– St Bartholomew, the village movement and Queenstown, Essequibo’s rich African heritage

By Ravena Gildharie
THIS time around as villagers of Queenstown on the Essequibo Coast celebrate their community’s rich legacy and its links to Emancipation, special emphasis is also on the historic St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, which significantly molded unity and community

development dating back to the days of slavery.

The church observes its 175th anniversary this October, and a grand week-long celebration is planned to commemorate the occasion with the entire community. This period of the year is of special significance to Queenstown, beginning with Emancipation in August and the village’s official anniversary in September, followed by that of the St Bartholomew church.
The oldest Anglican church in Region Two, St Bartholomew was founded from a coffee storage house (logie) built by slave labour during the 16th Century. It was later converted to a church during the early 1840s, when Queenstown was created. The church is believed to have led early development of education, youth and culture, while also helping to preserve unity and moral values, especially during the village movement, and onto present day.

“I remember a few years ago when the village observed its 160th anniversary and there was a gathering at the church of people from all ages, ethnicities and religious backgrounds. That was very important,” recalled Reverend Monsel Alves, an Anglican priest, who was born and raised at Queenstown. He started attending the St Bartholomew’s Church at a tender age along with his nine other siblings as their father, the late Sydney Alves, was a server/thurifer- someone who swings the thurible (incense pot) in church.
“I later became a server like my father, then a member of the vestry, youth leader, Sunday School teacher and superintendent, a Eucharistic chalice assistance and Lay Minister. I was totally involved in the life of the St Bartholomew’s Church,” Alves told the Pepperpot Magazine.

Preserved by the Anglican Community, the church boasts an impressive architectural structure of concrete and wood, crafted with tall roofs and sidewalls that curve inward to integrate an arch-like feature. This, along with other designs, creates a structural impression, which residents claim resembles an upside-down ship and which they believe was intentional as a reminder of the slave trade.
This year, the church’s anniversary is being held under the theme, “Celebrating our Heritage, Renewing our Hope in Christ.”

“Our foreparents have left us a great heritage of which I am very proud to be associated with and celebrate. I believe my generation and those who shall come after us, should try their best to preserve that heritage, while embracing the new age of science and technology,” Reverend Alves said.
He highlighted the Church’s role in education at Queenstown through the St Bart’s Anglican Primary School, which produced a generation of highly-qualified men and women linked to familial names such as the Ellises, Drakes, Braceys, Alves, Daintys, Carylls and Primos, among others.

Historian Dr Kimani Nehusi is one of the Queenstown-born scholars who attended the St Bartholomew’s Anglican School. He believes that “a key factor in the construction of the church building was of some degree of African control over their lives and village. The enslaved always tried to subvert the intentions of the enslavers.”
A kindergarten school was also set up by the church while there was a St Bart’s Mother’s Union and Youth Group and a Burial Society. The St Bartholomew church was also part of the Essequibo Social Action Group which identified, discussed and addressed some of the social ills of society.

Aside from the St Bartholomew Church, Queenstown is home to several churches of other denominations, as well as a Masjid and a Hindu temple. There is a primary school, a health centre, a community resource facility with well-developed play-park and a post office.

Village movement and development of today
Though its earliest settlers were predominately Africans, Cromwell Mentis pointed out that there is now a mixed population but one that is closely knit, and where all members of society share a great pride in Queenstown’s ancestral background and history. Mentis, who is the Vice President of the Queenstown Development Association, said there would be a public forum this Emancipation for villagers to discuss with Professor Nehusi and other scholars, the significance of Emancipation to today’s generation. The forum targets youth especially, to educate them on the village movement.

Residents eagerly boast that while Victoria was the first village purchased by freed Africans in 1838, Queenstown was the foremost cooperative village movement that eventually set the tone for similar developments in the 18th century after slavery was abolished. The village was formed in 1840 when planter Edward Carberry purchased three adjoining estates, Dageraad, Mocha and Westfield, to create a town. He used streets to divide the lands into plots, which he later sold in half-acre portions.

It was the first Proprietary Village System where each individual was given a title to their own plot of land. The initial success of Queenstown led other planters to follow suit and by the end of 1841, about 18 plantations were offering land for sale or lease on the Essequibo coast. The practice soon spread to the counties of Demerara and Berbice.
Although villagers have planned an Emancipation feeding programme for children and the elderly, and a village fun-day, Queenstown would join Anna Regina and Dartmouth for African observances, including a traditional candle light vigil from La Belle Alliance to Damon Square. The area holds special significance, as there is a bronze statue mounted at the Anna Regina location in honour of the African labourer, Damon, who was executed in 1834 for his role during a protest against the system of apprenticeship.

Every other year, the Queenstown Association stages its homecoming to coincide with Emancipation, with a week-long fest that attracts large support from the diaspora, a known community-building partner. The activities, according to the association’s President, Fitzroy Fredericks, usually focus on health and education awareness, African history, culture, fashion, foods, traditions and honour to the people of Queenstown. During last year’s celebrations, there was a special ceremony to honour all of the teachers in the community and this was well supported and applauded as the first initiative of its kind on the Essequibo Coast.

Fredericks said that with the help of the diaspora and the community’s self-help drive, the resource facility was recently upgraded along with the playground, while a floor and pavilion were added. The centre is furnished with computers and currently serves as an eGovernment community Information Communication Technology (ICT) hub. Computer classes are planned targeting youths and adults, including senior citizens, who are interested in learning ICT. Residents currently benefit from various skill-building courses offered at the centre, such as catering and garment construction.

Though he was born in another Essequibo Village at Lima, Fredericks said his grandmother was from Queenstown and he recalled the candle light vigils with African music and drumming during the village’s Emancipation celebrations. He took up permanent residency in Queenstown in 1988 and said that the community has evolved dramatically over the years with paved roadways, social facilities and a unified spirit of cooperation among residents, despite the changes. Though a lot of people have migrated in search of better economic opportunities, residents are still predominately farmers growing rice, ground provisions and other produce.

Back in the 1890s, historians noted that life in Queenstown was considered “a paradise”, as the village was full of life, where the folklore and relationship with the ethnic groups was good and villagers saw each other as his/her brother’s/sister’s keeper. The churches and schools created a good environment in the villages, according to Allan Young in his book “The Approaches to Local Self-Government in British Guiana”.
Today, Queenstown strives to maintain that feature.