Sir Emile Gumbs was a well-respected national who passed on the eve of Anguilla Day 2018. It was leaders like Sir Emile who instilled in us, as a people, that we can hold our heads high and take our rightful place in the world. No large buildings bear his name and his life was simply one of selflessness. Sir Emile was said to have had qualities which policy-makers strive to uphold: honesty, compassion, empathy – and having the ability to relate to people from all walks of life. His primary was always to provide a better way of life for Anguillians – not some Anguillians but all Anguillians.
In his private life he was as unassuming as he was in public. He weathered any criticisms with equanimity and poise even the low blows which assailed him simply because of his colour. He knew from his upbringing what Martin Luther King Jr. expressed so eloquently, that a person must be judged not by the colour of his skin but by the content of his character. When he and his family came under personal brutal attacks by his political rivals, he did not respond in kind. He took the high road. He did not allow the leadership of Anguilla to be sullied by losing focus and spending valuable time rolling in the mud with his detractors. He remained focused on the role of service he had assumed when he took on the mantle of political leadership, and diligently pursued the best possible outcomes for Anguillians.
Like many of his fellow Anguillians, Sir Emile sought work oversees and worked in the oil refinery in Lago Oil, Aruba before signing on to sail oil tankers. It was there he won his first election at the age of 20 to be crew representative which in effect was that of a union representative. He returned home in 1955 and began sailing his own trading sloop the Venus.
When his grandfather, Captain Arthur Romney Carty’s famous schooner, the Warspite was damaged and sank during Hurricane Donna in 1960, Emile’s determination to save and relaunch her, earned him the command of the beloved Anguilla vessel. The Warspite carried supplies and men to the lighthouse at Sombrero. Every island in the Eastern Caribbean Currency union is honoured by having some image of its history and culture printed on a bank note. The Warspite is on the right of the ten dollar note. The depiction honors Anguilla’s unique heritage in the boat building arts. The Warspite like so many other schooners and sloops built in Anguilla of the 19th and 20th centuries, played a central role in keeping Anguilla and its people fed, supplied and connected to the outside world.
Sir Emile’s involvement in the support of Anguilla boat racing earned him a place of distinction in Anguilla’s sailing history. “Captain Dickie” was a boat race fanatic and “Saga Boy” his pride and joy. Saga Boy was brought back to AXA on the Warspite to be rebuilt, fine tuning all the aspects of what it takes to make a racing boat a champion. And he did it. The “Saga Boy” rose like comet to be a champion and remained one for years and years. His passion for this sport has done much for keeping it alive and well and for showcasing our islands cultural legacy.
In 1963, Sir Emile assumed the management of the Road Salt Co. It was in this role that his relationships with individuals and families across the island but particularly in what later became the Road North district deepened considerably.
When the revolution started in 1967, he was the natural representative for his area and worked with the peace keeping committee to manage the islands affairs following the expulsion of the St. Kitts Police, a symbol of authority of the Central Government of the late Premier Robert Bradshaw. Sir Emile was a member of the 1968 Anguilla Council which the British Government subsequently “created a legal body in the eyes of the world” with the passage of the Anguilla Administration Order 1971, in the UK Parliament.
His role in the Anguilla Revolution remains quite significant. Perhaps the most important contribution in that tumultuous year was his mission to Barbados on August Monday and Tuesday 1967 to try and persuade Caribbean peace keeping forces backed by British armed forces from invading Anguilla. Arriving first in Antigua where he spent hours ensuring that he would be received by the Govt of Barbados, he then flew on to Barbados and met with Sir Cameron Tudor the Deputy PM at the airport. Many tense hours were spent, with Tudor breaking off from time to time to brief PM Errol Barrow. The back and forth went on into the early hours of morning until Mr. Tudor came in and said, “I have good news. The Prime Minister has asked me to assure you that no uniformed officers of the Government of Barbados will be going to Anguilla.” Bloodshed had been averted.
In the first General Election in 1976, under the new Anguilla Constitution, Emile was one of the first members of the Legislature to be appointed a Minister, with Ronald Webster as Chief Minister. He was assigned the post of Minister of Works, Communications and Tourism. In February 1977, following a vote of no confidence in Mr. Webster’s government, Sir Emile was appointed as Anguilla’s second Chief Minister, in which he served until the next election in 1980. In 1984 he returned to his role as Chief Minister, was re-elected in 1989 and continued to serve in this capacity until his retirement in 1994. As the Representative of Road North and in later contested elections he substantially beat his opponents, thus holding on to his seat undefeated for some 27 years. Emile has the honour of being Anguilla’s longest running Chief Minister, serving a total of 13 years in this capacity.
Sir Emile is remembered as having presided not only over a stable, progressive and much-respected Government, but also a stable and growing economy. Sir Emile’s Government was largely responsible for laying the foundation for a prosperous period of economic development, construction and employment, which Anguilla enjoyed following the launch of an upmarket tourism market. His tenure in the office of Chief Minister was pivotal to the post-revolutionary period of our history. He would share the credit of whatever wise decisions were made at that time with his two ministerial colleagues in his first government, the late Albena Lake Hodge and the late Idalia Gumbs. He was also known for his innate ability in keeping a steady hand on the tiller as he guided Anguilla into her new economic success as a low-key upmarket tourism destination.
During his tenure, he gave Idalia Gumbs, the first woman elected in Anguilla, the opportunity to run the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources. His pivotal decision to move towards low volume, high value, up market tourism was first and foremost a cultural decision and secondly an economic one. Anguilla had to have a new economy based on tourism, but it could not in any obliterate the very essence of who we were as a people. A society that made a revolution because it wanted to achieve a better standard of living had to reach out to a wider world and seek investment, seek new educational opportunities for a new generation and engage in new business and financial vehicles that never existed before. The strategy worked and a real economy began to form.
In many ways, we are all the beneficiaries of his legacy. When some saw a desert, he saw a tropical paradise; when some saw despair, he saw God’s Divine favour; when some saw obstacles, he saw a pathway of opportunities. He believed in the beauty and possibility of Anguilla and the Anguillian people; and being a good captain, he sailed Anguilla to the uncharted waters of modern development.
Sir Emile was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1994 New Years Honours by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. When informed of this upcoming honour of being appointed a Knight Bachelor, Emile made a very special request to the Queen. He asked that during the royal visit, she perform the ceremony in Anguilla rather than the standard protocol of England. As he said in his request, “This honour is not really for me, but it’s for all the people of Anguilla.” The Queen kindly granted his request, and accompanied by Prince Philip, the investiture took place at the Governor’s Office in March 1994.
Sir Emile Gumbs showed us that through our concerted efforts; we can achieve greater success, admiration and inclusion. Although not conflicted by war and turmoil, he was a soldier for his people. When he left Government in 1994, he left honoured and with his reputation and integrity intact. And Anguilla had resolutely begun to step into modernity. In his retirement he refrained from any criticism of succeeding governments. He had passed the baton.
Perhaps the greatest tribute we can pay to Sir Emile is to reflect all the positive attributes, which we so roundly praised him for, in our daily lives. In so doing we would be demonstrating true patriotism, as Sir Emile did, on Anguilla Day and every other day of the year. In so doing our patriotism would be on display daily as we strive to preserve the bedrock for a stable society that, with meaningful and focused leadership will see Anguilla benefiting from a stable and growing economy.
– Contributed
