Rosemary C. Hanna

From the Author

Introduction & Acknowledgements

This book seeks to paint a picture of what life was like in the Over-the-Hill area of Grant’s Town and surrounding areas on the Island of New Providence, The Bahamas, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century following Emancipation, when the area was settled by freed slaves. It includes a brief history of the settlement and development of the area, the role of the Church in that process, and introduces some of the families that lived Over-The-Hill.

On my frequent drives through the old neighbourhood, I observed that most of the once lovely and immaculately maintained homes of my childhood had disappeared or were in a state of disrepair. Only a few of such homes remain as oases in the midst of decay and I thought it important to record the Over-the-Hill story for those of us who remember and for future generations. I began by taking photographs of the old houses and developed the idea of telling stories about some of the families who occupied them. Most of the houses pictured are still occupied by descendents of the original owners. Others were sold and are being well kept by the new owners. However, I thought it was important to bring to life and put a face to some of the families who lived in the area before they began to move out to the newly developed suburbs, and also to highlight the tremendous contributions that Over-The-Hill people made towards the development of The Bahamas.

The stories are told from my perspective as a child and young adult growing up at my family’s home situated at the corner of Gaol Alley and Anderson Street and also as a member of St. Agnes Anglican Church. However, much of the information contained in the book was gleaned from family and friends as well as through interviews with present and former Over-The-Hill residents, to whom I am very grateful for their enthusiastic support of this project. Their names are listed in the oral sources and bibliography. I am also grateful to my cousin, the late Jackson L. Burnside III, who was a great source of inspiration. His comments are noted in the Appendix II. Thanks also to my dear lifelong friend, Sylvia E. Richardson, for allowing me to include the beautiful poem that she penned in memory of Jackson, (Appendix III).

I extend special thanks to Sir Orville Turnquest for writing the Foreword.

I hope that, through these pages, you will enjoy meeting some of the people from Over-The-Hill.

The book is available at local bookstores and Amazon.com

Link to The Tribune newspaper article.

Swithun and Lorraine Burrows’ Garden – Imperial Park, Seabreeze Estates

My brother Eric Butler had invited us to join the Horticultural Society of The Bahamas for many years but Swithun and I were not very interested in bromeliads and, since I was working full time, I made the excuse that I was too busy. However, when I retired in 2005, Swithun and I decided to give it a try. We attended our first BSI World Bromeliad Conference in San Diego, CA in June 2006 and we have attended almost every one since then because we enjoyed the conferences so much. It really got us “hooked” on bromeliads. We had always enjoyed gardening but were interested mostly in orchids, roses and perennials. Now we have added a variety of bromeliads. We particularly like the ones we purchased at the International Conferences because many of them are “first timers”.

We have made our mistakes in purchasing plants that were not particularly suited for our climate but we have learnt and cannot adequately express the joys of planting, transplanting and caring for our varied assortment. Swithun enjoys this great therapeutic activity so much that he now does most of the gardening while I enjoy purchasing and choosing unusual bromeliads. We are so happy that we are bromeliad enthusiasts and encourage anyone who has a passion for gardening to get into this species of plant life.

Lorraine Burrows

Sheila Pessoa’s Garden – The Heritage

I enjoy living at my family enclave, “The Heritage”, surrounded by most of my children and some of my grandchildren. I also enjoy preparing and serving breakfast at my home for all on Saturday mornings. However, one of my greatest joys is gardening and now that the children are adults I spend most of my time working in the garden and talking to my wide variety of beautiful plants, but the orchids are my favourites. Gardening is a very therapeutic activity and brings me nearer to God when I see his creation in the beauty in nature that surrounds me. Gardening is my life and I absolutely love it.

Sheila Pessoa

Rosemary C. Hanna’s Garden – Seabreeze Lane

My love of the outdoors, trees and flowering plants was developed in early childhood, when I enjoyed rambling through “Matthew’s Bush”, the wooded area near our home in Over-the-Hill, New Providence, The Bahamas. All of the neighbourhood children enjoyed picking and eating pigeon plums, tamarinds, and other fruit that grew in the area. Because of the abundance of fruit and wild berries, Matthew’s Bush was also the home for many beautiful birds.

Mother kept a lovely flower garden and we also had a variety of fruit trees such as avocado, orange, grapefruit, banana, cherry, coconut, juju and, guava. Mother taught us how to make use of all of the fruit grown in the yard; she made guava and cherry jams, orange marmalade, guava and coconut duffs. We also drank a variety of teas made from the leaves of plants that grew in the garden.
My love of gardening was intensified after my cousin, Eric Butler, invited me to join the Horticultural Society of The Bahamas (HSB) and I attend its first show in 1983. I was immediately drawn to the beauty of the Adenium (desert rose) and bromeliads. I purchased my first desert rose plant and a few bromeliads at the show and have been cultivating them since that time. Years later I had the great pleasure of serving as President of the HSB. One of the most interesting aspects of the HSB was the field trips to gather native orchids and tillandsias which are now very difficult to find on the Island of New Providence and also some of the Family Islands because the habitats have been bulldozed. Fortunately, I still have a number of these plants attached to the trees in my garden. My late brother Percival (Perce) was also a source of inspiration and served as my gardening consultant, as was my late friend Veronica Higgs with whom I spent happy times in New Providence and the Family Islands searching for plants.

