It is with heartfelt sorrow and pain that, at this joyous Christmas Season, we are mourning his death at the age of just over 90 years, 9 months. Further, it is regrettable that it has occurred at a time when we are all geared up and excited to celebrate, in grand style, the 50th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution in which he played such a noble leadership role, supported by other freedom fighters and foot soldiers. His name, as a dauntless God-fearing revolutionary leader, in a tiny, impoverished and little known Caribbean island, exploded on the world stage in 1967 at the age of 41 years. He had emerged as a grassroots politician inexperienced in public life and administration but with a lion heart to lead his people.
Reared up in St Maarten where he rose from rags to riches, inheriting a lucrative estate from a wealthy Dutch couple, Webster had come to experience a standard living in a developing island that outclassed life and development in Anguilla at the turn of the 1960s. So too, did his early and much younger partner in the Revolution, Atlin Harrigan, who resided and worked in prosperous St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Anguilla lacked the basic necessities of electricity, surfaced roads and running water. They vowed to make it a more habitable place for its people and returned with that in mind.
It was Ronald Webster, however, who eventually rose to prominence as the leader of the Anguilla Revolution. Through sheer guts and fortitude he succeeded to the point where, after 13 agonizing years, Britain granted Anguilla formal separation from St Kitts-Nevis in December 1980. Throughout those dark and difficult years, Webster remained undaunted about self–determination for Anguilla with negotiations ending in deadlock. His calmness, and uncompromising stubbornness not only frustrated the British and St Kitts officials with whom he negotiated, but baffled his legal advisors as well.
He was undeterred by threats of invasion from St Kitts where, in fact, an attack was launched by Anguilla itself in June 1967 “as the best means of defence” in Webster’s words. Not even the British invasion and occupation in March 1969 mattered much. On the contrary, it turned out to be a blessing with Anguilla benefitting from a series of infrastructural improvements including schools, paved roads and a jetty.
Webster emerged as the torch-bearer of generations of Anguillians who despised and protested Anguilla’s annexation with St Kitts in 1825 but whose petitions fell on deaf ears. Not so with him. His methods of approach included an unshakeable courage, determination, and even bluff. He was able to instill second thoughts among those in the Caribbean region and London who stood in his way. He threatened, for instance, to ignite “the first West Indies War” and to use his “gunboats to blow British frigates out of the sea”. Laughable as those threats might have been, no other Anguilla leader could have been so daring in his pronouncements like Webster and to achieve what he did.
The popular rebellion which he successfully led against the Central Government of Premier Robert Bradshaw in the British Associated State of St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, was the first step in Anguilla’s quest for self-determination. For nearly 40 years during his leadership, retirement from actual political engagement, and ailments, the revered influence of this “Moses of Anguilla” continued to urge his people to work towards the ultimate goal of nationhood.
In his last public appearance at the Anguilla Day Celebrations, more than three years ago, the Revolutionary Leader and first Chief Minister of Anguilla, called on the Government of Chief Minister Hubert Hughes to conduct a referendum on independence. He was disappointed that such a 
move was not taken. He tried and tried again until he eventually gave up.
The truth is that the interprising and independently minded Anguillians have lived in the shadow of James Ronald Webster throughout the Anguilla Revolution – and will continue to live in that shadow even now that he has gone.
It is a matter of interest that, in the run up to the 50th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution in 2017, the Government and people of the island are examining a new Draft Constitution complete with suggestions for Electoral Reform. The hope is that, when approved by the British Government, the Constitution would provide for a greater devolution of autonomy (self- governance ) for Anguilla along the lines envisioned by Ronald Webster.
Moses never reached the Promised Land though he led his people almost there and saw it from a hilltop. As a final step, Webster tried to lead his people towards achieving some form of independence through a referendum and constitutional development. When this is eventually achieved in the shadow of his memory, it will hopefully usher in a better quality of life and governance responsibility for all Anguillians in a country they call home and love.
NAT HODGE.
