By: Colville Petty

Bless Our Forebears, the latest book by historian Colville Petty, traces the changing patterns of the socio-economic condition of Anguilla’s population. The author begins, as is customary, with the Arawaks who were succeeded by renegade Englishmen joined later by enslaved Africans with no personhood who themselves passed from that state to being independent peasant proprietors with nomadic practices.

Rita Celestine-Carty

In this book, as in all others penned by him, Mr. Petty shares with his fellow-people his passion for the island’s evolution. He writes extensively about this topic not only to share, but to show his caring. In this particular work he does not simply document - which is a patriotic act in itself - but he seeks to influence behaviour.

The reader is plunged into this brand of patriotism from the first paragraph of the introduction which sets forth the raison d’être of the book. Here the author makes it clear that he seeks to forge an understanding of Anguilla’s story such that Anguilla’s people will ever engage in behaviours that reflect this understanding. Such is the ultimate goal of this patriot. It is interesting to note that he relegates to the fourth and final position the provision of historical material for its mere sake.
From the title it is clear that this book is about the people whose descendants inhabit the island today and that it is directly addressed to these people of today. Is the title a request? Is it a plea? Is it a command? It is all of the above – depending on the level of resistance of its audience.

The book begins with a historical review which glosses events from Amerindian settlement circa 2000 BC to the Constitutional Review of 1990 and the development of the island into a “stable parliamentary democracy” (p. 22). Each event in this journey had particular consequences, but one of the most significant must be that “By 1834… most of the white planters had sold their land to the ex-slaves and returned to England” (p.11). The impact of this situation is too deep to sound. This historical fact has indeed produced the current psychological and material condition of every single Anguillian from then until now. It is in fact the genesis of the Anguillian psyche.
In the two succeeding chapters the writer singles out two particularly difficult periods for closer scrutiny namely The Emigration Plan and The Great Famine. This is done to underscore the attachment of Anguillians to their island home. Petty shows how near-starvation was not enough to force them to leave and how a shower of rain was enough to rekindle hope and resolve to continue to cling to the Rock. It is of no little significance that a chapter treating the issue of not enough to eat should end with the words “they saved for future generations” (p.68).

The author then focuses on the twentieth century, which, though marked by its own distresses, saw a shift in the material fortunes of Anguillians. It heralded the coming of this present state that some may refer to as a time of plenty.

Finally the author reflects on these events and the lessons to be learned by this and future generations.

For most of the current adult population the chapter on the 20th Century can be read more as memories than history. These memories may be either direct, lived experience or relayed first hand by an older relative who talked incessantly to, and perhaps more often at, the young in their care attempting to transmit views and values. In some cases the events related are more personal than national history.
This is the case when the fate of Francis, Geoffrey and Toaly Gumbs – the three brothers from Rey Hill - is mentioned (p.70) for these are actual forebears of this reviewer. She was raised by her grandmother who often gave the first hand account of that gale that resulted in the loss of her father, Geoffrey, as well as of Uncle Toaly and Uncle Francis on the same day! She would relate how that day and afterwards she would cry until she thought she would break.

This reviewer is also well aware too of the seasonal exodus of men and boys since her grandmother often told of being engaged for four years (1924 -1928) while her fiancé returned year after year to Santo Domingo to be able to build a two-room house for her to reside in once they were married. This reviewer grew up in that same house although by then there had been several additions.

It is impossible to read Bless Our Forebears without making comparisons between then and now or better put, to realize the stark contrasts between then and now. How startling must it be to the young modern Anguillian who counts himself as more fortunate than others around to realize that this was not the case for his forebears – that they were referred to as “proverbially miserable” (p.10) and “cut off from the benefits enjoyed by larger or more progressive communities” (p.15). Can a child of today contemplate that in the 1950s there was a total of ten (10) phones in the entire island? Nowadays even small children consider their personal phone an indispensable possession and the security guards at the secondary school can confiscate far more than ten in a day. Mr. Petty means that children should be aware of the condition of their forebears and put their current “wealth” in its proper perspective.

Bless Our Forebears serves as a timely reminder, too, to grown people as they rush around spending and sending dollars abroad (exporting it, so to speak) that they should pause to reflect on the time when the reverse was vital to survival.

As a historical work, Bless Our Forebears will certainly serve as useful cross-reference for other works on Anguilla such as Born in Slavery and those produced by this author alone and in collaboration with others. The gloss of its pages and their smooth texture exist in stark contrast to the content of most of these said pages and tell as much of Anguilla’s “rags to riches” story as the words themselves.

But far more than this it is a narrative with much emotional appeal. Not the least of these emotions are the awe and admiration of Anguillian people as felt and relayed by its author. This book is definitely presented in homage to them and to elicit the same from the rest of their descendants. This is the spirit in which it is offered – a tribute to that symbol of diligence and determination depicted on its cover.

There are many ways to view Bless Our Forebears and its reading and re-reading will undoubtedly raise many other perspectives, but for now we should heed the admonition of Mr Colville Petty to sing the song of our own people so that we can bless them with our voice of acknowledgement of their continued existence through us. We should inspire ourselves with their story so that we do not squander what they have left behind but rather cherish and treasure and safeguard it for future generations of Anguilla’s people. We should resolve once more to be a provident people, carefully preparing for future needs and economical in our use of resources.

At the same time our historian should keep his pen at the ready to write the next chapter of Anguilla’s evolution because apparently there is another shift in the wind.

Rita Celestine-Carty

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