By Francis Quamina Farrier

There have been some occasions when I wished that I was born in Victoria, a village which is known as “The First Village”. As a matter of fact, when I was a young and up-coming journalist back in the 1970s and working at the Films Division of the Ministry of Information which was located on Brickdam in Georgetown in the building now occupied by IICA, I produced a Film Documentary entitled, “The First Village”.

That film documentary is about Victoria and its history, with some scenes which are no longer in existence. On November 7, 1839, Plantation Northbrook was bought by 83 freed enslaved Africans with monies which they had saved from income earned over the years, from mini enterprises such as farming and poultry rearing, even while enslaved. What is not so well-known, is that the asking price for that plantation was unfairly and greatly increased in order to discourage the prospective buyers from becoming successful in their efforts to become property-owners, and so soon after Emancipation. Becoming the owners of Victoria is the pride of the descendants of those 83 purchasers in 1839 and all residents of Victoria and those who love that iconic village.

Visiting that community for over 60 years I have seen its growth. I have also seen many Victorians strive and succeed. The first I would mention is Shetland Wilson the Calypsonian known as “King Fighter”, who ruled the roost for many years. He holds what I believe is the longest composition at the top of the music Hit Parade on local Radio, which was for over 20 weeks. The title of that composition was “Oh, My Dear”, which was in fact, not a calypso, but a romantic ballad. There is a rich tradition of music in Victoria which includes The Masquerade. Although based in New York for some years, there are those Victorians such as Winston “Reggae” Hoppie and Dr. Rosalind October who help to keep the African Guyanese Folk Culture alive and are very involved with the Guyana Cultural Association of New York’s (GCA) annual Kwe Kwe which is usually held on the Friday before the Labour Day Caribbean Carnival in New York and is extremely popular.

Over the past 180 years, Victoria has produced scores of great Guyanese; among them sculptor, artist and poet, Ivor Thom, who produced both the Damon and the 1823 Monuments. There is also Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, Trade Unionist Stonewall Jackson and his son Barrister Rexford Jackson, Educator Clare Alicia Dougall, Attorney and Real Estate Broker Melanie Headley and New York-based Designer Claire Ann Goring, among scores of others.

Victoria has also produced some great families such as the Pool Family who are descendants from Newton Pool, one of the Purchasers of the village 180 years ago. A.B. Pool is a well-known professional Victorian Guyanese of today. His father, Mr. Pool, was such a great building contractor, that his name and fame spread across the Caribbean where he secured several building contracts. Another great Family of Victoria is the Lutchmans. Educator Dr. Harold Lutchman is well-known and highly respected not only here in his native Guyana but in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. Another celebrity Victoria Family is the Ainsworths. They established themselves not only in Education but also in Politics. Nonetheless, although there is obvious physical development in Victoria at present, many villagers have been expressing concern about the needs of the Youths; especially in the area of education.

During my own walkabout in the Village last Saturday evening, and interacting with some of the youths, I recognised that many of them are unaware of much of the history of the Village. Returning to his native Victoria after spending several years in Canada, Desmond Saul is at present, very active with the educational and social needs of the Youths of the village. Saul has expressed the view that, “There is a large mass of illiterate youth who are unemployable, because they are unable to read and write properly or not at all.” At this time, Desmond Saul is doing what he can to help turn things around and is giving formal education to some of the Youths of the village. For even though Victoria looks relatively prosperous, and has had a very high educational standards and achievement in the past, the Youths of the village today need urgent attention in the field of education, and that is where Desmond Saul is making a tremendous contribution.

So what about that film documentary, “The First Village” which I produced at the Ministry of Information way back in the 1970s and which is about Victoria? My understanding is that sometime in the early 1990s it was dispatched to the incinerator and burnt. Could there be a copy of it in existence somewhere? There is so much in that film documentary which will be useful today. Happy 180th Anniversary, Victoria.