I find gardening very therapeutic and relaxing and I love to grow plants from clippings and seeds and watch them develop… God’s wonder!

Rosemary C. Hanna

Comments about the book

In her meticulous ingathering of the stories of people in a small segment of The Bahamas, Ms. Rosemary Hanna has recorded the history of the fashioning of a people whose ancestors were transplanted in a foreign land under the most dehumanising conditions and have in a relatively short period changed the history of a former plantation society. The story is built around the people who played active roles primarily in their churches, family units, lodges and community building. Education was seen as a means of true liberation and advancement in the colonial setting hence the academic success of our people is worthy of note. Blood, sweat, tears and discipline brought this about. The craftsmanship and skills necessary for integration as a whole people are highly valued. Because there was the knowledge that man cannot live by bread alone religion, music and family interrelationships played invaluable ligaments in making us a people. I congratulate Ms. Hanna for this tremendous contribution in the telling of the story of a small portion of “Over-The-Hill”.

Bishop Gilbert A. Thompson (Ret.)

Rosemary’s book reinforces my view that the families that peopled the Over-The-Hill district of New Providence just over a half century ago – basically from 1940-1970 – had more class, showed more character and were demonstratively more inspirational than any generation before or after. It was not a perfect world – far from it. But as the book quickly indicates, the streets, the neighbourhoods and the institutions were dominated by families with shared similar values and ambitions. Charles Carter, CEO, Carter Marketing

APPENDIX II

Butler House, Market Street – Page 126 – 9th January 2011

“I have always admired the simple elegance of this house. This is typical of the architecture of Grant’s Town and Bain Town that should inspire the research of the ‘University of The Bahamas’ (if we serious).”

Walker House, Hospital Lane – Page 205 – 12^th January 2011

“Rosemary: You are starting a most important collection of images for the Architectural History of Bain and Grant’s Towns. We have become the ancestors. There is so much information that will disappear with us unless we document as you are doing.”

Burnside Homestead “The White House”, Fort Fincastle – Page 190 – 13^th January 2011

“A Black man has been living in the White House for over 60 years”

Concerning Decay of Over-The-Hill Neighbourhoods – 13^th January 2011

“This repeats itself throughout our Island particularly where the banks do not support re-investment. Most owners of Fort Fincastle, for example, were able to finance moving to the newer subdivisions, but the assessed value in a ‘declining’ area denied them the same investment there. This phenomenon has happened in many places in the U.S. and the Caribbean where new investors come in and ‘gentrify’ the areas after the prices of the land become little or nothing. Then the original owners cannot find the money to pay for the expensive property in the redeveloped area. Harbour Island, Key West, Coconut Grove are all examples of this and it is happening in ‘the city of Nassau’. Beware.”

Lightbourne House, Hay Street – Page 145 – 14^th January 2011

“This house is typical Grant’s Town. If we taught a course in Bahamian Civilization and Architecture, many of the most important lessons would come from this period in our history. Sadly we have allowed imported influences to deny our heritage.”

16^th January 2011

“The massive rubble stone walls, that make the railings on either side of the stair, anchor the sense of welcome to the home like two strong arms, pulling loved ones into a bosom. (There is so much to learn from our over-looked heritage.) One of the most elegant examples of Grant’s Town architecture: though modest in size, a mansion in simple detailing.”

Johnson House, Hay Street – Page 148 – 17^th January 2011

“There are so many powerful lessons to learn from these houses: the relationship to the streets, the disposition of the gardens, the proportion of the footprint of the dwelling to the lot etc. Students come to Nassau from all… over the world …to study our heritage, our urban condition and our buildings and we take it all for granted. How if our, so-called uneducated, ancestors could produce such beauty have we come to the point where we believe we are incapable of being productive, with all that we are supposed to know?”

Rudy Williams Band – Page 116 – 23^rd January, 2011

“This is the kind of history that will give dignity back to our communities and inspire our children”

Transfiguration Baptist Church, Market Street – Page 235 – 8^th March 2011

“Charles Thompson experienced the same discrimination as Joseph Robert Love who left The Bahamas to become an Episcopal Minister in the US… He also became a medical doctor and would later become the mentor of the young Marcus Garvey.”

