By Alex Wayne
MANY villages are busily hosting one entertainment venture or the other, with the aim of promoting healthy entertainment for residents. But the historical Victoria village has a distinct buzz created by residents as they embroil themselves in frenzied preparation for the 174th Anniversary celebrations of their beloved village.

We popped in to that enchanting and enthralling village, and experienced that ‘tropical feel’ of intense excitement and great anticipation that was on the lips and faces of almost every resident. Young girls were feverishly preparing their short skirts and Africa attire as they readied themselves for pulsating gyrations the minute the African drums strike up their stirring rhythms. Food vendors were erecting tents around the village in anticipation of major sales from the crowds that would be gathered at the various celebratory activities around the village. And the more sport-oriented residents were preparing for football and cricket clashes, which serve as other exciting features in their annual celebrations.

In the neighbouring village of Belfield, the steady thumping of the masquerade drums could be heard as the Fire in the Land masquerade band rehearsed for its intended performance in Victoria. Promoters were excited to share the news that today the village will come alive as Cool Crew Promotions and the people of Victoria launch the ‘174th Anniversary Celebrations of Victoria’ at the Victoria Community Centre Ground.

Even as this mega event unfolds, other locations around the village would also be hosting their own little entertainment promotions. As such, villagers can be entertained in fine style as the Main Point and Night Rider hangout bars host their ‘Victoria Fantasia’ simultaneously.

Patrons at the Victoria Ground would be treated to spectacular performances by talented artiste ‘Lil Million’, while TRS Sounds, Stereo Sonic, Gold Rock Sounds and a surprise live band would be juggling things in the music arena.

The Rastafarians in the village would, of course, be engaged in the customary drum beating, and their ‘Niabinge’ cookouts and sharing of food to villagers would inevitably attract a crowd.

We were very enthralled by the commitment displayed by residents, and were even more appreciative when told the rich historical background of the attractive Victoria village.

Victoria in history
Located on the Atlantic coast of Guyana some 18 miles east of Georgetown, Victoria was initially established in November 1839 as a plantation called Northbrook. Eighty-three ex-slaves from the five contiguous estates of Douchfour, Ann’s Grove, Hope, Paradise and Enmore pooled their resources and bought Plantation Northbrook for 30,000 guilders, or $10,283.63. Each of the 83 owned one plot of land.

After its purchase, the village was renamed Victoria, presumably in honour of England’s Queen Victoria, although some suggest it may have been named as such in honour of the freed slaves’ ‘victory’.
Thus Victoria became the first village to be bought by the combined resources of Africans who had recently won their freedom from slavery.
Victoria is credited with having, in 1845, established one of the first codes of local government in Guyana; and, in time, the village became one of the leading exporters of products made from coconuts and cassava.
THE year 2013 is replete with significant anniversaries for all Guyanese, and especially for the peoples of African and Indian ancestry. But, as usual, the big events will overshadow the lesser known historic moments.

Already, some plans are in the execution stage to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Berbice Slave Uprising; the 190th anniversary of the 1823 Demerara Revolt; the 175th anniversary of Emancipation; and the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Indians to Guyana.
Victoria’s elderly citizen Rudolph Smith, who enjoys a decent living from cash crop farming, seemed to have great insight on the makings of Victoria, and divulged that he was an avid fan of the book, “History of Victoria Village”, written by William N. Arno, which tells the inspiring story of how a group of recently emancipated Africans pooled their resources in order to make an unprecedented purchase of a sizable village on the East Coast of Demerara.
It was both relaxing and entertaining to listen to Mr. Smith explain that while the purchase of the village was one aspect of that inspiring story; the other aspect was that those “intrepid” ex-slaves were able to draft rules and

regulations to preserve their investment in twenty articles in an “Agreement for the good regulation and general benefit of said estate.”
This, he said, tells us that the ex-slaves knew exactly what they wanted out of the investment; and two of the first things they wanted were a church and a school house, “which shall be used and devoted to the purposes of Religion as a School House and Church, where our children may be taught to read their Bibles and learn their several duties; and where we may offer up to Almighty God our humble prayers and thanks for the mercies we have received, and the benefits we are enjoying.”
“In essence, education and communion with God (church) were accorded top priority in the grand scheme of things,” he disclosed.
According to the book, he said, two women were involved in purchasing what was then Plantation Northbrook; but while it was mentioned — both in the book and in other documentation — that just two women were involved in that transaction, the actual list of names has revealed that there were other women involved in the deal.

