools on the 17 Aug 1925.  They were all, at the time, in temporary buildings one for the Eastern Province (Kibi with 72 pupils), the Central and Western Provinces (Assuantsi, 60 pupils),Northern Territories (Yendi, 90 pupils), and one for the Ashanti (Mampong, 60 pupils.  This later school was originally ministered by Elizabeth W Telfer as headmistress in charge of the Province until, April 12th when she left and David then took charge, and he was required to combine the duties of Acting Provincial Inspector of Schools and Headmaster of the Junior Trade School, Mampong. until she returned on October 1st.

Rev. David and Margaret Edith returned to England some time before 1929 when the family moved to the Brookthorpe Vicarage, near Gloucester (England) where they remain for some ten years.  Then in March of 1932 he was the Incumbent of the Benefice of Brookthorpe with Whaddon where he was on the Toddington Parish Council with Margaret Edith.

The former educator of the Grenada Boy's Secondary School passed away whilst at home in
Ewesham Road, Toddington near Cheltenham (England) on Tuesday 24th of March 1942.

Ten years later David's son married a member of the Grimsby family of Lincolnshire (England) and county tennis player, Miss Susan Anningston Tickler, daughter of the late Mr Harry Tickler, at St James' Church on the 7th of July 1952.  And Margaret Edith lives almost another two decade and died as a widow aged 84 on the 24th of November 1960 in the family home.

References

• D. Hedog-Jones, “Agricultural Education in Grenada, with Special Reference to the Secondary School for Boys”, West Indian Bulletin, vol. 12-13, 1912, p.221
• D. Hedog-Jones, "A West Indian Agricultural Conference", 1912, pp.71
• D. Hedog-Jones, "Glimpses of the Caribbees and Elsewhere", 1914, pp.97
• The Agricultural News, vol. 14, no. 338, 1915, p.124
• The Agricultural News, vol. 15, no. 358, 1916, p.44
• D. Hedog-Jones, "West Indian Studies", 1916, pp.97
• Ed., D. Hedog-Jones, "The Caribbean", vol. 1, 8vo., 1916
• The London Gazette, Issues 30295 to 32127
• Palin report, British National Archives (FO 371/5121)
• Gloucestershire Echo, 1942, p.4
• Cheltenham Chronicle, 1942, p.6
• C. L. Joseph, “The British West Indies Regiment 1914–1918″, Journal of Caribbean History, vol. II, May 1971, pp. 94–124

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Lest We Forget – The British West Indies Regiment

The British West Indies Regiment

Three lads of the British West Indies Regiment

The regular West India Regiment long pre-dated the “Great War” and its 1st Battalion, based at Freetown, sent a detachment for service in German Cameroons. 2nd Battalion saw much service in the West and East African campaigns and then went to Palestine in September 1918.

The so called “Great War” or World War I, covering the four years of 1914 to 1918, began in central Europe in late July 1914, and though it’s causes included many churlish factors – such as the conflicts and hostility between the larger European powers of the four decades leading up to the war – militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism played major roles in the conflict that ended in throwing away the lives of millions of young men – not for what the bileived to be true and good but for a select few who beleived their power was under threat. The immediate origins of the war, therefore, lay in the decisions taken by statesmen and generals during the “July Crisis” of 1914 caused by the assassination of an Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie by the Surbian student Gavrilo Princip, an irredentist member of a Serbian nationalist organization called Black Hand.

Following the outbreak of these hostilities in 1914 many West Indians left the colonies to enlist in the army in the UK and were recruited into British regiments. However, the War Office was concerned with the number of black soldiers in the army and tried to prevent any people from the West Indies enlisting. Indeed, the War Office threatened to repatriate any who arrived. Eventually, after much discussion between the Colonial Office and the War Office, and the intervention of King George V, approval to raise a West Indian contingent was given on 19 May 1915. On 26 October 1915 the British West Indies Regiment was established.

The creation of the British West Indies Regiment, passed on 3 November 1915, was formalised by Army Order number 4 of 1916. The Order stated that the regiment would be recognised as a corps for the purposes of the Army Act.

Battalions formed by this regiment

1st Battalion
Formed at Seaford, Sussex, England from West Indies volunteers: A Company from British Guiana, B from Trinidad, C from Trinidad & St. Vincent, D from Grenada & Barbados.
Served in Egypt and Palestine.
War diary September 1915 – April 1919 (WO95/4427, 4433, 4410, 4732)
2nd Battalion
Served in Egypt and Palestine.
War diary January 1916 – April 1919 (WO95/4427, 4433, 4732)
3rd Battalion
Served in France & Flanders.
War diary March 1916 – January 1919 (WO95/4465, 338)
4th Battalion
Served in France & Flanders.
War diary May – November 1918 (WO95/409)
5th Battalion
A reserve draft-finding unit .
War diary July 1916 – April 1919 (WO95/4465)
6th Battalion
Served in France & Flanders.
War diary March 1917 – April 1919 (WO95/495)
7th Battalion
Served in France & Flanders.
War diary June – December 1917 (WO95/409)
8th Battalion
Served in France & Flanders and went to Italy in 1918.
War diary July – December 1917 (WO95/338)
9th Battalion
Served in France & Flanders and went to Italy in 1918.
War diary July – December 1917 (WO95/338)
10th Battalion
Served in France and Italy.
11th Battalion
Served in France and Italy.

