Talk:History of the British Virgin Islands/archive 1
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The history of the British Virgin Islands begins with the settlement by Arawak Indians from South America around 100 BC (though there is some evidence of Amerindian presence on the islands as far back as 1500 BC [1]). The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, a tribe from the Lesser Antilles islands, after whom the Caribbean Sea is named. (Some historians, however, believe that this popular account of warlike Caribs chasing peaceful Arawaks out of the Caribbean islands is rooted in simplistic European stereotypes, and that the true story is more complex.)
The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins), shortened to Las Vírgenes (The Virgins), after the legend of Saint Ursula.
The Spanish Empire acquired the islands in the early 16th century, mining copper on Virgin Gorda, and subsequent years saw the English, Dutch, French, Spanish and Danish all jostling for control of the region, which became a notorious haunt for pirates. During the process of colonisation the native Amerindian population was decimated.
The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola in 1648. In 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the British annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680. Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the nearby islands of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix.
The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession, but were planted when economic conditions were particularly favourable. The British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. The islands prospered economically until the growth in the sugar beet crop in Europe and the United States significantly reduced sugar cane production.
In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix from Denmark for US$17 million, renaming them the United States Virgin Islands. Subsequently, the British renamed the islands they controlled as the British Virgin Islands.
The British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the Leeward Islands Colony or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an Administrator representing the British Government on the Islands. Separate colony status was gained for the Islands in 1960 and the Islands became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the Islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services, becoming one of the richest areas in the Caribbean.
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[edit] Pre-Columbian history
Before Christopher Columbus sailed through the waters of the British Virgin Islands in October of 1493, there were a number of other people living in the region whose origins may be traced to the South American mainland in the Oricono valley in present day Venezuela.
These people were Indians who were migratory rather than indigenous and a variety of differing names have been applied to them including Taíno, Arawak, and Carib. Those names are European in origin and, in fact, the Arawaks called themselves Igneri, with the Caribs calling themselves Kalinago. Although we are unable to be specific about exactly who was in the territory at this time, evidence has been excavated that suggests there were a number of settlements on Tortola alone, and in comparison with the other Virgin Islands, including the United States Virgin Islands, we are able to surmise that a large population of Indians existed in the region prior to their destruction by the European explorers.
We do know that these tribal units were very different to each other and were generally hostile towards one another. The Kalinago (or Caribs) were a warlike people who travelled in logboats from island to island in large raiding parties. In many ways their attitude is reminiscent of the Viking raiding parties operating in Europe at around the same time. The men lived separately to their women and dominated society. They were taught to fight at an early age and were trained martially for a life of violence. They would sail their logboats from island to island attacking any people who they found already in residence. For the most part, their victims were usually the more peaceful Igneri or Arawaks who, once attacked, would have had all of their men killed and their wives captured for marriage and integration into the victorious Carib community.
The Igneri on the other hand were very different. They were a peaceful people whose farming and fishing skills were quite developed. They tended to live in secluded bays, raising crops and harvesting the fruits of the sea. Again, their society dictated that the men lived separately and generally the layout of the village would consist of a large roundhouse in the centre where all of the men lived, orbited by smaller huts on the outside for the women and children. They were a religious people with a variety of deities which were physically manifested as religious tokens known as Zemis. These Zemis were generally stone and have been found in a variety of sizes with basic carvings inscribed upon them. A large example was found in Cane Garden Bay, possibly of the dog god Yocahu, and a smaller example at Sopers Hole, on Tortola.
The types of artefacts found at BVI sites include stone pounders, looking much like the more recent mortars used for hand grinding, vomit spatulas which it is believed were used to induce vomiting during religious ceremonies of ritual purification, triton shells which have been adapted to be used as trumpets, and stone axes. Organic artefacts found indicate the type of diet eaten by the Indians, with fish bones found in abundance, including moray eel, squirrelfish, grouper, snapper, jack, grunt, barracuda, and parrotfish. Interestingly, the bones of pigeons were also found. Crops grown included cassava, corn, sweet potato, beans, squash, guava, mammey-apple, and pineapple.
The lifestyle of these Indians was abruptly interrupted when Columbus first sailed into West Indian waters negating the ‘pre’ before his name and catapulting the region into a new epoch, an epoch that proved disastrous for the original inhabitants. For both religious reasons and greed, the Spanish treated the native Indians of the region with contempt and cruelty proceeding with a policy which can now only be described as genocide. Many Indians were shipped to Puerto Rico and Hispaniola to work in the mines there, and a combination of maltreatment and exposure to European diseases for which they had no natural defence system, meant that the number of Indians in the region declined rapidly. We do not know for sure what happened to the BVI Indians and theories ranging from massacre to transportation to the Puerto Rican goldmines have been volunteered. George Suckling, a Chief Justice in the colony at the end of the 18th century states that there were no Indians in the Territory at the time of European settlement. He was, however, writing 150 years after colonisation so his testimony at best is unreliable. A map from 1646 does show grass type huts close to the stone buildings of the Dutch but these may represent early slave huts built to shelter the recent African arrivals. With the absence of documentary evidence, it is the job of the archaeologists to unravel the mystery of the first BVI inhabitants.