Mr. Smith dictated that, in a petition (dated November 30, 1839) to the Queen through then Governor, Henry Light, the villagers wrote: “We would fain hand down to posterity some token of our gratitude and some memento of the emancipation which we have witnessed, partaken of, and enjoyed; and we conceive that we cannot do so more effectually…than by being allowed to name our plantation after our good and gracious young Queen, Victoria,”
The petition entreated the governor to represent them in such a way as to “obtain her Royal consent.”
During slavery, he said, the Village of Victoria was known as Northbrook. It was the freed slaves who, after emancipation, changed the name to Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, whom they felt was responsible for their freedom.
Victoria measured 130 rods in width, and was seven miles long (depth, as measured from the sea). The freed slaves occupied the north of the village for residential purposes, while the rest was used for farming. To the east of the village was Plantation Belfield, a coconut estate; and to its west stood Cove and John, a sugar estate.

Community leaders & village activities

The men who at that time emerged as ‘Community Fathers’ were William Africa Baptiste, aka ‘Boss Africa’, and Messrs. Moses, Josiah and Chester.
The Village of Victoria pioneered Agricultural shows with the formation of an Agricultural Society under the leadership of Mr. J.A. Barbour James, the Post Master, who also formed a Debating Society. The Agricultural Society was able to get from the Village Council a plot of land near Wilberforce Church, which they named ‘Sendall Park’ after the then Governor, Sir Walter Sendall.
This became the venue for future agricultural shows which involved other villages.
Towards the end of the 1950s, a Community Centre adjoining Sendall Park was built by self-help under the supervision of S.A. Cupidor, a village Contractor. This Centre was declared open on August 30, 1959.
Although none was located in the village itself, villagers had access to Government institutions and facilities which were nearby. At Belfield there were a Railway Station, Police Station and Magistrate’s Court.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Victoria was indistinguishable from Belfield in terms of social and community activities. The railway station that served the village and its surrounding communities was located at Belfield. There were several large residences located in Belfield, and many of the women of Victoria worked as domestic help in those ‘great’ homes.
There was “Green House”, which later became the residence of President L.F.S. Burnham; and the “Red” House was located along the northern half of the Belfield road, and was used to host many village dances. The Reis family also owned a large residence at the north-eastern confluence of the Belfield road and the Public road. It was this same Mr. Reis who owned the factory in Belfield that bottled soft drinks. After this factory had closed down, the location housed a piggery during the early days of the “Cooperative Republic”.

Significant celebrations
On November 29, 2009, to observe 170 years since the 83 freed slaves had purchased Victoria village, their descendants honoured and praised them for their vision and foresight in pooling their resources to invest in the cooperative venture that purchased Victoria.
Victorians also celebrated the great accomplishments and achievements of authentic fellow Victorians with the 2009 “Outstanding Victorians” Award; and proudly boast of the leading educators, doctors, lawyers, engineers, playwrights, electrical and civil engineers, accountants, management consultants, land surveyors, nurses and public servants who have risen to the top of their chosen fields and professions.
THE names of the 83 freed slaves who pooled their resources to purchase Victoria Village in November 1839 included Allen, John King, Solomon Andy, James Knight, Sammy Africa, William Lewis, William Archy, Molly Langhorne, John Andrew, Thomas Lawrence, Frank Burke, Samuel Lewis, Bier Baille, Thomas Lewis, Johnny Beard, Francis Lancaster, Blackwell Cupido, Philip Macrae, Colin Caesar, Soloman Macrae, James Chapman, Isaac Mitchel, Jack Cockfield, Cain Melville, Porter Collins, Thomas Murphy, Feth Cooper, Sampson Mackie, Ned Cato, Hamlet Neugiddy, William Cummins, Gitties Ned, Rodney Dick, Richard Porter, Art David, Dublin Porter, Zaashie Duke, Aaron Porter, Alexander Europe, Dorset pool, Newton Ellick, Lewis Porter, Cornwall Fiddell, John Porter, Stephen Goring, Michael Porter, Hannah Grant, Maria Quammy, Adam grant Adam Quashie, Rodney Glen, Valentine Robertson, John Glasgow, Smith Robertson, Philip Hopkinson, Belinda Reaves, William Gommel, Hanover Simon, Samina Cross, Hercules, Cicero Spencer, Simon Hamilton, Charles Shakespeare, John Hercules, Thomas Samuel, Scipio Hopkinson, Moses Sam, Marlboro Hopkinson, Cupido Sertima, John James, Michael Smartt, William Inverary, Martin Samuel, Primus Josiah, John William, Nat Jackson, Nelson Whater, John Isaacs, Daniel William, Betty Isaac, Romeo Tumby, Jim Jack, Peter Thom, Catherine Jonas, Joby Tait, Timon Jarrick, and Kenneth Thomas.

