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Adam Straughn (Straw) Waterman (1803 – 1887)
Adam Straughn (Straw) Waterman was born a slave in 1803 in either St. John or St George. Probably on one of the estates owned by the Drax Family. He got his freedom before emancipation. Adam married Nancy Hannah at St. John’s Parish Church on 2nd November 1835. Some sources say she was an outside daughter of…
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Feuding Chase brothers vault – Christ Church Parish church, Barbados
Below are photographs of the famous Chase Vault, located in the south-west corner of Christ Church Parish churchyard. Sixty meters from the Church Government school. Two Chase brothers, who hated each other and had many furious fights during their life-time, were buried with their coffins placed side by side in the vault; and they continued…
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Run Barbados Marathon Weekend 2016
The Run Barbados series of races in 2015 ,under new management, saw the highest number of entries in the past 8 years. The Run Barbados Weekend in 2016 will be even bigger and better. The marathon winners from 2015 will return to defend their titles. Jess Draskau (Denmark) who will run the marathon at the…
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John Frederick Bridgetower
John Frederick Bridgetower was born a slave in Barbados but was not content to end his life as one. There is no record of how he escaped from Barbados and made his way to Poland. There he worked in the family home of Austro-Hungarian Prince Esterhazy (Joseph Haydn’s patron) and learnt to speak English, French, German,…
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The loss of The Kent – a letter in a bottle story
The Kent was an East Indiaman sailing for the East India Company. She was 40.5 Meters long, and had a beam of 13.2 Meters. She made two successful trips from England to India with Henry Cobb as Captain. On the 19th February 1825 she left the Downs with 20 officers, 344 Soldiers, 43 women, and 66…
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Arthur Hutchinson’s abandoned Lime Kiln at Ragged Point, Barbados
To extract sugar from sugar cane Calcium Oxide (CaO) known as lime has to be added to the cane juice. This allows the impurities to precipitate and be removed from the juice. This is done in large settling tanks after the cane juice is heated. The residue, called mud, is filtered out and used to fertilise…
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BajanThings one year on…
What a year it’s been! We look at BajanThings one years on. For many years my brother encouraged me to write a record of my travels and some history of the island. I had started to write but it was confined to my hard drive. Some will stay there after I go, unless someone finds it. When…
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The Wreck of the SV Nordenskjold
The SV Nordenskjold was a 3 masted, wooden barque built in 1880 for Brunchorst & Dekke, Bergen, Norway. She was 167.8 feet long and had a beam of 34.5 feet. During the next 30 years she changed ownership 5 times and in 1910 was owned by Joh F. Juell. On the 18th of October 1891…
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The Wreck of the SV Countess of Ripon
The SV Countess of Ripon was a steel hulled, fully rigged sailing vessel. She was built by Martin Samuelson & Co. in Hull, England and was one of four ships launched on the 29th October 1863. The first vessel launched was christened, by Miss A. A.Croome, the Countess of Ripon. She is a splendid ship, of above 200 tons…
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Oistins Fish Fry – Barbados. Annies BBQ where locals go for lunch, dinner and a drink
Richard Ligon wrote in his A True and Exact History of Barbadoes (first published in 1657) ….which they called Auftins Bay, not in commemoration of any Saint, but of a wild mad drunken fellow, whofe lewd and extravagant carriage made him infamous in the island; and his Plantation standing near this Bay, it was called…
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BajanThings
Bajan history. Interesting Bajan people. Hiking in Barbados and Overseas. International Travel…