A public road, running parallel to land south of Bethel Methodist Church, and once owned by an Anguillian, the late Albert Bernado Richardson (Dempsey), has been officially named after him.
The ceremony, organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, was held on Monday, May 5, at the parking lot of the church where the land was donated by Mr Richardson to Bethel Methodist Chapel. “We have had quite a few of these – [road-naming ceremonies since our term in office] – and we would like to continue to honour those who have played an instrumental role in Anguilla’s history,” Mr Evan Gumbs, Minister of Infrastructure, said.
Mr Gumbs , who did not actually speak about Mr Richardson’s personal contribution, said that the Government had embarked on honouring a number of persons who had contributed to the Anguilla Revolution or to the social development of the island by naming roads after them.
The late Mr Richardson, “whose heart was always in Anguilla”, according to his family, lived in Curacao for many years before and after his marriage in 1939 to Marjory Christobelle Romney formerly of Blowing Point. The couple were the parents of eleven children — eight boys and three girls—ten of whom are alive. Four of them, Kathleen, Earline, Brontie and Preston Richardson, came to Anguilla for the ceremony and to unveil the sign for the Albert Bernardo Richardson Road. Mr Richardson, who was born at South Hill on September 15, 1897, died on July 15, 1978.
The road-naming ceremony included a musical selection by Kathleen and Earline Richardson; the reading of their father’s biography, and the Vote of Thanks delivered by their brother, Preston.
Among those at the ceremony were the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Jerome Roberts; Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Haydn Hughes, and Methodist Ministers Rev Dr Wycherley Gumbs; Rev Dr H Clifton Niles, and Revds. Dustan Richardson, Franklin Roberts and John A Gumbs. The presence of the Ministers was seen as an acknowledgement and appreciation of the land which the honouree had donated to the Methodist Church.