Concerning the Milk Stands – 8^th March 2011

“These ‘Milk Stands’ and other small shops in the neighbourhoods allowed us to find all we needed to support ourselves within walking distance. The positive social impact of meeting in the streets as we walked everywhere made our communities all feel like ‘one family’. When we got cars, we became impersonal, did not have to care ‘no more’ as we drove to the ‘super market’ and stored our goods in our new Fridge.”

Jackson L. Burnside III (1949-2011)

St. Agnes Architectural History

Blue Hill Road, Grant’s Town, New Providence, The Bahamas

By Jackson L. Burnside III (1949-2011)

If only walls could talk the historic church of St. Agnes Parish of Grants Town would tell a fascinating story of the Bahamians who settled in the Over The Hill area of Nassau in the Bahamas.

The Architecture of the modern St. Agnes Church, Grant’s Town, is a classic example of the 19^th century Gothic Revival that emerged, in England and throughout the colonies, with the then new technologies of steel and reinforced concrete. Though the St. Agnes worship space is not as ornate and finely detailed as the Christ Church cathedral, St. Matthew’s, or St. Mary’s churches, this “cathedral over the hill” is a proud adaptation and modification of the classical themes of Gothic Architecture of the European continent.

Grant’s Town itself emerged as an African settlement on land considered of “no value” just behind the ridge that separated the city of Nassau from the rest of the island of New Providence. This segregation was deliberate, because by the mid-1800s the African population, which swelled with the coming of the Loyalists, overtook the European population and the colonial power felt it necessary to separate the African presence from the town.

With this physical separation also came separation of worship, and the churches of the Nassau community became established in Grant’s Town. The Baptists came first followed by Wesley Methodist, and then when the Anglican Church could no longer tolerate separate services at the cathedral for the Europeans and the Africans, St. Agnes was established over-the-hill. In 1845 during a visit by Bishop Aubrey Spence, “an old African school room which had been used for divine worship was consecrated under the title of St. Agnes”. Three years later in 1848 Bishop Spence returned and consecrated the new District Church of St Agnes a day after a similar service was held at St. Mary’s Church.

Under the leadership of Father James H. Fisher, a new structure built of limestone masonry was erected with a steep, “high pitched roof covered with corrugated zinc”, large enough to accommodate four to five hundred worshippers. Bishop Addington Venables consecrated St. Agnes on July 12^th, 1868. By 1901 the congregation of St. Agnes had outgrown the existing structure, and a new Chancel was called for by Archdeacon Churton. The corner stone ceremony for the new Chancel and Our Lady’s Chapel followed on June 6 1905, and was conducted by the then Bishop Henry Norris Churton.

The following year, on St. Agnes Day, January 21^st 1906, the intricately decorated chancel, new Altar and our Lady’s chapel were dedicated along with a new vestry. This addition was dedicated by Bishop Wilfred Bird Hornby as a memorial to Bishop Henry Norris Churton who drowned off Ragged Island on January 20^th 1904.

The chancel is separated from the nave by a grand Gothic arch of reinforced concrete. The sophisticated timber “hammer beam trusses”, typical of 14^th Century English churches, make a Ceiling worthy of the purpose of the holy space it protects. It is interesting to note that St Mary’s Church, Virginia Street, has the same truss and decorative detail in its chancel. The Altar is of Connemara and Carrava marble with jewels of lapis lazuli and red marble. Two oil paintings were installed above the altars, a nativity scene above the High Altar, and a depiction of the Blessed Virgin and Child over the Lady Altar.

Early twentieth century photographs show a rose window on the Western Elevation above the Main door of the church. This, it is believed, was added in 1916 when the Western porch was built to celebrate fifty years of service of Father James H. Fisher. According to Canon Herbert George, it was this “large rose window” that took the full fury of the 1928 storm and blew in causing the entire roof to collapse. Only the side walls though badly damaged, and the foundations of the Western porch remained.

A Mr. A. L. B. Plunkett, a Government Engineer, and a Mr. Langlois redesigned the nave of the Church and reconstruction began the following February 1929. The North and South walls were reinforced with buttresses, and reinforced concrete beams were added to the top of the walls to receive the new steel girders that replaced the timber rafters. On the interior, four pairs of stout hexagonal reinforced concrete columns were installed between the nave and the aisles. Above the columns are large semicircular Roman arches of reinforced concrete. This line of arches ties the chancel arch to the Western wall, and divides the roof structure into trusses above the nave, and rafters above the aisles. The pitch of the roof was considerably lowered from the original structure, and proved to be much stronger as it withstood the even more devastating 1929 hurricane that destroyed many structures in New Providence.

