I was born in Carriacou, part of the tri-island state of Grenada prior to independence from the UK, I have always being intrigued by my family’s history: their land ownership, success at school and the range of complexions.
I learned the names of my ancestors born from the mid nineteenth century to the twentieth century and have always wondered about the conditions under which they lived. My parents were born in 1912 and 1916 and my younger sister, Joan and I have talked about writing a family history since the death of our father over 20 years ago.
We have both started the research, I began at the National Archives at Kew in London and she has been talking to members of our family age 70 years and over. We have also joined an amazing network of descendants from the island of Carriacou who have taken DNA tests and making connections through this network. It has been an inspiration for our writing.
The title of our book is yet to be decided but it will explore the history of the island and where relevant the history of the region through the lives of our parents, grandparents and great grand-parents.
There is an absence of literature on the history of Carriacou and where it does exist, it is often an appendage to Grenada; yet there are extraordinary individuals whose stories are connected to Carriacou. To name just three:
The artist Canute Calliste (see Peter Mason’s ‘Canute Caliste: Naive painter famed for his idiosyncratic portrayal of Caribbean island life,’ Guardian Friday 25th November 2005 and ‘Canute Caliste’ ),
Linda Lorde, the mother of the celebrated writer, Audre Lorde (see ‘ Sweet Home’ Audre Lorde’s Zami and the Legacies of American Writing’’ Journal of American StudiesVol. 43, No. 2, Aug., 2009 and ‘Audre Lorde Carriacou’)
The great ‘Big Drum’ maker and performer, Ferguson Adams, known as ‘Sugar Adams’ see Sugar Adams playing drum at Prospect Maroon, 1968 , listen to audio recordings of Sugar Adams drumming and interviews on Carriacou culture at Cultural Equity.
Watch this space for updates on our research.
Margaret Andrews
December 2021
I learned the names of my ancestors born from the mid nineteenth century to the twentieth century and have always wondered about the conditions under which they lived. My parents were born in 1912 and 1916 and my younger sister, Joan and I have talked about writing a family history since the death of our father over 20 years ago.
We have both started the research, I began at the National Archives at Kew in London and she has been talking to members of our family age 70 years and over. We have also joined an amazing network of descendants from the island of Carriacou who have taken DNA tests and making connections through this network. It has been an inspiration for our writing.
The title of our book is yet to be decided but it will explore the history of the island and where relevant the history of the region through the lives of our parents, grandparents and great grand-parents.
There is an absence of literature on the history of Carriacou and where it does exist, it is often an appendage to Grenada; yet there are extraordinary individuals whose stories are connected to Carriacou. To name just three:
The artist Canute Calliste (see Peter Mason’s ‘Canute Caliste: Naive painter famed for his idiosyncratic portrayal of Caribbean island life,’ Guardian Friday 25th November 2005 and ‘Canute Caliste’ ),
Linda Lorde, the mother of the celebrated writer, Audre Lorde (see ‘ Sweet Home’ Audre Lorde’s Zami and the Legacies of American Writing’’ Journal of American StudiesVol. 43, No. 2, Aug., 2009 and ‘Audre Lorde Carriacou’)
The great ‘Big Drum’ maker and performer, Ferguson Adams, known as ‘Sugar Adams’ see Sugar Adams playing drum at Prospect Maroon, 1968 , listen to audio recordings of Sugar Adams drumming and interviews on Carriacou culture at Cultural Equity.
Watch this space for updates on our research.
Margaret Andrews
December 2021