[edit] Forts
Although Columbus first sailed through the British Virgin Islands in October of 1493, it is unlikely that the Spanish spent any serious time in the region, negating the necessity for fortifying the area. There is strong theoretical evidence to suggest that a Spanish emplacement existed where the Fort National Park area is on Virgin Gorda to protect their interest in the copper mine on Virgin Gorda, however, the National Park is named after the later British fort that definitely existed there and was known as Fort George. All indications suggest that there was no serious Spanish settlement in the islands and a book dating from 1666 states that 'The Spanish visit them often in order to fish, which there is plentiful', however, 'They afford so little good ground that after a trial thereof made in several places, it was concluded that they deserve not inhabitants.'
Islands like the BVI soon became forgotten when the Spanish discovered the vast riches on the South and Central American mainland. This allowed the Dutch to settle the BVI which, according to Papal donation, was still Spanish territory and, consequently, illegal. Probably the first Dutchman to settle in the BVI was Patron Joost van Dyk sometime in the 1620s. He was attacked by a Spanish raiding party and subsequently retreated in hiding to the island that now bears his name. There was definitely activity in the 1640s and documents recovered from the archives in Seville, Spain, report about two attacks that the Spanish made on Tortola in 1646 and 1647. The reports show that the Spanish anchored a warship in Sopers Hole at West End and landed men ashore. They then sent another warship to blockade Road Harbour. After a team of scouts returned a safe report, the Spanish landed more men and attacked the fort at Pockwood Pond which is now known as The Dungeons. The men there were massacred and the Spanish soldiers moved overland to Road Town.
A map of the raid then shows Fort George on the north-east side of the bay under attack which at the time had only three cannons known as Pedreros. This is the earliest reference to fortifications in the territory making both Fort George and Fort Purcell (The Dungeons) definitely Dutch. There is a possibility that Fort Recovery and Fort Burt were also originally built by the Dutch as well.
History is vague after this date until 1672, when the British invaded Tortola at the opening of the Third Dutch War. Colonel William Burt with a group of just 100 men arrived in Road Harbour where the self styled Governor, whose name was Balderick, immediately surrendered. It is from this date that the islands have always remained British. Colonel Burt destroyed the fort at Fort George and removed both the guns and inhabitants to St. Kitts. In 1686, when pirates attacked a new British settlement, there was no fort and the island was taken easily. By 1715, the fort had still not been rebuilt when Captain Chandler, on HMS Winchelsea, made a report on the islands.
After this date, Tortola began to be extensively settled and, with the increase in economic activity in the Territory, the question of suitable fortifications became urgent. In the early 1750s, Governor Purcell wrote to the Lords of Trade and Plantations that he had rebuilt a fort with four bastions on the site of the original Dutch fort which had been laid to ruin by the British in 1672. The frequent colonial wars throughout the period dictated that planters would also have to erect batteries and forts at their own expense, to protect the individual plantations in secluded bays not covered by the Government forts in Road Town. By 1801, an entire network of defensive emplacements had been built and a document from that date lists all of the forts and batteries on Tortola including those on Jost Van Dyke, Peter Island and Virgin Gorda.
The document starts with the forts in Road Town and first mentions Fort Charlotte. Fort Charlotte was named after the Queen of England at the time, Charlotte of Meklenburg Strelitz, who was the wife of King George III. The fort was built at the start of the American War of Independence, but is not a walled structure. Due to the height of the fort at 947 feet, there is no way an attacking ship would be able to fire upwards that high. Consequently, the fort consisted of a series of gun platforms and some ancillary buildings. The platforms are simply shored with stone, however, there is an underground magazine and a barrel vaulted cistern which for the most part is underground. A document dated March 27th, 1786 describes Fort Charlotte as 'of more consequence to the sovereignty and general safety of this island than any other or perhaps all of the others put together.'
The next fort on the list has not been found but the third fort described is known as Fort Burt which is now the site of a hotel and restaurant. The only surviving structure to the fort is the powder magazine at the entrance to the hotel. Apart from a cannon which menacingly points out to sea, little remains of this emplacement. Fort George, the original Dutch fort, is also mentioned and is located on Fort Hill.
Part of this fortification remains but the majority was destroyed to make way for an apartment building in the late 1960s. People who remember the fort prior to its destruction describe a half moon gun battery which pointed to the entrance of Road Harbour. A document from 1777 requests two 12 or 18 pounders for the fort indicating that it was heavily armed. The site is now on private land and an excavation of the area is planned for 2001.
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The largest surviving military emplacement is known as 'The Dungeons' and may be found at Pockwood pond on the south-west side of the Tortola. Historically, this fort was known as Fort Purcell and is named after the Purcell brothers who consecutively governed the territory in the 1750s. Their plantation were in this area and the fort was built privately to protect their interests. The main fort itself is originally Dutch and the use of different stone types shows the evolution of the building's construction.
Inside one of the rooms are a series of graffiti drawings carved into the wall by a bored garrison. One drawing shows a dancing girl and another, an officer or gentleman in a three quarter length coat. By dating the clothing worn by the people in the drawings we able to see that the fort would have been garrisoned during the Severn Years War which took place between 1756-63.
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A red brick staircase leads to the gun battery which would have mounted six guns allowing the fort to completely cover the surrounding area of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. There is also a water cistern and a number of masonry platforms that would once have had wooden buildings on them for the officers and garrison accommodation.
Probably the strangest fort in the Territory can be found just up the road from Fort Purcell and is on the property of the Fort Recovery Hotel. This circular gun platform is mentioned on the 1801 document as the Tower Fort and looks medieval in its design. It would appear that there was no entrance to the fort and the only way in or out would have been over the top by ladder. The fort is filled with earth and the remains of a stone platform can be found under the topsoil. Fort like this would normally have had a traversing gun platform so that the main cannon could be moved around. There is no evidence of this at Fort Recovery however and it would appear that the fort would have mounted a few guns which would have poked through the embrasures.