The regimental badge as depicted by CWGC on the gravestone of Pte 13576 Phillip Byles of the 10th Battalion. He now lies in Longuenesse Souvenir Cemetery near St Omer in France. Author’s collection.

The contribution of the West Indies

A total of 397 officers and 15,204 men, representing all Caribbean colonies, served in the BWIR. Of the total, 10,280 (66%) came from Jamaica. Athough at least 380 men served in this war from Grenada, they had joined many regiments all over the globe (primarily throughout the USA).
In addition contributing to the British West Indies regiment, Bermuda raised two more contingents: the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (which was attached to the 1st Lincolnshire Regiment) and the Bermuda Garrison Artillery. Other men joined other British and Canadian regiments; some quite possibly joined the United States army too but we have yet to confirm this.

Further reading

• F. Cundall, Jamaica’s Part in the Great War, 1914–1918 (Institute of Jamaica, 1925)
• Guy Grannum, Tracing Your West Indian Ancestors (PRO Publications, 2002)
• C. L. Joseph, “The British West Indies Regiment 1914–1918″, Journal of Caribbean History, vol. II, May 1971, pp. 94–124
• Richard Smith, Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War (Manchester University Press, 2004)
• J. A. P. M. Andrade, A Record of the Jews in Jamaica: From the English Conquest to the Present Time (Jamaica, 1941). This includes a list of the Jewish members of the Forces who were from Jamaica, who served during the First World War (not all of whom served with the BWIR).
• The list of the first 380 Grenadian men aged 14 to 40 who left for the US, UK, Canada and Austrailia shortly before WW1 and then joined up, G.N.A, 1920, pp.4.

• A White Man’s War? WW1 and the West Indies (BBC article)
• Caribbean participants in the First World War (Memorial Gates Trust website)
• The Ex West Indian Servicemen’s Association web pages on the BWIR
• Caribbean Roll of Honour
• Grenada’s Endangered Archives

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Grenada’s Endangered Archives (part 4)

Digitising the endangered archives of Grenada (EAP295)

As of May 2013 Cathy Collins (EPA Grants Administrator @ Endangered Archives, The British Library, London, UK) wrote:

“I am afraid the results from this project are still being finalised so the records have not yet been catalogued or made available online. However, I am optimistic that the last few remaining queries should be sorted out without too much delay now.“

Project Outcome – four years on

Before this project, the material from Government House that had survived the 2004 hurricane had been deposited in the basement of the Office of the Governor-General but there was no index, or order to the material. In totally reconstructing this archive the project relied heavily on E. C. Baker’s A Guide to Records in the Windward Islands (1968). All our Government House material was cleaned, repaired, placed in chronological and thematic order and indexed.

Twelve volumes and files of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor’s correspondence were digitised covering the period 1764-1879. The Letter Books of the Administrator and Colonial Secretary were digitised as series P because these were far more fragmented than the Governor’s correspondence. Without an item-level index of material dating from before the 2004 hurricane (Ivan), series P material has been ordered chronologically and digitisation was focused on those works which were seen as the most fragile due to their age or unbound condition.

The material at the Supreme Court Registry was far better preserved than at Government House as it was relatively unaffected by Hurricane Ivan. Loose-leaf documents previously identified as connected to the eighteenth century French Deeds formed the initial focus of in situ digitisation in the Supreme Court Registry. Many of the bound volumes of French Deeds identified by the project required such extensive preservation and conservation work that their digitisation would have destroyed their physical structure. By stabilising their storage and digitising those materials in the Supreme Court Registry which were already fragmentary or fragile, the project was able to make a significant step towards its original aims.

Digitisation

Aside from preservation and restoration – THE most important aspect and concern for this endangered project is with the dititisation and immediate onine access and availablility of our historical records.

Digitisation has continued in the Supreme Court Registry on the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registers for St Georges and records related to Forfeited Estates, 1794-1802. During this time one Archival researcher employed by the project has attempted to clean, sort and order the French Deed bound volumes and unbound materials.

Most significantly copies of all digitised material have been deposited with the British Library. Further copies have been placed with the University of the West Indies, Grenada campus, and this is supposed to be made publically accessible through the new campus that is being constructed on the island. We will just have to hold our breath and wait.