Several additions were made to the structure in the more than thirty years of Archdeacon William Thompson. Archdeacon Thompson benefited greatly from the service of organist Percy Hanna, who was also a pioneering 20th century Bahamian Architect. Mr. Hanna, along with his son Engineer Paul Hanna, designed the Bell tower over the Western Gate which was dedicated on July 12, 1970.The father and son Hanna team also designed the Choir Loft and in 1982 this addition was dedicated when the new J. W. Walkes and Sons, England, organ was completed. The structure was erected by Carl G. Treco Contractors, and Lloyd M. Toppin & Co. was responsible for the finish mahogany woodwork.

Later in the early 1990’s, Archdeacon Thompson commissioned the design of the Northern and Southern Porches of the church. He enlisted Architect, Jackson Burnside, the Great Grandson of Herbert Burnside who was a member of the first vestry of St. Agnes, and Da Costa Williams was responsible for the construction of these additions. Mr. Williams also donated the larger Southern porch in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal Williams of McCollough Corner.

New mahogany doors for all entrances were built by Mr. Lloyd Toppin and donated by parishioners. The Main Entrance, door at the West was donated by Basil Johnson and family in memory of Mrs. Johnson. The Gay family donated doors in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Gay and their daughter Claire Gay Newbold of Gaol Alley. The Coakleys of King Street donated doors in memory of the late Mr. and Mrs. Roderick Coakley. The Toppin family gave a door in memory of the late Mr. And Mrs. Milton Toppin of Baillou Hill Road. Shortly after this period air-conditioning was added and the historic plain glass wooden casement windows were removed in favour of modern stained glass windows. The new statue and grotto in the Southern garden donated by Da Costa Williams, was included in the dedication of the doors on July 19^th 1993.

Also in July 1993, modern stained glass windows in metal frames were installed in the original masonry openings. These abstract depictions of the seven sacraments of the church were donated by the family of Samuel Glasgow and Cornelia Williams in their honour. Though built by the Stateville Stained Glass Co., USA, Mr. Lloyd Toppin and Matthew Simmons prepared the necessary woodwork. The pointed arch characteristic of Gothic window openings was blocked in to receive the square frames of these new units.

The Anglican Church is an important part of the Bahamian legacy. St. Agnes Church has for almost 200 years played a significant part in the continued development of the distinct African, European and other diverse cultures of the population of our Islands. The description of the stones and sticks of this tangible Grant’s Town worship space should provoke the ongoing search by others to mine the rich and valuable stories of our “goodly heritage”.

This article was written by Jackson L.Burnside III (1949-2011) in June 2007 and is recorded here by kind permission of his widow Pamela Burnside.

Musicians and Entertainers Over-The-Hill and Where They Worked

ST. AGNES ANGLICAN CHURCH 150th ANNIVERSARY – LECTURE SERIES

By Ivan A. Hanna – 20^th September 1995

This is a very wide subject and, although I will eventually get into the meat of this exciting topic, there are a few preliminaries I must pass through first.

THE ONE-MAN-BAND

During the forties, there was the One-Man-Band, a contraption built on wheels consisting of drums, different sounding horns, cymbals, tambourines, etc. This gentleman plied his talents throughout the Over-the-Hill area and, for a penny, you could stop him at the side of the street and he would play your requests. He was a popular figure at children’s parties. He resided at Cameron Street.

THE CONCERT SCENE

This particular form of entertainment was very popular through the fifties, and concerts were held very frequently. The main venues for these concerts were: Grant’s Town Wesley Church and Schoolroom, Bethel Baptist, St. John’s Baptist, The African orthodox, St. Agnes Schoolroom, Zion Baptist, and many others. And, of course, we must not forget the musical evenings from house to house. Some of the performers that come to mind are: Naomi Blatch and Dot Sands with their poems or “recitations” as we called them, Sir Randol and his saxophone, my eldest brother, Jim and his trumpet, Mrs. Juanita Poitier and her saxophone, the late Charlie Adamson and his Hawaiian guitar, the late Corporal Butler from Hospital Lane and his string guitars, the late Sidney Woods, Percy Hanna, Bert Cambridge and George Moxey, Mrs. Persis Rodgers, Gwen McDeigan and Earlin Smith. These are but a few, but one lady that stands out, is Miss Vera Love, in her heyday, a superb soprano who did all of the soprano solos and led the chorus during the four hour performance of Handel’s Messiah at St. Agnes Church by the People’s Volunteer Group, under the direction of t he late Charles Fisher, with Pearl Williams on Piano and Percy Hanna on the organ.

During the mid-forties through the fifties, I was an integral part of this group. While rehearsing a trumpet solo, my father told a story about the late Bulla Roberts, my tutor for the trumpet and his daughter at Wesley Schoolroom. The piece we were rehearsing was the same one Bulla Roberts was playing with his daughter at the piano. She turned two pages instead of one, so you could imagine the chaos, the two of them playing different pages. But first, let me explain how they got on the Wesley stage. Bulla Roberts was living in Miami; previously he was a policeman in Nassau, and led the Police Force on a strike for more pay, hence he had to leave town.