Throughout the territory evidence of the martial past can be found and, in some bays, cannons still lie on the ground close to the beach where their carriages have rotted beneath them (cootens cannons). By 1815, these forts and emplacements would have been obsolete as the stage of warfare shifted to the European arena. There are mentions of ruined forts in the mid-1800s but many of the structures and their armaments have either been destroyed or removed. The ones remaining are a testament to a more turbulent time when it was necessary to either defend yourself or be invaded and your nationality changed.
[edit] Churches
Since the inception of religion into the islands with the arrival of the European settlers, the piety of the British Virgin Islanders has grown from strength to strength. In the early years of settlement, the islanders were described as a ‘godless people’ whose religious faith and practice, at best, was minimal. Due to the limited political autonomy available to the early pioneers, it was impossible to raise taxes to build public churches. Any people with religious inclinations were condemned to practice their faith either in their private homes or in makeshift churches, usually constructed of wood and located on land donated by a member of that particular flock.
An important religious change occurred when a group of Quakers emerged in the islands, sometime around the 1740's. Their history is recounted in the book 'Tortola', by Charles Jenkins, who describes how the sect only lasted 45 years in the colony. Quakerism was entirely impractical in a colonial frontier society, primarily because of their refusal to bear arms in times of war. The defence of a colony was reliant on a local militia which would be summoned to arms, once the alarm had been given. During the 1700's, a period noted for the regularity of colonial wars primarily antagonised by trade benefits, the local population had to be ready to fight. This lack of fighting spirit amongst the Quakers created serious tension between them and other planters who despised their lack of martial inclination. The Governor during this period, John Pickering, was a practising Quaker and, in essence, was neglecting his gubernatorial duties by refusing to fight. He consequently relinquished his post and was succeeded by John Hunt, who was described as a 'great enemy and despiser of friends.' Hunt's wife, Mary, 'threw in her lot' with the Quakers and was consequently beaten by her husband, but outlived him to remarry a Quaker called Samuel Nottingham. It was this husband and wife partnership that donated all of their lands and buildings in the colony to their slaves, who subsequently became known as the freed Nottinghams of Long Look, a district in the east end of Tortola.
Quakers essentially do not have what can be described in the conventional sense as churches, but practice their religion in what is known as meeting houses. None of these survive today and the Quaker element declined, leaving only a couple of cemeteries, and documents relating to their meetings and practices which are located in Philadelphia.
One of the oldest religious structures surviving in the Territory may be found at the top of Windy Hill, on Tortola, and is known as St. Michael’s Church. Little remains of the church today and only a small portion of a wall can be seen from the road; however, upon closer inspection it may be seen that this was once a significant building. More significant is the story of the church’s pastor in the late 18th century who, as well as holding services at the church and attending to his religious duties, was also a blatant practitioner of piracy. Pastor Audain was known to leave the church in mid-sermon upon sighting a suitable vessel, rush down to his sloop and give chase, sword in hand. He would sit in the bell tower of the church and use its elevation as a look out tower from where he espied his next victim. He was consequently christened the Pirate Pastor Audain.
One of the most interesting churches to survive in the Territory may be found in the Kingstown area, on the east side of Road Town. Subsequent to the abolition of the slave trade in 1808, the English actively hunted vessels of other nations who still engaged in the nefarious practice. If a slave ship was caught, the Africans would be liberated; however, the problem of relocating the human cargo became acute, as more and more vessels were condemned. The situation became even more poignant when, in 1819, a Portuguese slave ship called the Donna Paula wrecked on the reef at Anegada. The ship's crew and 235 slaves were saved. However, the problem of relocating the new arrivals arose and a decision had to be made as to where to settle them. The area now known as Kingstown, on Tortola, was put aside and subdivided, and each newly freed African was allocated a plot of land where they could build a house and grow provision crops. Many converted to Christianity and in response to their embracing a new religion, a church was built for them close to the shore of the Kingstown area. The church was christened St. Phillips and was the first church built for free blacks in the Americas. St. Phillips is presently in ruins; however, there is a project underway to stabilise the building and convert the area into a tourist attraction.
In 1773, Constitutional Government was granted to the planters in the BVI, allowing them to tax the inhabitants. The two primary items requiring funding through taxation were fortifications and churches, and after this period many of both were built. The first Anglican priest in the colony was John Latham, who arrived in 1746, closely followed by the first Methodist minister, William Hammett, in 1788. Both an Anglican and Methodist church were built in Road Town and many similar structures were raised throughout the colony. None of these original churches survive, primarily because of the 1819 hurricane that swept through the territory in September of that year, destroying almost everything and killing many people. On the morning of the 21st of September, 1819, there were 104 sugar works in the colony. On the 22nd, only four were left standing. The Anglican church in Road Town dates from this period, and all of the Anglican records date subsequent to 1819. The present Methodist church in Road Town was built in 1926; however, it is certain that there would have been a church on the site prior to this date. The Methodist church in East End was originally built in 1810, on land donated by Miriam Vanterpool, of Beef Island, but the present structure dates from this century.
A visitor to the BVI today will find a variety of denominations worshipping in the Territory, each with their own church: Anglican, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists and Catholics heading the list. A visiting worshipper will be gladly accepted into a congregation, and for the non-religious the churches are still of interest for their historical value.