Copies of all digitised material will also be deposited with our Grenada National Archives … when this is too is constructed.

I’m sorry to say that four years has now passed since the project took place and we still await physical access to this virtual data but as seem Grenada’s lot we must wait and see…
Keep up with the Archives News on our page “Grenada’s Endangered Archives” at http://www.facebook.com/groups/158188037685838/

Although back on the 27 September 2013 the Grenada Information Services (GIS) and Education and Human Resource Development of Grenada announce:- 

“The Library will be reopened at a new location, in the National Stadium, as the previous building (on the Carenage) is in need of extreme structural repair.  Regular operation is projected to begin early in the New Year. Opening hours and policies are expected to remain the same.”

This has little or nothing to do with our National Archive needs.

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Heritage At Risk - A Patron to Protect our Built Heritage

At last a Patron to Protect our Built Heritage!

Governor General, Dr. Cecile La Grenade – Source: Caribbeanlifenews.com/GoG

Written by Norris Mitchell – The Willie Redhead Foundation



It was like a breath of fresh air, hearing Her Excellency – Dr. Cecile La Grenade, our new Governor General, in her inaugural address on Tuesday 7 May 2013 declaring her commitment to the protection of our built heritage with special reference to the restoration of the Governor General’s residence and York House, which were severely damaged by hurricanes Ivan in September 2004 and Emily July 2005, and remain derelict up to this day.



In this regard it is appropriate that The Sentinel bring to the fore the declaration by the United Nations on world heritage, as follows:

“In a society where living standards are changing at an accelerated pace, it is essential for man’s equilibrium and development to preserve for him a fitting setting in which to live, where he will remain in contact with nature and the evidence of civilization bequeathed by past generations; and that to this end, it is appropriate to give the cultural and natural heritage an active function in community life, and to integrate into an overall policy, the achievements of our time, the values of the past and the beauty of nature” UNESCO preamble to Heritage Protection 1972.

Of course, there are several other heritage buildings and sites in our Capital City that have been neglected/ abandoned over the years. A few which come to mind are the St. George’s Market Square, which is undergoing some very insensitive changes, the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, Edinburgh House on Young Street, the Georgian House on Church Street with an authentic Sedan Chair porch, which is in an advanced stage of decay, the reclaiming of Fort George, and within recent times the abandonment of our Public Library building (the National Archives and Library) on the Carenage.



Talk is cheap. In Grenada and in the Caribbean as a whole, there is a culture, where once the matter has been thoroughly verbalized, it becomes a substitute for action (achievement). The end result is that there is little or no improvement in the matter at hand, until it is completely forgotten, and stagnation becomes the order of the day.



It is imperative therefore, that the Grenada Government (G.G.) select her advisors carefully, as the naysayers would want to dissuade her into accepting that York House and the G.G's historic residence and site should be replaced by so-called modern buildings. Unfortunately this mindset is the result of a deficit in the knowledge and appreciation of our history and cultural assets which are essential ingredients in our evolving Caribbean identity.



In conclusion, the Sentinel would like to think that this is an appropriate occasion to remind the powers that be, that there is no PUBLIC ACCESS to the Louis La Grenade mausoleum at Morne Jaloux. The mausoleum is the site of the remains of one of Grenada's outstanding sons and heroes during the FEDON revolutionary period, and a deceased relative of our Governor General. The Sentinel is therefore looking forward to the day when public access to the site would be restored in order to reinforce the meaning and appreciation of our heritage for both Grenadians and visitors alike.



Finally, we all take this opportunity to wish her Excellency, "All speed," in the tremendous task of nation building which lies ahead.

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Heritage at Risk – Parliament Building Still Derelict

Disgusting Shame

The Parliament Building, February 2012



In many countries, there exists some building that is a national symbol. As such, the preservation and well being of this symbol is fiercely protected. For Grenada, that building should be The Parliament Building, York House.



Yet today - eight years on, The Parliament Building languishes in a state of uncertain future. Because no steps have been taken to mitigate against continued damage due the loss of the roof in Hurricane Ivan, the building is rapidly being rendered an unsalvageable ruin.



As the entrance doors flap in wind, they open and shut to reveal extensive deterioration and destruction of the internal structures and decorative details of the building. 



The upper floor is collapsing unto the lower, with valuable materials needed for the rebuilding of the Parliament Building, including joist, studs, and carved elements, falling out of the building into the court yard.



Looking at the building from street level, it is clear that the upper floor is now a shell. But the Parliament Building was largely intact after Ivan, except for the damage to the roof, windows, and a small area of bricks that were dislodge as a result of the disturbance to rafters.