During the twenties, there were regular excursions between Miami and Nassau and this was one of those occasions – the big event, the grand concert at Wesley. Bulla was dressed in his three piece tuxedo with tails and there he was on stage messing up in front of a packed hall with the Governor and wife in attendance. “Why the hell you don’t watch your damn music”, he shouted, and his daughter responded likewise. After the late Charles Fisher was able to calm them down, Bulla shouted: “Take it from the top” and, when they were finished, they received a standing ovation led by the Governor and his wife.

MARCHING BANDS

They were the Southern Band, St. Agnes Band, Catholic Band, Eastern Band (and I will explain the connection) the Police Band. The Eastern Band by comparison was so weak that they joined up with St. Agnes and was allowed to retain their identity by turning out on alternate occasions as the Eastern Band. Then came Empire Day 1945: one of my first big days as a musician. Mr. Ted Glover wanted the band for Western Senior, Mr. Donald Davis wanted the band for Eastern Senior, and so you can guess what happened, the Eastern Band folded. The Southern Band, under Bulla Roberts, played for the Roman Catholic processions and one occasion, a few of the men accused Fr. Quentin and Bulla of pocketing money from these processions. It was at this point that Fr. Quentin assisted by Bulla Roberts started the Catholic Band. The catholic Band never attained the popularity of the other bands, but produced some giant musicians, whom I will name later. All of these bands have disappeared with the exception of the Police Band and they almost went under also. Like the Eastern Band, they needed trumpet players to fill the void, and civilians were recruited. So, teenagers Freddie Brown and Ivan Hanna donned police uniforms to play in the band. These marching bands were the first dance bands also and just as they were hired for parades, they were hired for special occasions, just as the Police Band is today.

THE REAL ORCHESTRAS

The time came when real orchestras were introduced and, of course, the men from the marching bands became core members – i.e., those who could handle the transition. Special dance halls were the Aurora Hall at the top of Charlotte Street, where the high society blacks went and the second floor of the Elks Hall which was also a peculiar place.

During the twenties and thirties, undoubtedly the best orchestra around was the Bert Cambridge Ensemble. After living in new York for a time, Mr. Cambridge returned home and revolutionized commercial music. This, ladies and gentlemen, was the genesis of the real thing. The only surviving member of the grouping is Mr. Maxwell Thompson, a saxophonist. Musicians who remember speak with reverence about the magnificence of the Cambridge band. Since that time bands from Over-The-Hill that made their presence felt were the Bain’s Orchestra, The Rudy Williams Orchestra, the Lou Adams Orchestra, which is the longest surviving band, the Re-Bops, led by the late Irwin Gibson, the Carl Saunders Orchestra, the Joe Lord Orchestra, the Jimmy Thurston Orchestra, just to name a few. These bands, for the most part, played at tourist functions during the off season.

THE PEOPLE’S THEATRE

Built by Mr. Eustace Duvalier, this large wooden building was on Baillou Hill Road, where the serve around is now located, opposite the Baillou Hill Road clinic. It was a movie theatre, a sports arena, a dance hall, a meeting place, and the main activities place of its time. It was the home, for instance, of the “Elite Social Club”. This building was destroyed by fire some time after the 1942 riot.

Three blocks south stood the Weary Willis Hotel, built by the late William Willis Neilly. I understand that after completing such a large there-storey building, he was so weary that he named the building the “Weary Willis”. After his death, the building was taken over by his son-in-law, Archibald Brown. The third floor was the entertainment centre and in later years, john Chipman held some entertainment there as he prepared for his role in the music field. By the fifties, it had lost its glamour as a dance club and operated mainly as a bar and rooms.

St. Paul’s Baptist church was built practically against the Weary Willis and there were lots of conflicts between the spirits. Rev. Colebrooke would send the sexton to complain that the music was disturbing divine worship, but a half pint of the sexton’s his favourite beverage would take care of that. As a youngster, I well remember the police coming to the third floor where we were playing to deal with complaints from the church; sometimes Rev. Colebrook came himself. This building fell into disrepair and was taken down in the early sixties, much to the jubilation of the church and the property was bought by them and is now their parking lot.

A MAN CALLED FREDDIE MUNNINGS

Mr. Munnings was a member of the Police Force and played the clarinet in the Police Band, and later got into commercial music by chance. He undoubtedly became the most popular and versatile musician these Islands have produced. The Silver Slipper Club on East Street was bought by the late Edgar Bain from his original partners, the late Gerald Dean, Viki Brown, Cyril Richardson, and Whylly Reid, and this was the home ground for the Rudy Williams Orchestra, in which Mr. Munnings played and later took over. The entertainment spot flourished like no other. Native shows were put on at least twice per night for locals and tourists. The Silver Slipper was the first establishment where local musicians worked full time and made a living as professionals holding their heads high, and there were their counterparts, a cadre of dancers and support staff, who also made a living as full time entertainers. At the Silver Slipper, international shows were brought in and the Freddie Munnings Orchestra ably supported them.