[edit] Sugar mills
The early European settlers of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) were, for the most part, poor farmers who were unable to afford land in some of the more fertile islands like St. Kitts. In an effort to carve out a niche for themselves as tropical planters, some came to the BVI, which for a variety of reasons was not a good place to attempt economically viable agricultural cultivation. The precipitous topography and poor soil quality were not conducive to intensive plantation agriculture and the BVI were never considered an important colony. Initially, cotton, ginger, indigo and logwood were grown and harvested in the islands and at the start of the 1750s, the BVI was the largest producer of cotton for England. What took place after this date was a shift towards sugar growth and, by the 1770s, most of the available land, especially on Tortola, was under sugar cultivation. Sugar cane is essentially a giant grass that originated in the South Pacific Islands. Through race migration, the grass eventually found its way to India where it was first refined into the dry granulated state that we recognise today. This method of refining was, in turn, passed on to the Chinese around 600-650 AD.
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The Puri or Creole cane travelled from India to Persia in around the sixth-century AD. From there, through Arab expansionism, it spread through the Mediterranean, eventually to be brought to the West Indies by Columbus on his second Voyage in 1493, (which is incidentally also the same year that Columbus discovered the Virgin Islands).
Prior to planting, preparation of the ground to be cultivated was necessary. This hard work was done by the ‘Great Gang,’ which comprised of the fittest and strongest field slaves. The ground was meticulously laid out in a grid pattern after which two canes to each hole were placed on the ground horizontally. Throughout the year, the canes were weeded and fertilised at regular intervals. After 12 to 15 months, when small feathery flowers appeared on the tops of the cane, the crop was ready for harvesting. By this time the canes would have stood at around 15 to 16 feet tall and were two inches thick. They were then cut at the base with bills (leaving a stump to re-grow as next years crop), topped and feathered and cut into spears of around 30 inches long. The cane spears were then ready to go to the crusher or animal round to be juiced. It was necessary for this to take place within 24 hours of the canes being cut or the saccharine quality would diminish quickly.
For the duration of the colonial period, the method for crushing cane stalks and subsequently extracting the juice remained the same and involved pushing the stalks through a set of three rollers. The method for powering the rotation of these rollers did, however, vary and, until the advent of steam engines, three types of power were enhanced. The first of these included water power or a water wheel mill, a method used for centuries in England for grinding wheat. This method was irrelevant as far as the BVI were concerned as there was very little running water and certainly not a stream or river capable of powering a large water wheel. The second method enhanced the power of the wind by building a tower with rotating sails fixed to the top, commonly known as a windmill. It would appear that only one of these was ever built in the BVI and it is located at Mount Healthy on Tortola . It is believed that this singular anomaly was built as an experiment by Bezaliel Hodge, the wealthiest planter in the history of the BVI. The majority of planters in the colony would not have been able to afford a windmill as it necessitated the construction of a second method for crushing the cane in case there was no wind. In the BVI, the third method for powering the rollers was utilised and was known as the animal round.
The animal mill basically consists of three iron rollers known as ‘Sugar Kings’ or ‘Megasses,’ contained within a supportive wooden frame. The central roller, or ‘King’, was attached to a large vertical gudgeon which in turn was attached to two sweeping beams (millround). These beams were harnessed to and turned by dray animals such as oxen or horse. All three rollers were cogged at the top and in turning the central roller, the other two would also rotate. The wooden support structure lay across a sub-ground level foundation which supported and held in place the bottom of the central gudgeon. The canes would pass through the rollers twice, back and forth, and the sap of the juice would be extracted and retained in a wooden holding tank. Once the holding tank was full, the animals would be stopped and the juice fed to the boiling house via an underground channel lying on top of the animal round. The juice would then either be boiled straight away or held in a holding cistern to await processing.
The boiling house, like the animal round, also did not essentially change from a design perspective for the entire period of the colonial era. The cane juice would enter the boiling house through a hole in the wall, best described as a cane juice entry orifice. (entry hole) These vary in size and shape, but all serve the same purpose.
Once in the boiling house, the juice would be boiled in the first of four large vats called coppers, the object being to reduce the juice to a syrupy consistency. Many of these coppers can still be seen lying around in the Territory (Copper). This first copper was the largest and known as the ‘Granny Copper’ or ‘Grand Copper’. Solid residue material such as cane pith would have travelled with the sap from the animal round and had to be removed. This would rise to the surface and be ladled into waiting buckets by the first boilerman for disposal. The remaining juice would then be ladled from the ‘Grand Copper’ into the second copper to be further reduced. At this point, a strong lye made of water and ashes and commonly known as ‘Temper,’ was added to the juice to encourage crystallisation and force any remaining solid residue to the surface. The residue from the first and second coppers was discarded, however, residue ladled from the remaining two or three coppers was saved and used in the production of rum. This material was known as ‘Molasses’.
Once the juice had passed through the first three coppers, it began to slowly solidify. It was then passed into the fourth copper which was known as the ‘Tatch’ or ‘Tach’. This was the most important part of the entire process and was presided over by the head boilerman. The last copper was always the hottest and usually the smallest. On the word of the head boilerman, whose knowledge was highly valued and learnt through years of experience, the thick mass was transferred to the waiting cooling pans. This was done either by hand ladling, or by running the juice through a conduit from the ‘Tach’ to the cooling pans. Once the syrup was in the cooling pans, it would be gently stirred or teased to encourage solidification.
