• Memories of Growing up in Barbados in the 1950s

    Memories of Growing up in Barbados in the 1950s

    I grew up in Barbados in the 1950s and lived their for the first 18 years of my life. I enjoy an ongoing, deep love affair with Barbados. Barbados is a country whose historical and international fame and importance bears no relation to its tiny size but instead to several other factors. So I was…

  • Stanton Henry King: Sailor, Author, Chantey Singer (1867 – 1939)

    Stanton Henry King: Sailor, Author, Chantey Singer (1867 – 1939)

    Stanton Henry King was born in Barbados on 1st May 1867 and died 10th November 1939 in Everett, Massachusetts, USA. He was a sailor, author, and chantey (shanty) singer who was known for his works on maritime life and culture. He served in the US Navy before going to Boston and becoming the director of…

  • “These Fields and Hills beyond recall” – The Quaker biblical root for field and hill names associated with Dukes Plantation, St. Thomas

    “These Fields and Hills beyond recall” – The Quaker biblical root for field and hill names associated with Dukes Plantation, St. Thomas

    The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:2, King James Version Are “these fields and hills” really “beyond recall” as our National Anthem so authoritatively claims? The fields as…

  • BajanThings eight years on…

    BajanThings eight years on…

    When Peter and I sat down with a beer and discussed the possibility of starting a website in December 2014 neither of us expected BajanThings would grow to the comprehensive source of information about Barbados that it has become. Some of the articles have become a source of information for researchers. Some articles have gathered…

  • Rediffusion Barbados (1934 -1997)

    Rediffusion Barbados (1934 -1997)

    Barbados Rediffusion was born 31 years before Barbados was granted its independence from Britain in 1966 and it died peacefully exactly 31 years after that event. IPS Correspondent Terry Ally – “Barbados Rediffusion: The End of an Era in Broadcasting History” For a long while in the 1950s to 1960s, Rediffusion was the lone radio…

  • Barbadian born artist: Ashley Bickerton (1959 – 2022)

    Barbadian born artist: Ashley Bickerton (1959 – 2022)

    Ashley Bickerton artist, born Barbados 26th May 1959; died Bali, Indonesia 30th November 2022. In 2021 he was diagnosed with ALS, (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease – a form of Motor Neurone Disease (MND). ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease without a cure that affects nerves in your brain and spinal…

  • Reflections: Col. Duke’s Morris 8

    Reflections: Col. Duke’s Morris 8

    The great thing about BajanThings is that the articles often trigger memories of Bajan days gone by. BajanThings reader Mark Layne wrote from Nova Scotia having read the article: “The Duke Affair – A West Indian versus the colonial establishment“, about Colonel Duke who was summarily dismissed by a new Governor in 1948 – the…

  • World Fuel crisis, fuel poverty in 2022

    World Fuel crisis, fuel poverty in 2022

    [Updated Aug 2023 with actual results of savings for period August 2022 to August 2023 – skip to end for results.] 2022 is the year of the world energy crisis. The cost of gas and electricity has skyrocketed. From the COVID-19 pandemic crisis over the last two years we have moved to Putin’s Ukraine annexation…

  • The Quaker Gardens of St. Thomas – Friends’ equality even in death

    The Quaker Gardens of St. Thomas – Friends’ equality even in death

    The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Society of Friends or Friends or Quakers early burial grounds, consisted of simple grassy areas, appearing to be little other than tended gardens or fields. Graves were generally unmarked and often there were few outward signs that any burials had actually taken place. “1780 – N.B…

  • Remembering EIIR 1926 – 2022

    Remembering EIIR 1926 – 2022

    Here we remember HM Queen Elizabeth II (21st April 1926 – 8th September 2022). Queen Elizabeth II’s historic 70 year reign marks the end of Great Britain’s longest ever reigning monarch and a truly remarkable life of service. We take this opportunity to remember Queen Elizabeth II’s five state visits to Barbados: Editor’s note: Backstory to…