Around this time, Mr. Percy Pinder returned home from the U.S. and built a dance hall just across the street from the Silver slipper, called the Rainbow Gardens, where the Fred Ramsey Orchestra played, but the operation was no match for the charisma of Mr. Munnings and soon closed its doors and was turned into a movie theatre. This theatre was unique in that it had two balconies where you could take your favourite girl and watch the movie in seclusion. This theatre, along with the Cinema theatre just across the street from the Silver Slipper made East Street the capital of entertainment.

Mr. Pinder’s theatre went up in flames and he later built the Capital theatre on Market Street which is now Purity Bakery. The Capital was a high class cinema not for all and sundry, the entrance fee took care of that. In the early fifties, The Bahamas Playhouse was established for the winter seasons and Broadway plays with big name stars were brought in. The building used for this entertainment was then a part of the Colonial Hotel just at the bend joining Marlborough and West Streets, at the waterfront, where the Hertz Rent-A-car is now situated. These plays were then put on at the Capital Theatre for the masses and school children. Also at the Capital there was a weekly talent show directed at different times by Mr. Bert Cambridge and Mr. Freddie Munnings. These activities were big time.

Meanwhile, in the mason’s Addition / McCullough corner area there was the ACL Hall where a group of young musicians, led by John Chipman jammed every Saturday night to overflow crowds. If you wanted to make a pickup for the weekend, this was one place to go.

Then there was the King of the rake and scrape, the Joe Billy Dancers on King Street, just off Market Street. They also played to overflowing crowds. The entrance fee was sixpence and the peculiar feature of this dance was that the ladies had to consent to any man who asked her to dance or she was immediately put out. This also a good musical pick up place.

At the western end of King Street at Baillou Hill Road, stood the Zanzibar Cabaret and Hotel owned and operated by the late Felix Johnson. Mr. Johnson emceed his shows and what an entertainer he was, dressed in tails and using a walking cane at the strains of “Sunny side of the Street”, you knew it was “Show Time” (his famous quotes, his fights). It was safe to walk the streets at any hour of the night or morning. As the number two club on the Island, the Zanzibar imported some of the best bands from Jamaica, the Eric Dean Orchestra, the Baba Mooda Orchestra, to name a few. But the Zanzibar never really swung until Mr. Johnson was able to persuade the tall, handsome, curly haired, silver tongue man, who could beat Perry Como singing, who mastered the clarinet and saxophone, to play at the Zanzibar. When Freddie Munnings sang, many husbands and boyfriends were embarrassed by the way their ladies responded. The number of offspring he fathered is testimony to this fact. Mr. Johnson also held his own in that category.

With these two giants teaming up, everywhere else was dead. Giant musicians were brought in from the U.S. – names like: Roy Hamilton, James Brown, Les Paul, Jackie Wilson and others complemented by locals, Naomi Taylor, the Jungle Queen, and Becky Chipman, the queen amongst the ladies; Mary Clarke, Queenie, Lucille, Rosie, Maureen Duvalier and a host of shapely ladies. Amongst the men we remember the Kemp brothers, Toe Joe, Pally, John “Chippie” Chipman, Peanuts Taylor (Peppi), etc. etc.

At this time let me mention individual musicians who excelled: Eric Russell, Eric Cash, Bruce Coakley, sir Buck Marshall, John Clarke, Jerry Johnson, Martin Conliffe, George Moxey, Garnet Woodside, B-O-Bie, Dennis Donaldson, Blind Black, Jack Roker, Ed white, Chubby, Lou Adams James Sweeting, Jimmie Thompson, Charles Carey, Apple Elliott, Ralph Munnings; brothers from the south who joined us: Little G, Neville Sampson, Gladstone Sterling, Tom McCook, George Wright, Lane, Fred Callender, Billy Cooke, Rod Williams, Vernon Muller, Hackschore, Jackie Willisee, etc.

In a talk such as this there are certain names you cannot leave out, although they did not work in clubs Over-The-Hill or, if they did, it was very brief: blind Blake, George Symonette, of course King Eric had a recording studio Over-the-Hill and worked over here for a short time; Ronnie Butler, and Flash Rodgers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Munnings, on top of the proverbial world and probably the best known Bahamian of the era, naturally seized the opportunity to purchase the Cat & Fiddle Club when it became available. Prior to this the Club was a dismal failure for more than one reason.