Significant institutions
With the introduction of Local Government, a village Council was formed in 1892. Its first Chairman was Mr. S.O. Maison, a dispenser. Among the other chairmen to follow were Messrs. A. M. Lord, E.C. Blair, E.B. Collins, H.D. Dolphin, H.A. Thompson, G. Rutherford, R. Moore, L.R.D. Ainsworth and S. Robe.
There was a home for delinquent girls, located at the south-west corner of the Belfield road and the Public road. This institution would later be relocated to Cove & John, although it retained the name of “Belfield Girls’ School”, commonly known as “Delinquent Home”.
At the south-east corner of the Belfield road and the Public Road was located a “Gentleman’s Club”, where the upstanding male population of the area would take their drinks, play cards and other games, and just to socialize among the gentry of the community.
Going further south along the same Belfield road, and immediately after the club, was another “great” house that housed many government and prominent families who came to reside in the area. Three house lots following was the area where the police station and Post Office were located. At one time, the local police detachment also included a mounted branch.
There was also a hotel and Country Club that existed at Nootenzuil, at the northernmost tip of the Belfield-Nootenzuil road. Many were the dignitaries who came to this establishment on vacation. Many of the local women were also employed there. The employees were all dressed in uniform.

Agriculture
Poultry farming, ground provisions and coconuts to the rescue
Over the years, Victoria Village throve with various industries. Coconut was one of the major industries, and as a result, many ‘spin-off’ industries developed. Coconut was used to manufacture oil, and its waste products proved an ideal feed for pigs and poultry. Consequently, vibrant pig and poultry-rearing industries developed among the villagers.
The farming community was also very vibrant, and the villagers produced an abundance of ground provisions and fruits, among other produce. A vibrant market existed every Saturday at the junction of the railway line and the Belfield road, where the local farmers sold their produce, when they did not travel to the city markets.
Every home boasted a kitchen garden, and families ensured they had enough green vegetables for their own consumption. Other families which were not involved in the coconut industry were involved in the cassava industry. The farmers planted the cassava, (a nine-month crop) and the individual families peeled, grated and processed the cassava into cassava-bread, congotae (farine) and cassareep; and the skins peeled from the cassava was used as animal fodder.
Quite apart from these large industries in the village, there were a number of bakeries, retail shops and clothing stores, as well as other cottage industries that produced dinking chocolate (from the cocoa pods), and sugar cake (using coconut and sugar as main ingredients).
On Saturday nights, black pudding, souse, channa and crushed ice (snow cones) were all sold in the village as the local Saturday night entertainment fare, quite apart from the occasional village dances.

Victorian Scholars
Victoria produced many of Guyana’s scholars, because every family regarded education as the ticket out of poverty, and every parent laboured to send their children to obtain secondary education in a paying system, after their compulsory free primary education. Many brilliant students who were not fortunate enough to attend secondary school became primary school teachers; as they could do this with a sound primary education and follow the path mapped out for training teachers. Since this was an easier and less costly route for academic achievement, a great number of village sons and daughters became teachers, and excelled in that vocation.
Some notable and very elite Victorians are Stanley Moore & L.R.D. Ainsworth, Doreen Butcher (Educator) and Professor Harold Alexander Lutchman, to name a few.