While the majority of galvanized panels were blown off and the rafter system affected, a good amount of the rafters, including the decking boards. remained in place. The significance of this is that the







Parliament Building, February 2010



remaining rafters offered the opportunity to quickly erect temporary roofing for The Parliament Building, in order to arrest any further damage to this important Grenadian Heritage site. But for some reason, this was not done. Why?



After all, this was not a difficult engineering challenge exacerbated by unstable walls – proven by the fact that the building continues to stand today, even though its internal supporting structures are allowed to rot. The simple solution would have been to collect as much of the blown-off galvanize sheets as possible, prop up the surviving rafters and build temporary rafters where none existed, and then proceed to cover the building using the collected and new galvanized sheets, and board up all broken windows.



In the long term, since Grenada lacks a skilled labor force with expertise in the restoration of 18^th and 19^th century architecture, it would have been, and still is, prudent that expert



consultants be brought in to assist in the restoration, and help in building a core of workers with the skills needed for the maintenance and preservation of The Parliament Building and other Grenadian heritage sites – and there are many.



Were these simple steps taken, the conversation today regarding the future of The Parliament Building would be a whole lot different. Instead, Grenadians are facing a real possibility that a national symbol, that should stand to represent the strength of the nation, will crumble to rubble. Shame!



Other steps that should and must be taken are:

• the assessment of a $1US surcharge on all visitors to Grenada, that will go directly to a fund for the rebuilding of the capital.



• Ongoing fund raising and appeals to large corporation and foundations, wealthy individuals.



• Continuous involvement of the Grenadian diaspora for both cash donations and contribution of labor and knowledge.



• Development of a foreign exchange program that send Grenadians to foreign countries with rich preservation cultures, while creating a host program that enables foreign skilled workers to come to Grenada cheaply, and train Grenadian workers.

Because of the lack of mitigating action, the cost to restore The Parliament Building has grown astronomically. Where in the immediate period after Ivan, the work would have entailed restoring the roof, repairing broken windows, replacing







View of the Destruction Through the Front Door



dislodged bricks, and addressing water damage, today, because of 7+ years of neglect, a complete gut jobs is likely needed, with a high likelihood that the historic interior of the building will be lost forever (It is rumored that Trinidad offered to rebuild The Parliament Building in the early days after Ivan, but the offer was refused).



There have been reports that the US and Australian government would assist with funding for the building of The Parliament Building. These report go back to 2007/2008, and yet to date, there are no sign of movement to begin work.



Surprisingly, the government has gone forward with two projects in the town that raises questions about their priorities and commitment to fiercely protect Grenada’s national symbols. The pavilion being constructed above Sendall Tunnel and the work being done on market square are two projects whose funds would have been better spent in repairing sites like The Parliament Building and Fort George.



While there is value in the eventual restoration of the market square, this could have waited, And the pavilion above Sendall Tunnel is silly. It will create a sitting area so tourist can gather and gaze upon all the dilapidated and falling buildings in the town – a few located immediately in front or next to it. This is clearly an example of screwed up priorities. As, one would think that first you fix the view before creating a place to see it.



St. George’s stand at the precipice of losing its historic character. The ramifications have already started to manifest themselves, as it was reported that some cruise ship operators were looking to cut the number of calls to Grenada. The neglect of national symbols, like The Parliament Building, has economic consequences. This shouldn’t be a surprise for a nation that so heavily depends on tourism.



Tourists travel to experience culture and history. National symbols like The Parliament Building are important in telling the story of a people (if walls can talk…). They define the past and help give definition to the future. National symbols are an example of a nation’s strength. What does it say about Grenada that after almost eight years, it has not devised any apparent solution for repairing one of its most important national symbols? But instead, is allowing it to fall to the ground.

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Heritage at Risk – New Sign on Melrose House

A New Sign For Melrose House: For Sale

For the resident of Gouyave, the saga of Melrose House continues.



The historic building, which has been threatened with demolition, has now been put up for sale by the current owner. So much for our cry for help in May 2011.



One of the last remaining  of its type in the area, residents have advocated for historical landmarks designation and that the government of Grenada place its ownership in trust and re-purpose the building as a museum.



In the fight to save and preserve Melrose House, this latest development creates the feeling of returning to square one.  The big noise made after the first sales that, in all likelihood, gave the building temporary reprieve from demolition, is likely going to be needed again, unless the government once and for all steps in to save the building.



The worry is that a new owner might not be as responsive to demands to preserve Melrose House and Grenada will again lose  a substantial cultural heritage site.



This is not just a Gouyave issue.  It is a Grenada issue.  It is an issue for all that values the preservation of heritage and culture.



Tell the government of Grenada to save Melrose House.

• Prime Minister Tillman Thomas: pmsec@gov.gd



• Tourism Minister Peter David: tourism@gov.gd

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