The popularity of Mr. Munnings could draw the crowds on the Island, and success after success led to the continued practice of bringing in the best: Nat King Cole, Count Basie, the comedian Flip Wilson and many more. There was even an ice skating review brought in, and in our hot climate you could imagine the cost for constructing and maintaining a skating rink on the Cat & Fiddle floor. Mr. Munnings branched out into several businesses, and at the pinnacle of his career he began to fade and fade from the active music scene, which still remains a mystery. The Ghana Room was added later and operated as a separate club, although both clubs complemented each other. With the departure of Mr. Munnings from the stage, the Cat & Fiddle also folded.

THE DRUMBEAT CLUB

Owned by drummer, Berkley “Peanuts” Taylor, this club always had a good band. Situated at Market Street and the Northern side of Wellington Street, this establishment catered mainly to tourists but had its share of local business, and held its own. Unlike the clubs mentioned earlier, the Drumbeat was an enclosed club. The club was re-located to West Bay Street, and quite recently had a tragic end.

THE SMALLER CLUBS

These clubs known as the late spots operated at some odd hours and catered to a special clientele including musicians and entertainers from the larger clubs and hotels, and usually had a three or four piece grouping. Musicians are a peculiar lot, usually they stopped playing on the button at their regular jobs, but would immediately go to one of the late spots and jam until closing time.

During the fifties, one such club was the Conch Shell, operated by Mr. Gene Toote. I can well remember getting up at 10:00 p.m. to arrive at the club for the 11:00 p.m. jam. As I rode my bicycle beyond St. Barnabas Church, the only thing between there and the club was BEC, tall pine trees and draught. Other clubs in this category were Flowers on Quackoo Street, the Taxico Club, Wulff Road, Hutch Lounge, also on Wulff Road, the Blue Note Club, Poinciana Drive, and a few others.

Then there was the Confidential Club in the Adastra Gardens. Now this club is not really in the perimeter of this talk but I will include it because during the period that I worked there, it was run by a Grant’s Town man, Nelson Chipman. What a character! The name of the club itself dictates confidentiality, so you would have to use your imagination, as to things that really happened, but I could tell you that you worked hard as hell for that £16 a week. Let me describe a typical slow night. The band started about 10:30 p.m., first show at 11:00 p.m., then the club was emptied, musicians would fall asleep. A taxi drives up half an hour later with four people and asks what time is the next show: “In five minutes” shouts Mr. Chipman, and then he would go around waking up everybody. A show is put on for four people and they leave, and the same scenario is carried on for the rest of the night and into the morning.

There was a saxophone player in this band who openly smoked ganja (as they still call it) and that damned thing smelled so bad. The flame never goes out, and that was one way the police would catch you in the dark. Sitting in the front of the band, patrons would naturally give any tips to the person up front and, when questioned, he would say “The man gave the money to me, not the band. On one occasion, when he was given a blue £5 note, we had to beat him up and take the whole thing. While on this subject, there was another famous musician who collected the tips for his group, and this is what he did – one tip went into his left pocket, next tip went into the right pocket and so on, and at the end of the night, he only shared from one pocket, until one night, when he said let’s see how much we share tonight, one fellow who kept score in his head blurted out “50 + 50, to his surprise. At the Confidential Club, a very young limbo dancer was part of the show. I believe Nelson Chipman gave him the name “Tony Seymour” and it was at the Confidential that he first began to sing and formed his band that took the new club the Banana Boat, to great heights. In later years, as a taxi driver, Tony was murdered. The Banana Boat building which is now being renovated as a Baptist church was financed by the late Canon E.W.G. Holmes and, according to records, he was the owner for a long time.

PAUL MEERES

I purposely left this for the last. Bahamian Paul Meeres was an international super Star all over Europe. Mr. Meeres had a black mother and a white father. Paul was exceptionally good looking and those of us, who can remember the photo of him in the show window of Df. Cleary on Bay Street, would remember the daily crowds looking at his picture in dance costume. Mr. Meeres returned home after having the Paul Meeres Hotel built at Market Street and Wellington Streets. On the ground floor there was a night club where he dazzled patrons and showed us why he was a super star. The late George Symonette and Peanuts Taylor played there.

Mr. Meeres had a tragic end that started when he decided to serve the prison sentence handed down to his Mother by the court for hiding a relative, who had escaped from prison. During the time of his incarceration, many of his overseas visitors and friends were shocked about the whole thing, which added to his tragedy. Upon his release, the old Paul Meeres was gone forever. In his final years he was a regular from club to club, by now an alcoholic. He was knocked down early one morning on Baillou Hill Road near Wellington Street as he apparently stumbled home.

There is so much more that can be said on this subject and those that made it tick but, all of the presenters in this series before me took roughly about half an hour so, I feel obliged to do the same. That was the hardest part of presenting this paper.