Village evolution
Over the years, Victoria Village has been transformed from sprawling wasteland with a cluster of houses to a thriving community where everyone tries their utmost to ensure they secure eventual prosperity.
Be it the coconut oil or cassareep business, poultry farming or food vending, or cultivation of cash crops, everyone in Victoria tries every avenue in which they can make a living and earn an honest dollar.
The infrastructure of the village has changed somewhat, in that new buildings and businesses have sprung up; and that’s a good thing, since such changes have brought added attraction to the already endearing yesteryear ambience of Victoria.
It’s a unique little village with an interesting historical background which, over the years, has evolved from an undeveloped community where inhabitants were struggling to meet the necessities of life into a now modern village with high potential for economic and ultimate social development.

Churches proliferate
The first church built there, a Congregational church named after the Abolitionist William Wilberforce, was erected in 1845. A memorial tablet was placed in the church honouring William Africa Baptiste, known as ‘Boss Africa’, who became accepted as the Father of the village. Baptiste, who died in 1881, was the first village schoolmaster.
This church is a historical masterpiece which has always occupied pride of place among villagers who, several years ago, were lamenting it deteriorating condition. Today, however, there are smiles all around because the traditional wooden and shingle structure was torn down and is now replaced by a beautiful concrete edifice.
The people in the village back in the day showed a great desire for church worship, and used to travel as far as Le Ressouvenir, 11 miles to the west, to attend services conducted by the Reverend John Smith. At the same time, some of them were also taught to read and write.
The keen desire for church worship resulted in the construction of church buildings. The first church was built by the Congregationalists in 1845, and was named Wilberforce, after the abolitionist who was prominent among those striving for the liberation of slaves.
Other churches followed suit, and soon the Wesleyans, Plymouth Brethren, Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist and Anglicans were numbered among those functioning churches in Victoria.
‘Boss Africa’, despite his literary limitations, became the first schoolmaster of the village when he was appointed to the Wilberforce church that conducted school in the building with a government-aided programme. He eventually passed away in 1881 at the age of 92, and is immortalized by a tablet in his memory in the Wilberforce Church.

Cultural standards
The cultural standards of the village improved, chiefly influenced by the churches and the schools. Associations were formed with the aim of holding debates and suppressing indulgence in alcohol. The Cove and John sugar plantation and Belfield coconut estates boosted employment, and thus the economy of Victoria Village.
A fishing industry was started by the group, and the catches were brought to the village through the canal dividing Victoria from Cove and John.

Serenity
Victoria Village earned the reputation of being a most peaceful place in which to live.
And it had a right to be peaceful, because enshrined in its articles of understanding were a host of dos and don’ts which, no doubt, led to the enormous moral success of the village. The committee of management, which was soon founded, did not only plan the development of the village, but also looked over the works carried out by residents, who were the shareholders.
Such measures implemented by the overseers were sometimes said to be harsher than those on the estates, but they had the desired effect of ensuring peaceful co-existence of villagers.
All shareholders and their families had to work their plots, and certain crops had to be planted so that the village would have enough food.
Each habitat was required to cooperate in cleaning and digging trenches to drain the land. They were also asked to construct dams and roads, and to repair them when it became necessary.
Attendance at church services on Sundays was made part of the curriculum of activities, and played an important role in the spiritual upkeep of the inhabitants. Anyone found breaching any of these rules was required to pay a fine of one schilling (24 cents)
Today some of these very traits remain in the village, lending to its serenity.