From here, the sugar would have been placed into barrels and allowed to stand until all of the remaining liquid or molasses had been drained. There were a number of methods of achieving this. On some of the larger plantations in Jamaica and Barbados, long buildings would be constructed where tapering wooden barrels would hang over cisterns. These barrels would have a hole in the tip (which was facing down), and after a period of time, the molasses would drip into the cistern where the residue could be collected for making rum. The only buildings in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) which may have possibly been used for such a purpose are at Larmers Bay and Josiahs Bay, both on the north side of Tortola. In the BVI, it is more likely that the barrels the sugar were shipped in would have had holes in the bottom and it would be through these that the molasses would have drained. These barrels were known as ‘Hogsheads’ and varied in size and capacity according, to which country you were from.
Once the sugar was ready, it had to be shipped from the plantation to the respective metropolis for consumption by the masses. In islands where there were reliable roads, the produce would be hauled to the main settlement or town where it would either be stored in wharf side warehouses until a ship arrived or, if a vessel was in port, put directly into the cargo holds ready for transportation. In places such as the BVI where the terrain especially was not conducive to overland travel, it is more likely that the produce would wait until a vessel pulled directly into the plantation bay. From there, the hogsheads would be loaded onto jolly boats and rowed to the waiting merchant vessel.
Once the harvest was over and the subsequent celebrations finished, the whole process would be started again. The fields would be cleared, the mill rounds and boiler houses dismantled and closed, and the next seasons crop planted. In the BVI, the sugar revolution only really prospered for around 50 years. Crop rotation was ineffectually practised in the colony and in consequence, the planting grounds became barren relatively quickly. The most prosperous time for the BVI throughout the colonial period was during the American War of Independence when privateering on American vessels became a lucrative means of accumulating both cargo and money. After the 1800’s, sugar production was becoming less and less profitable which, along with the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, contributed to the downfall of sugar colonies like the BVI. A period of drought in the first quarter of the 1800’s coupled with a devastating hurricane in 1819, where 100 of the colonies’ 104 sugar works were destroyed, left the BVI in a collapsed economical state. The final blow to the plantation method of farming was the abolition of slavery in His Majesty’s colonies in 1834. This philanthropic edict rendered sugar plantations unprofitable and they began to consistently return a deficit on the cost of production. Estates went into receivership and planters slowly began to migrate from the islands. The sugar works were neglected and a combination of natural and human intervention led to the destruction of many of these historical sites.
Some of the more significant ruins of these old works can be found at Brewers Bay and Josiahs Bay on Tortola, and Nail Bay on Virgin Gorda. All over the Territory however the ruins of old sugar works may be seen and remain as a reminder that sugar was once king in the BVI.
[edit] Main Street
The original capital of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) when the island was first colonised was located at Spanishtown on Virgin Gorda. In the early years of the 1700s, Virgin Gorda was more densely populated than Tortola and the seat of government was with the populace.
It was in 1741 that the first Lieutenant-Governor, John Pickering, moved the seat of government to Tortola, and it is believed that for some time the capital was considered to be at Fat Hogs Bay to the east end of Tortola . When the capital moved again, the populace transferred to the original Dutch settlement taking full advantage of the large bay naming their new settlement Road Town and from that point to the present day, the capital and seat of government has been situated in its present position.
As the juvenile capital expanded, houses began to be built in line running from the mound where the Governor's Mansion is presently located to the bottom of Joes Hill. This soon became the centre of trading and residential buildings in Road Town and in accordance with its importance was subsequently christened 'Main Street.'
What the modern visitor sees when walking down Main Street is far different from the view that would have been presented even 50 years ago. Prior to the landfill projects that are to be found all over Road Town, the sea would once lap on a shore that was located only yards away from the sea-side of Main Street. Areas such as the ferry dock and the main coast road that runs through Road Town were, until relatively recently, underwater. What the visitor of one hundred years ago would have seen when entering Road Harbour would have been a small linear village located along a rough road, dotted with merchant stores and offices, small residences for the lower classes and in some cases, large elegant houses that would have been the town residences for the principal planters. Today, the visage is far different.
Although many modern buildings have been constructed in recent times to accommodate a growing population, an attentive walk along Main Street reveals a wealth of vernacular architecture that was built in the post colonial era by the people of a beleaguered economy. Some of these buildings tend to be single story huts where entire families would have lived, and many still survive. An example may be found at number 155 Main Street which in recent times was the residence of the present Chief Minister and his wife after their wedding. More examples of this type of residence may be found further along the street towards the Joes Hill end which for the most part are owned presently by the Georges family. Although some of these buildings look old, they are, in fact, at their oldest from the first half of the 1900s and have incorporated material from other older residences in their construction. The close proximity to the sea dictated that the residences needed to be elevated from the ground and in a number of cases, old English red brick may be seen built as pillars to protect the buildings from tidal surges during storms and hurricanes. These bricks would have been brought on old merchant ships as ballast during the colonial period, subsequently used in building some of the grander residences, and then re-used as the colonial buildings fell into neglect.
A wealth of various building material may be found in the houses on Main Street including Dutch brick, English red brick, coral, and field stone. The residences of the principal planters and subsequently local islanders tend to follow a predictable pattern. The bottom half would be constructed of stone with open shuttered windows and the second story would be constructed of wood with small shingles protecting the face of the top half. Sometimes the bottom stone face would be rendered with mortar and in other cases, left bare to expose a diverse variety of construction fabric. A fine example of this is the O’Neal House opposite the present Banco Popular building.
