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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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The Runaway of Mount Misery (1639)

Mount Liamuiga (formerly Mount Misery), St. Kitts In November 1639, more than sixty enslaved Africans from the Capisterre region, angered by the brutal treatment meted out to them by their owners, left their plantations and found refuge on the slopes of Mount Misery. They took with them their women and children and built a formidable camp upon the mountainside. It was protected by a precipice on one side and could only be approached by a narrow...

Ada Mae Edwards

Ada Mae Edwards Ada Mae Andrews was born in Antigua on the 9th June 1911 and came to St. Kitts in 1930 immediately after graduating from the Antigua Teacher’s Training College. Her first appointment was as Assistant Teacher at the Sandy Point Boys’ School where she came under the influence of two of the best teachers on the island, J. E. Hanley Headmaster of the Sandy Point Boys’ School and Ann Locker (later Lady Allen) Headmistress...

Samuel Benjamin Jones

Samuel Benjamin Jones Samuel Benjamin Jones was born of humble parentage on the 25th April 1874 in Antigua. His father died when he was very young and he was raised by his mother and grandfather. His grandfather, who had been born a slave, ensured that young Samuel obtained both a primary and a secondary education. At the age of nine he was awarded a scholarship to the Antigua Grammar School, and became one of the Antigua...

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Bank Street

Bank Street The Road heading east from the Circus is Bank Street. A bank has been at its southern corner where it meets Fort Street for almost 200 years. The first one was probably Colonial Bank which was set up by Royal Charter in 1836 to trade in the West Indies. The former enslavers had been given £20 million as compensation for the loss of their unpaid labour. This meant that there was a significant increase in...

Fort Street

Fort Street 2008 Basseterre was the main town of the French quarters of the island. Just as Thomas Warner set up wooden forts in Old Road, Pierre Belain D’Esnambuc set up a Fort Pierre in Basseterre. When Governor Phillippe De Longvillier De Poincy took over the administration of the French Caribbean Islands, he wanted something stronger and more permanent. It is known that De Poincy took military architecture seriously. He had books on the subject. The...

The Zion Moravian Church

The Zion Moravian Church is a solid structure at the point where College Street and Victoria Road meet. Perhaps its most impressive feature, is its very tall windows. Its interior is modest and uncluttered. In 1774, while on a visit to England, the American born lawyer, John Gardiner, met with Moravian representatives Benjamin La Trobe and John Wollin. Having gone through a politically strenuous time in St. Kitts, Gardiner was growing disenchanted with both the secular...

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Flood of 1880

Sunday, 11 January 1880 was described as a fine day with some scattered showers. At about 5.00pm the atmosphere became quite warm compared to the previous few days. Then at about 9.00pm an intense cold set it. There was a light shower which quickly came to an end. By 11.00 pm the rains started falling and continued unabated till 3.00am of 12 January. The night was very dark. The flow of water in the streets was...

Cholera Epidemic 1854

The Phantom of Cholera Cholera is an infectious disease of the small intestine that causes severe watery diarrhea over a few days. It , can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. In 1850, cholera made its presence felt in Barbados and St. Vincent and by 1853 it was in Nevis. St. Kitts attempted to control the flow of people from places where...

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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Discover

Our People

The Runaway of Mount Misery (1639)

Ada Mae Edwards

Samuel Benjamin Jones

Our Places

Bank Street

Fort Street

The Zion Moravian Church

Our Events

Flood of 1880

Cholera Epidemic 1854

Treaty of Basseterre 18 June 1981

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

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