Audrey Dewjee recently wrote about Bertie Robinson, the black footman at Harewood House. Bertie was born on the tiny Caribbean island of St.Vincent. John Ellis has now written about a seafarer who also started life on St.Vincent (a decade after Bertie), Charles Harold, who enlisted in the British Army in 1915, served in France and Italy and eventually lost his life whilst working as a merchant seaman during World War Two.
I have commented before that, although the actual events of the past (the raw material of ‘history’) do not and cannot change, our understanding and interpretation of them certainly can. New research uncovers fresh information that broadens and deepens what we ‘know’.
The story of ‘Bertie’ Robinson, who Audrey Dewjee first wrote about in May 2020, is a case in point. A great deal more is now known about ‘Bertie’s’ life – for instance, that his name was actually George!
Bertie, or should we say ‘George’, is now the subject of an exhibition at Harewood House where he lived and worked for many years.
Bertie Robinson: The Footman from St. Vincent will be on display in Harewood House until Friday 22nd October, 2021.
Bertie was originally from the tiny Caribbean island of St Vincent, an island that hit the headlines for the wrong reasons recently. Audrey continues the story…
The 2021 eruption of La Soufrière volcano
At several points in its history, St. Vincent has been at the mercy of eruptions from La Soufrière the island’s tallest volcano. St. Vincent is also in the “hurricane belt”, which means it is battered by violent storms every year from June to November, and is periodically hit by even stronger hurricanes that totally devastate the island.
During the period of Amelia’s letters to Harewood (see my new article), there was a particularly terrible hurricane in 1898 which killed around 300 people and wiped the island bare of animals and vegetation. No wonder Amelia begged for help. There was also a massive eruption of La Soufrière in 1902/3 during which at least 1,680 people died.
In 2021, La Soufrière has erupted again, forcing up to 20,000 people to be evacuated from their homes and covering the island in ash – again resulting in dead animals and damaged crops as well as destroying homes and ruining businesses. A photograph taken in 1905 – a couple of years after the 1902/3 eruption – shows just what happens to the land after such an event.
St Vincent, 1902
And now the 2021 hurricane season is imminent.
For more information about the current situation, see:
Anyone wishing to send a donation to help the relief effort can find details of how and where to donate on the website of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines High Commission. https://www.svghighcom.co.uk/site/Charity.html
A volcanic eruption may only last a few hours or days but the impact on a fragile island economy is devastating and will take many years to recover from.
