Easter Day, Sunday, April 12, was a busy day in Anguilla. It was the second day of the hugely successful Festival Del Mar at Island Harbour and there were a number of well-attended special church services and programmes for the season. It was also the 90th birthday of Mrs. Countess Petty of Pond Ground, East End, which, away from the varied festive activities elsewhere on the island, was quietly observed at her residence.

Mother Pett, as she is affectionately called, is one of the oldest residents at East End. She is well-respected and beloved and enwrapped in her many years are the virtues of family-life and Christian-living, and the qualities of good manners, hospitality, friendliness and caring love that have long characterised the people of the traditional Anguillian society.

Mrs. Countess Petty on her 90th birthday

She is the mother of two children: Historian and former Public Service Administrator, Colville Petty, and Mrs. Nardine Lake who, along with her husband, Claudius, accommodate her at their home. She is also a grand and great grandmother and is well known for her kindness and caring love for children and adults in the East End community in particular.

Mother Pett is the widow of the late Clarence Petty, a former noted Arc Welder whom she has survived for the past thirteen years and who perfected his trade in Curacao and in England for a number of years. She remained at home with their children during her husband’s Curacao years, but later accompanied him on one of his sojourns in the United Kingdom. They returned to Anguilla in 1963 to spend many years together at their residence where a small family-owned shop was also located.

Today that modest residence houses Heritage Collection Museum which, through its multiplicity of impressive and carefully-documented artifacts, offers Anguillians and visitors a unique peek into the island’s rich historical annals. Among its treasured possessions are photographs of Anguillian centenarians among whom may be Mother Pett if she continues to be blessed with a long life.

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