Probably the most imposing structure on Main Street is the old Post Office which was built in 1866. This used to be the main seat of government amongst other uses and imposingly faces the Sir Olva Georges Square where the main market place was once situated. One can only imagine this being the central nucleus of Tortolan life only 50 years ago with the imposing Post Office representing and reminding the population of the British control and interest in the territory. The building was used as the Territory's main post office until 2003. The square during the colonial period had a more ominous and nefarious purpose and was used as the location for auctioning freshly arrived slaves. The last public slave auction to take place in the square was in 1803.
A less imposing but far older building is the J. R. O'Neal fireproof building almost opposite the old prison. The building was christened fireproof after the 1853 riots that took place in Roadtown. This era was, for the population, a poor subsistence period and the locals relied on selling beef to the nearby metropolis of St. Thomas in order to survive. In an effort to raise revenue for the colony, the British administration decided to raise the tax on beef which created unrest amongst the local population. Folklore and, to some extent, the historical record, tell of a man who was chosen as a representative of the people marching to Government House in an effort to convince the Governor to change his mind. This did not happen and, after a brief struggle, the man was shot and killed by an over anxious guardsman. The people learnt of this tragedy and marched on the town from all over the countryside to claim retribution for the killing. The pompous British officials ignored the masses and a riot ensued. During the riot, buildings were ignited and before too long a major fire was raging in Road Town. It has been said that the only building to survive the fire was the stone constructed fireproof building which also had copper sheets protecting the wooden shutters. Consequently, the building survived and was written in local folklore as the ‘Fire proof Building.’ The building is presently a craft shop.
One cannot walk along Main Street without noticing the ominous walls of the colonial prison which is said to be one of the oldest structures on Tortola. The building was heavily re-modelled in the mid-1800's and was used as a prison as recently as 1996.
Probably the most famous association connected with the old prison was the execution of Arthur Hodge in 1811. Hodge was a noted local planter whose cruelty to his slaves cannot be described as anything other than psychotic. Many of his chattels died from unnatural causes culminating in his beating to death a slave named Prosper for the crime of stealing a mango. The mango had, in fact, fallen from a tree owned by the vicious planter and Prosper had simply picked up the fallen fruit and consumed it. Upon finding out about the matter, Hodge immediately proceeded to inflict a number of barbaric floggings on the poor slave who eventually died of his wounds. Hodge was noted as a skilled dueller also and had killed a number of his white enemies in sword fight and pistol duels. The local planters petitioned the British Governor of the Leeward Islands at the time who eventually travelled from St. Kits to Tortola with the aim of putting Arthur Hodge on trial. A transcript of the courts proceedings still exists and it became clear during the trial that there was also a strong possibility that Hodge had murdered his wife and one of his daughters. Despite Hodge's high social connections in England, the jury passed a verdict of guilty and waived a recommendation for mercy. The island was placed under martial law and Hodge took the short walk from his prison cell to the area behind the prison walls where the gallows awaited him. He was executed to an apparently cheering crowd and buried in the planters cemetery at Johnson's Ghut on the east side of the capital.
A stroll along Main Street remains both interesting and educational and is a must for any historically inclined visitors coming to the Territory. One can only imagine the scenes from years gone by as elegant planter’s wives would promenade along the street in the cool of the afternoon passing a variety of merchant shops, tradesmen, and hucksters. Carriages would have rattled down the rough road creating a haze of dust and the expectations of all of the inhabitants at the arrival of a visiting ship would have pervaded the atmosphere of Tortola’s most historic street.
[edit] Tortola sloops
Only a decade or two ago, traditional wooden island sailing vessels were a common sight throughout the British Virgin Islands. For generations, these classic sailing craft were the lifeblood of the islands ferrying people and cargo as far east as the Dominican Republic and south all the way to Trinidad. They ranged in size from small sloops less than 20 feet in length to large schooners exceeding 100 feet. The boats were not just commercial ventures. Rather, their construction and use became deeply imbedded in the fabric of island life. Like all seafaring people, British Virgin Islanders took pride in their vessels and the unique style that became known as the Tortola Sloop.
Traditionally, the Tortola Sloop was handcrafted from locally obtained wood. Trees such as white cedar were carefully selected and harvested on the hillsides and then hand hewn with traditional tools like the adze. Over the years, the boat builders developed the unique style best suited to the local sailing conditions and the availability of raw materials. The typical sloop profile shows a pronounced overhang of both bow and stern making the length on deck greater than the waterline length. The mast is stepped on the keel and located one-third the distance from the bow to the stern. There is a perception of the mast being in the middle of the boat due to the considerable rake and the long bow and stern overhang. A distinctive feature of the Tortola Boat is the boom extending well beyond the transom. Both the mast and boom are approximately equal to the overall length of the boat.
In the past, the vessels were driven only by sails. Trading, fishing and inter-island transport relied on the schedule of the ever-present trade winds. The boat’s use became integrated into all aspects of the culture. This use extended to entertainment as evidenced by the traditional boat races held for many years during August Festival.
As the BVI entered the modern era and the economy improved, traditional sailing vessels became to slow and unreliable. Commerce depended on speed and schedules. Sails gave way to engines. Wood gave way to fiberglass and steel. Gradually the traditional boats began to fade from view. Some were lost at sea, while many were sold and sailed away to distant shores. Sadly, many were abandoned on some shore and left to deteriorate as a reminder of a bygone era. The Tortola Sloop teetered on the brink of extinction.