In conclusion, let me reminisce a little more. Musicians are a special breed, special in a way that not many professions are. It’s an ungrateful profession, and you must keep on top of it, or it will let you down. You must pass the test each and every day as musicians so well know. It’s very demanding, exciting, dangerous, lonely, yet fulfilling and there are no pensions. If you don’t provide for those rainy days, God help you! In this fickle industry where the musicians are the first to be cut from the payroll, who are taken so much for granted, that provides so much excitement, can also bring to much devastation. It is a profession oh so academic, yet so relaxing, carefree, and sobering. The world without musicians and music would be a very empty world. That is why music is the only art of heaven given to man, and the only art of earth we take to Heaven.

This lecture was presented by Ivan A. Hanna (1934-1999) on 20th September 1995 and is recorded here by kind permission of his widow Dolores Hanna.

Gordon and Cindy Wilde’s Garden – Camperdown

We moved from the West to Camperdown over 20 years ago and suddenly discovered that we had a whole acre to play with. Shortly after moving I joined The Horticultural Society of The Bahamas and there began my passion for gardening.

We had never heard of a Bromeliad or Orchid but it wasn’t long before my addiction for plants began. We started small, built two shade houses along the way, filled them to the brim, and now we have a beautiful garden that we can both enjoy all year round. Every day is filled with surprises when something new comes into bloom. At various times of the year Camperdown is alive with beautiful displays from many of our neighbours who are also avid gardeners.

Gordon and I really look forward to our weekends in the garden; we love the peace and tranquility and we can always find a project to do with all the plants that we have around. We also really enjoy sharing our plants with others as we simply have too many!! But there is always room for something new! We like to encourage our friends to spruce up their yards and gardens by offering plants and advice as to how to grow and care for them.

We have found that gardening gives us so much satisfaction and keeps us active in mind, body and soul.

Cindy Wilde

Rosalie Hall’s Garden – Winton

The most beautiful time of the year is November when all conditions for gardening seem so perfect. For me there is nothing more relaxing or rewarding than gardening at this time. From the fresh aroma of herbs in the morning to the sweet fragrance of jasmine at eventide, this hobby or pastime brings great satisfaction – for as I pursue my love for gardening, I realize the joy of bonding in relationships with family, friends and other garden lovers.

My passion for gardening evolved some fifteen years ago after my three children had come into their own and followed their career paths. This allowed me to spend more time outdoors appreciating creation in all its splendour. While most of my attention is directed toward the cultivation of orchids and bromeliads, I continue to be amazed at the bursts of colour from the cattleya orchid (though short lived) and the flowering plants which may sometimes be considered common or ordinary (the hibiscus, the croton, the wild rose bush and the periwinkle). The enjoyment I gain experiencing these wonders, together with the solitude I derive resting beneath the banana trees viewing the turtle and coy ponds after a full morning of weeding, clipping, fertilizing, potting, re-potting, etc. brings the ultimate aura of peace and well being – a time for meditation. From time to time a butterfly appears – the beauty of nature and the creation. I feel truly blessed.

Rosalie Hall

Hubert Albury’s Garden – Murphyville, Palmdale

I have always been interested in gardening having inherited this from my mother, the late Clarice Albury and from her father, the late Harry McDonald. As a child I remember preparing the flower beds for planting annual seeds. We saved the seeds from year to year and I learned the correct time to plant to get the best results. We also had many beautiful roses in the garden. My interest in other ornamentals came much later in life.

As a young adult I visited Europe, South America and Asia and enjoyed going to the various parks to view the flowers whenever possible. I especially remember visits to Kew Gardens, The Chelsea Flower Show and the Singapore Botanical Gardens and somewhere along the way the orchid “bug” tried to bite me. I purchased a cattleya and a terete vanda, but not knowing much about orchids, promptly planted them in the best garden soil that I could find, and they both, a little less promptly, died. However, some time later, I was fortunate to receive a vanda orchid “Chiang Mai Smile” in bloom as a Christmas gift along with a book on how to grow orchids. After that there was no stopping me – I was addicted! My orchid collection quickly developed to about 30 plants.

In 1996 I joined the Horticultural Society of the Bahamas, having been invited by Mrs. Stephanie Harding. Thus began my interest in Bromeliads and other tropical plants. My thirst for knowledge about orchids continued and I purchased almost any book about them that I came across. My orchid collection has expanded to over 300 plants. I enjoy attending plant shows and conferences and have so far attended four of the World Bromeliad Conferences; my bromeliad collection is still somewhat behind the orchid collection but is fast growing.

I do not have a shade house but have a lot of shade from the tree canopy as well as lathe structures (pergolas) that provide good growing conditions. My garden is relatively small and as a result, I have tried to go vertical with many orchids and a few bromeliads being established on the various trees in the garden. Also, I have many of the shade-loving ones growing under the carport. Other plants grow throughout the garden and on the deck and fences in the back garden.

Being in the garden is one of life’s greatest pleasures for me and is a place of serenity and reflection and where I turn when my spirit is down and needs a lift.

Hubert Albury