The Story of My Barbados Family
Scroll down for an informal pictorial family history
Ian lived at Windermere. Ronnie and Uncle George appear to be visiting.
Years pass and in 1976 Ronnie marries the love of his life, Sandra. In 1978, Summer was born.
Years pass, and Ronnie is at Summer’s wedding.
The reception:
Next: Ron in the Grenadines, St. Vincent
Ronnie went to St. Vincent with our parents when he was about eight.
The photo above is probably related to the 100+ mile trip that Herbert made with Jacques Baldini from Barbados to St. Vincent on Herbert’s 27 foot sailboat Aurora. That trip will be covered later under Herbert’s memorial. Marjorie and Ronnie went by plane!
Another photo was taken on the same day, so I stuck it here. I cannot place the exact location below, but I guess it could be Belleville, St. Michael, Barbados.
In St. Vincent, our parents lived in “Tally Ho”, Villa.
Herbert once planted 600 pineapple plants on a neighbouring house lot. The volcanic soil produced the sweetest pineapples we had ever tasted.
This appears to be a costume party near Tally Ho, but I cannot identify anyone.
Our family were close to their good friends Phyllis and Ken Punnett. Phyllis and Ken lived in a beautiful home. They were very kind and hospitable.
Later Herbert built a house near the town of Calliaqua. Below Ronnie enjoys the view from his front yard.
My parents lived many years here.
Both homes were a short walk from the beach, and we could row or swim to Young Island. We enjoyed fishing and boating.
Herbert redesigned and rebuilt the “Cecily M.”, a thirty eight foot gaff rigged sloop. We loved to sail down the Grenadines!
All was not good for Ronnie. Because he was not perceived as a local he was attacked every day at school. He was fortunate that he grew early and was bigger than his assailants. He could successfully defend himself, but Marjorie had to do a lot of mending and laundry.
We have very few photos of our great-uncle Fitz Davis, but here is a humourous shot. Fitz, a former professional boxer, was asked to strike a muscular pose. He responded with this:
I believe this photograph was taken at either Bushy Park or Ashford Plantation, where my grandfather, Malcolm Davis, was the manager.
Every Saturday afternoon, our parents would take us to Hannays Plantation in Christ Church. The adults would play tennis in their whites, and would then enjoy cocktails and conversation. The young children would play in the yard.
Every year, our maternal grandfather, Laurence (Longfellow) Farmer, would rent a beach house at the Crane. “Plymouth” was on a cliff, next to a ravine. On the seaward side of the ravine was another cliff. There were steps down to the ravine and then steps up to the cliff that overlooked the rough sea. We boys loved to climb up and look at the sea.
There were many good beaches within walking distance.
We loved to swim and body surf in the rough water.
We saw our cousins often.
This Christmas scene was probably Plymouth. The trees were imported from thousands of miles away and were not in the best condition when they arrived.
I don’t know the story around the next shot, but it looks like Ronnie at Windermere.
When Ronnie was still very young, our parents took him to the neighbouring island of St. Vincent. Anthony and Ian remained in Barbados because the Vincentian schools were not acceptable. My next post will be about Ronnie in St. Vincent.