Fortunately for history, the Territory’s only tertiary institution, the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, was committed to preserving the rich cultural heritage of its people. Through the Virgin Islands Studies Programme, the College embarked on an ambitious effort to save the classic boats. With the assistance of government, the few remaining sloops were purchased and restored to service. Today these Sloops may once again be seen sailing the waters of the BVI. Crewed by College students and faculty as well as members of the community, the sloops are showcased annually at local sailing regattas. Wherever they sail, heads turn and eyes stare at these unique historical boats. Saved from the brink of extinction, these boats will sail into the future carrying the legacy of a rich seafaring past. Local B. V. Islanders are justly proud of this part of their culture. Visitors will marvel and perhaps, if they are lucky, experience the thrill of sailing aboard one of these classic wooden sailing boats.
[edit] Fishing
The history of fishing in the BVI coincides with the abolition of slavery and the need for freemen to earn a living. In the late 19th century all fish were considered edible and after a sufficient quantity was taken for family use the remainder was sold or bartered to neighbors or merchant ships that would sail into BVI harbours. The means of catching fish were most creative. Fishermen turned to various techniques such as fish pot traps, crawls or seining and fishing from boats.
Fish pots were made from Hoop and Aramat wood, indigenous woods in the BVI and essential for the frame of the pot. The wood was chopped and left to quail, a process by which the bark of the tree was left to dry for several days and then peeled off to be later split and woven into the body of the pot. There were two large funnels where the fish could enter plus a built-in basket where the bait was placed. Bait consisted of a local cactus plant called Diddle Doe, doctor grass, conch, and small fish. The pots were placed in various feeding grounds where they were secured by a thick twine known as Whisk. On the bitter end a buoy or floating device was attached and used as a marker.
The quantity of the catch would depend on the location and phase of the moon. The depth of the sea was measured by a length of stick known as a grid, which would determine how far below the surface the pots were. Pots were hauled three times a week. Seining was also used in fishing. Many of the local fishermen would knit their own nets in an intricate pattern with small metal balls attached around the edges. These balls assisted in submerging the net under water. In seining several fishermen are needed to throw and pull in the net unlike setting pots, which can be done individually.
At the turn of the century animal bones were used as fish hooks. These bones were attached to a length of string or cord, baited and cast into the sea. Metal hooks began to replace bone after WW I and were fashioned into barb hooks, known as arrowheads, because they resembled the backward part of an arrow. There was an abundance of fish in the BVI at the time so they were easily caught by these methods.
The building of Island Sloops also plays an important role in the history of BVI fishing as they were the means by which local fishermen fished in deeper waters, especially on the fault that lies north of the island of Jost Van Dyke and west of Anegada. The oldest Island Sloop in the BVI is Vigilant, built in East End, Tortola, in 1882 and owned and preserved by the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College. Many of these sloops were built throughout the BVI in a community effort.
Fishermen would fish all day and then sell their catch at the market in nearby St. Thomas. An average of 9000 lb. of fish was delivered weekly to St. Thomas on Island Sloops and tank boats. These boats were built with a large tank in the center of the boats' hull with holes drilled in the bottom allowing fresh seawater to enter. This method would increase the possibility of the fish being alive upon arrival at market. Later, ice barges were used. By 1976 the amount of fish exported from the BVI began to decline to 3000 lb. of fish and 1000 lb. of conch weekly to St. Thomas and Puerto Rico. As tourism was developing fish were also marketed locally to restaurants and hotels. It was not until the mid 1970s that lobster and swordfish joined the market becoming the most lucrative of all at $4.00 per pound. In today's fishing there are regular sales agreements with fishermen where prices are agreed upon, gear is provided duty-free and concessions are given on fuel and ice. Although most fish are now purchased at the supermarket, there are still outlying communities in the BVI that rely on the skill of their fishermen.
[edit] Shipwrecks
As both a colonial possession and an economic concern, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) over time must have played host to an enormous amount of vessels, the number of which would be impossible to determine. In addition to vessels primarily concerned with the British possessions, the waters of the BVI saw a huge amount of traffic using the area as an entrance to the Caribbean Basin and the Leeward Islands. It was noted in 1802 that 'as proof of the advantageous position of Tortola, it may be observed that the vessels of foreign European powers trading to the West Indies generally pass Tortola in the voyage to St. Thomas.' At this particular time, St. Thomas was one of the busiest trading colonies in the entire Caribbean region.
Of the three main entrances into the Caribbean Basin, the Anegada Passage is the southern most entrance at the head of the Leeward Island chain. The passage is named after the only non-volcanic BVI, Anegada, which is of a coral limestone structure. This island sits upon a reef called the ‘Horseshoe Reef’ which after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Belize Coral Reef in Belize, is the third largest barrier reef in the world. The combination of a large volume of vessels passing through a funnelled passage which is host to a huge reef provides all of the ingredients for regular shipwrecks. The further historical ingredients of limited navigational capacity and the odd hurricane, only contributed to the inevitable catalogue of maritime losses that have taken place in the waters of the BVI.
Probably the earliest recorded wrecking of a vessel in the region took place in 1523, when two Spanish merchant vessels were caught on the reef at Anegada. One of the vessels managed to break free, however, the second was stuck fast to the reef and a complete loss. Should the wreck site of this vessel be found, it would represent one of the earliest known European wreck sites in the Americas. From this date we see a regular pattern developing where vessels would enter the Anegada Passage and, in large numbers, come to grief on the reef . The area became so notorious that a number of nefarious individuals decided to settle on the island with the express intent of lighting misleading navigation lamps that would deliberately guide vessels towards the reef. The 'wreckers' would then plunder the vessels and in most cases, murder the survivors. It has been said that the first settlers of Anegada were people who followed this profession.