Changing times
Today, things have changed dramatically in the village, and of course have affected villagers in various ways.
Whilst farming in the backlands was once one of the main means of survival for villagers, this practice has dwindled dramatically, due to the lack of proper drainage and irrigation.
Small gardens still remain alongside the parapet of the Bellback ingress and egresss road. This is a welcoming sight, but that in itself poses its own problems.
Actually, because of these same vegetable gardens, villagers are complaining of severe losses of poultry, since the owners of these gardens would sometimes poison the animals whenever they wander into the gardens.
A visit to the Bellback Road revealed that the supposed gardens were not properly secured, and some were indeed a mangled assortment of coconut staves and wire, leaving large spaces that allowed cattle, sheep and goats to gain entry.
Insufficient water supply is experienced by some sections of the village, and this happens mostly in the ‘backdam area’ of Victoria. According to villagers, persons residing close to the public road access a constant supply of water, while those beyond the railway embankment are subjected to on-and-off spells, with no proper explanation for its cause.
Drainage and irrigation still continues to be an issue in some areas of the village, and this can be confirmed by the extensive flooding that occurs during the rainy season.
Years ago, a series of rape incidents had plagued the village, but today residents seemed to have rid themselves of such predatory characters. Things are just nice and peaceful in Victoria.

Employment
There is no scope for ‘employee employment’ in the village, and while a few still struggle with their farming, some sell brooms, fruits and vegetables in the city. The majority of the male population is apparently satisfied to simply laze around by day. This is evident in the number of idlers who hang around the Upper Level Barber Shop on the public road, line the roadways, or sit for hours in the Catholic Church compound either playing cards or dominoes for money.
However, the Guyana Gas Station on the Victoria Public Road has helped out greatly with jobs for a few, while a large number of residents are employed at the surrounding sugar estates.

The masquerade tradition
Many may not know, but Victoria Village is the home of two of Guyana’s most popular masquerades bands. The renowned Joker is Wild band led by Adrian Waldron was created in Victoria, and has taken most of the top titles over the years at the annual Mashramani competitions.
At present, there is a division in this band, out of which the relatively new ‘Fyah in the Land’ has been born. This year it took most of the top titles at the Mash competitions.
Mr. Waldron, frustrated with the lack of corporate support for the art form, has migrated to the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago, where he is creating wonders in that arena.

Entertainment
This village continues to be the beacon of excitement in terms of entertainment, and several promotion agencies have emerged, bringing much frolic and fun for villagers.
May fairs are most popular in this village, as well as the annual village pageant, which usually sparks much controversy after the judges’ decisions have been announced. Besides, the Night Ryder Fish Shop and Bar on the public road is the very ‘alcove of sizzling entertainment’, as is seen in its many weekend ventures, which are always well attended by villagers.
Entertainment may soon escalate, since popular Barbados-based promoter Shawn Baynes has indicated that he would retake his mantle of promoting mega-entertainment ventures for villagers. At present, he is engaged in rearing cattle, pigs and poultry, something rapidly being adopted by many villagers. In his free time he works as a bus conductor, since it brings him an extra dollar.
Some villagers are of the opinion that, since Victoria has such a rich and intriguing historical background, it should be refurbished and used as a tourist attraction for overseas visitors.

Conclusion
Come chase butterflies in its sunlight pastures, or take a quick dip in its deep, dark ponds. Let your hips undulate to the riveting sound of African drums, or come savour fresh coconut water, lime juice or mauby; or pop fresh fruits into your mouth as you explore its fascinating beauty. Whatever you do, take time out to visit and soak up the rich history of Victoria. See you there!
CAPTIONS:

Pic saved as Self Help, captioned as: In Victoria, villagers use self-help initiatives in most cases to build their homes.

Pic saved as Food Stalls, captioned as: Fast food and confectionery stalls bring in a quick dollar for villagers

Pic saved as Cricket, captioned as: It’s customary to see youths enjoying a game of cricket in the side streets of Victoria

Pic saved as Cooking, captioned as: ‘Bush cooks’ and semi-picnics are a popular leisure time feature for Victorians.

Pic saved as Drums, captioned as: The drums are calling all to visit Victoria

Pic saved as Residents, captioned as: Homes with extended families are a constant feature in Victoria.

Pic saved as Shawn Baynes, captioned as: Poultry and cattle farmer Shawn Baynes takes pride in caring for his animals.

Pic saved as Pepperpot, captioned as: Tasting that spicy Victoria pepperpot