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.

Marcus, a slave who had been born in St. Kitts, first drew attention in 1813 when he ran away from Hutchinson’s Estate and took refuge in the mountains. A listing of runaways that was presented to the Council, in September 1814 showed that he had been absent from the estate for ten months and was believed to have caused damage to provision grounds and three steers. He quickly gained a reputation as a “notorious runaway...
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Lee L. Moore Lee L. Moore was born on the 15th February 1939. He was the son of Daphne Moore of Half Way Tree and Theophilus Penny of Middle Island. Miss Moore was a maid and Lee was her only son. His introduction to school life came through a kindergarten in Half Way Tree run by Mavis White. At five years of age he entered the Middle Island Government School. Life for mother and son was...
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Charles Ashton Halbert Charles Ashton Halbert born in Bath Village, Nevis on the 25th April 1880. His mother worked as a nurse for the Parmenter family. At the end of his schooling young Charles earned his Seven Standard Certificate and became a pupil teacher. In 1896, at the age of sixteen he found employment as a store boy at the Charlestown branch of the S.L. Horsford. In 1900 when the business of the branch was acquired by...
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Berkeley Memorial, The Cirucs, St. Kitts The Berkeley Memorial was erected in 1883 and was for a long time the only public memorial commemorating an individual in St. Kitts. It was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Berkeley Hardtman Berkeley, a legislator and owner of the estates called Fountain, Greenland, Greenhill, Ottleys, Shadwell and Stone Fort. The structure contains a clock and drinking fountain. It was designed and produced by George Smith and Co of Glasgow, Scotland...
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St. Thomas Anglican Church, Middle Island St Thomas Anglican Church occupies the site of the first Anglican Church in the West Indies. The first building would have been made of wood and designed to hold a few English Settlers. Changes were made to it over the years to allow for larger congregations and to rebuild after hurricanes and earthquakes. In 1622 St. Kitts saw the arrival of an English group of settlers lead by Thomas Warner. They...
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smoke hole at Lawyer Stephen's cave Photograph by permission of Gregory Pereira, Greg’s Safaris by Alex Robinson According to the oral tradition the cave was first fashioned by maroons out of the side of Olivees Mountain in the 17th century. In a series of local history programmes a contemporary griot, Tamboura Kitwana, from St. Kitts Ministry of Culture, described the site:“The cave is made of packed earth and rock, with a smoke hole and a door sized...
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Hurricanes Wars were not the only dramatic events to effect the development of Basseterre. Natural disasters played a very significant roll.The 1642 and 1667 hurricanes destroyed all the houses on the island. In 1667 French Governor Laurent reported I hold myself obliged to inform you that this island is in the most deplorable state that can be imagined and that the inhabitants could not have suffered a greater loss, or been more unfortunate except they had...
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The St. Kitts Music Festival takes place every year at the end of June. It was the brain child of then Minister of Tourism and Culture, G A Dwyer Astaphan who wanted to create an event that would attract visitors to St. Kitts in the off season and to expose the creative elements on the island, and the general public to the different genres of music. The festival’s website sets out its objectives as follows: to...
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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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