At least two treasure galleons were wrecked on Anegada and it is still said that somewhere buried on the island lies a large cache of South American gold which had been destined for the coffers of Madrid. Sometime between 1692-1705, Pere Labat wrote about a galleon that was lost at Anegada. He stated that the crew had managed to save their precious cargo and buried it for safekeeping somewhere on the island, however, they were subsequently lost at sea, their secret sinking with them. Men have looked for the treasure and a number of stories tell how individuals in the 1950s and 60s dug up the gold and secreted their find out of the territory during the safety of the night. A known treasure galleon of this type was the San Ignacio which was wrecked on the reef in 1742. A manifest for the ship recovered from the archives in Seville shows that she was amongst other things carrying one hundred tons of gold and four cases of uncut diamonds. Another vessel, the La Victoria, sank on Anegada in 1738 with the loss of all her cargo. She was carrying on board treasure to the value of $1,750,000.00 which if multiplied with inflation would represent a vast sum today. There was no recorded salvage of this ship and to the best of anybody’s knowledge, the vessel is still lying on the bottom with her cargo intact.
Anegada was not the only place that vessels sank, and all over the BVI can be found the remains of vessels lost, the majority of which remain unidentified. In Brewers Bay on Tortola there are two shipwrecks and the famous Cane Garden Bay is host to at least one shipwreck. On Beef Island may be found the remains of a number of ships and on Great Thatch can be found the wreck of the Constantine, a slaver that sank during a hurricane on August 26th, 1785. The wrecks of two British warships lay in the waters of the Territory, the HMS Astrea which foundered at Anegada on 23rd May, 1808 and the HMS Nymph which caught fire and sank just of off the end of the present government ferry dock at Road Town in 1783. Although many of these wrecks were salvaged contemporarily, most were not and whilst dredging for the Government dock in March of 1969, the dredge bucket hit the wreck site of the HMS Nymph and a newspaper report for the period describes how artefacts such as silver sword hilts, pewter plates, cannon balls and pistol barrels were brought to the surface, only to be subsequently lost at a later date.
Probably the best report expressing the sheer volume of wrecks lost, most particularly on the Anegada Reef, was written in 1832 by Robert Hermann Schomburgk who was a member of the Horticultural Society of Berlin. Although writing a paper on the Natural history of the Anegada, Schomburgk was so struck by the sheer number of vessels wrecked within 'living history' that he made a record of them. His research, based on the oral testimony of the inhabitants records that between 1808-1831, there were 53 wrecks recorded. A list of known wrecks on Anegada between 1500-1899 reports 128 wrecks, however, this number is very low and, in reality, can probably be doubled.
Without a doubt, the most famous shipwreck in the BVI is that of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company ship RMS Rhone, which sank at approximately 2.00pm on 29 October 1867. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, an English company, used St. Thomas as their transit port for both passengers and the mail. Charlotte Amalia was the company’s coaling station, however, due to the protracted and severe case of yellow fever that had been plaguing the island for some time, the RMSCP decided to anchor their ships off Peter Island, opposite Tortola, and ship both passengers and the mail to that point. Whilst receiving passengers on the morning of the 29th, Captain Robert Frederick Whoolly, the 47 year old captain of the ship, noticed that his barometer had fallen indicating the imminent approach of a storm. As a safety procedure, the Conway, another smaller RMSPC ship, transferred her passengers to the Rhone where one of them was heard to have said to his wife, ‘Thank god, we are safe here.’ By 11.00am the effects of a hurricane were being felt and at 11.10 am the Conway left the Rhone and made a dash for the safer harbour on Tortola. The Rhone, meanwhile, was at anchor, but had her engines running full so she could hold her anchorage more securely. At this point there seems to be a little confusion as to what happened next. Some reports state that when the eye of the hurricane arrived and the weather became calmer, Captain Whoolly weighed his anchor preferring his chances in the open sea. A crew member, John Metcalfe, stated differently however, saying that a shackle, which was part of the anchor chain, became caught in the hawser hole and snapped leaving the Rhone no alternative but to head for the open sea.
What is known is that the ship headed for the channel between Deadchest Island and Salt Island steaming closely towards Salt Island to avoid a shallow underwater feature known as Blonde Rock, today a popular dive site. A sudden change in wind direction pushed the Rhone closer to the rocks until she eventually struck only yards away from the safety of the open sea. Water poured in through the perforated hull and on making contact with the vessel's boilers created such a fast cooling of the fires that the steam level rose to dangerous levels. This was a regular feature of vessel destruction in the new age of steam and the pressure created, soon became too much and the boilers exploded. This tore the ship in two and many passengers and crew who were on deck died falling in between the two sections. Only one passenger out of 16 survived the wrecking and only 21 out of a ships complement of 129. The loss was felt so heavily in the vessel's home port of Southampton that a disaster fund was formed which received a large donation from Her Majesty, Queen Victoria.
The wreck of the Rhone today is rated as one of the top five wreck dives in the entire Caribbean. The vessel lies on the bottom in two main sections with debris from the mid-ships scattered in between the two major portions. All of the dive operations in the Territory will visit the site on request making the dive site a highly popular attraction. The stern section is in shallow waters affording snorkellers an excellent view without having to leave the surface. The Rhone remains as a memorial to not only the souls who died on that fateful October day, but to the many seaman who have lost their lives on the numerous shipwrecks that surround the BVI.
