Thank you . . .
I am indeed happy to be able to launch, this evening, the second edition of A Handbook History of Anguilla which I first published in 1991, some 24 years ago. Despite its small size and other shortcomings, the first edition was well sought after by Anguillians in search of a better understanding of their history. And every now and then parents would pass by my museum seeking copies – and when I tell them the book is out of print they would ask: why not a reprint – our children need it.
This second edition, therefore, is primarily the result of persistent demands, over the past several years, from a wide cross-section of Anguillian people – parents, teachers, students and other professionals – for new, updated and easily accessible historical material.
This second edition of the Handbook, to quote from its preface: “is, in effect, a major upgrading of the first edition in two principal respects. Firstly, it contains vast amounts of new historical material reflective of further research resulting from my undertaking of weeks of intense work at the National Archives at Kew Gardens, London, in 2011. Secondly, while the first edition dealt with the history of Anguilla from colonization to the closing years of the twentieth century, this second edition covers a broader time-span beginning with the island’s settlement by the Amerindians and ending just beyond the first decade of the twenty-first century” – ending at June 2015.
This second edition of the Handbook is, like the first, a chronological account of political, economic and social phenomena in Anguilla in the form of brief notes. It records every major, and not so major, event throughout our island’s history. I will give you one example of a major event: An entry for19th January 1976 reads in part as follows: “The making of the Anguilla (Constitution) Order 1976 by Her Majesty the Queen . . . The Order provided for, among other things, a Ministerial System of Government (a Chief Minister and two other Ministers)”. And now a not so major event: An entry for 25th January 2001 reads: “A fire truck operated by the Royal Anguilla Police Force caught fire, and was completely destroyed, while putting out a grass-fire in West End. The event was the subject of much satire like, for example, a song by The Happy Hits string band which said in part: Ayer looka wuk, Fire burn up de fire truck. Shine call de water truck, To put out de fire truck.
Indeed, this Handbook is definitely an invaluable storehouse of both historical and contemporary information about Anguilla. Honestly speaking, as a father and a grandfather, and as a former teacher both in the primary and secondary school, no schoolchild – no young Anguillian in particular – should be without this book. It is a goldmine of Anguilla’s history – which is easily readable – and our young people, as well as adults, would be intellectually richer having a copy in their possession.
I am very conscious that all of my publications, to date, are about Anguilla’s history. That is a consequence of my recognition of the role of history in national development – and therefore of the part it could play in the development of Anguillian people. History is a social necessity – a powerful tool in the realization and fulfillment of personal and national goals, thus my passion and drive for researching and writing it.
Having said that, I end with some advice from the venerable Jamaican/Caribbean nationalist, Marcus Garvey: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”.
I thank you.
