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the stories of our proud and friendly people, our charming and colourful villages, our fascinating ruins, our intriguing rain forests,
and our traditions that span centuries.

Our People

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Donald Lloyd Matheson

 

D L Matheson On the 24th January 1914, Donald F. Matheson and his wife Charlotte Matheson nee Mercer welcomed a son into the world. They called him Donald Lloyd. The world that the Mathesons lived in was one of privilege and young Lloyd, driven by a desire to learn, moved without much difficulty from the St. Kitts Grammar School to West Buckland School in Devon, England. The young man returned to St. Kitts in 1931 and joined...

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Stanley Theodor Sebastian

 

Stanley Theodor Sebastian Stanley Theodor Sebastian was born on the 28 December 1920. He was the son of and Christobel Richardson and James Matthew Sebastian. He grew up in Newtown in his mother’s household. At an early age he learnt how to move in various social circles. From his mother he acquired a friendliness towards all with whom he came in contact. His father, on the other hand, challenged him to be outstanding. Young Stanley received his...

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James Derrick Cardin

James Cardin

 

  James Cardin James Derrick Cardin also known as Jim Cardin or Johnnie Bull was born on November 13, 1871. He was one of several children of Alma Demming, a street sweeper. His father was the manager of Canada Estate. The family income being small, Jim did not receive much of an education. However, things would soon change. One day while walking down Fort Street, Jim could not resist the temptation to pick a few roses from the...

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Our Places

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Liverpool Row

 

Liverpool Row 2008   Liverpool Row stretches in the opposite direction from Bank Street. It heads West from the Circus. It is not clear if this street actually existed in French times. If it did, it would not have been known by its current name. Basseterre - detail from McMahon 1828 Liverpool Row was the commercial centre of Basseterre. This was where most merchants set up business. If they did not own a plantation house, they would have lived...

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Court Hou

 

When the British took over Basseterre in 1713 they slowly moved their institutions of administrations and justice from Old Road to Basseterre and more specifically to Church Street. It was not long before these early structures were outgrown by the need for space and new locations had to be found. Plans to erect a court house in the Square were first formalised in an Act passed in 1750. It was obvious even then that the building...

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Vambell Estate

 

Vambell Estate near Sandy Point but actually in the Parish of St. Thomas, takes its name from its earliest known owner Peter van Belle. The estate was located in the English quarter of St. Kitts. Van BellePeter van Belle was born in Province of Holland now part of the Netherlands probably in the 1640s. Very little is known of his early life. With his brother Joshua, he became involved in the Asiento de Negros. This was...

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Our Events

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Treaty of Basseterre 18 June 1981

 

Treaty of Basseterre Historical BackgroundThe idea of unification within the Caribbean region gained the interest of the British Colonial Office in the late nineteenth Century mostly as a colonial administrative device designed to cut the cost of managing the colonies with failing economies and a growing reliance on Britain. The 20th century however saw a growing discontent with regards to the unrepresentative nature of the island governments. In 1914, T. Albert Marryshow of Grenada, founded the Representative...

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Emancipation - 1 August 1834

 

British Enslavement existed mostly in the colonies but the Abolition movement was strongest in Britain. It was there that the laws that limited the trade and introduced the registry of slaves were first passed. The trade in slaves with Africa had been abolished in 1807 and the trade with other slave trading nations ended in 1812 but this had not produced the changes that the Abolitionist had hoped would follow. They continued to press for...

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Independence 19 September 1983

 

National Flag of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis Statehood, granted in 1967 was viewed by all former territories as a transitions stage. The hope of an one independent West Indian nation had been crushed in 1962. It became necessary for the individual states to work out their own future. In the elections of 1975 the Labour Party obtained a mandate to seek independence from Britain. Discussions started in earnest in 1976 but an effective resolution of...

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"In this  bright future, you can't forget your past"

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