– A plantation purchased by 62 former slaves

CONTINUING with our East Coast villages from last week, the Pepperpot Magazine decided to feature the equally important and historic village of Beterverwagting, also called “BV” or “Baron”.

Approximately 10 miles from the capital city of Georgetown is the village of Beterverwagting, a name that derives from the Dutch words “Beter verwachting,” which literally means “better expectation.” BV was a plantation that was bought from Baron Van Groningen, who was said to be the last remaining Dutch planter in the colony at the time.

When 62 former slaves learned that the Dutch planter was tired and packing his belongings to leave the country, they decided to seize the opportunity and pool all of their savings to purchase the village so that they could have ownership over the land. The purchase was made on May 8, 1839.

Speaking with the former Chairman of the BV/Triumph Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Leyland Harcourt related that Beterverwagting has a very “powerful” and “rich” history that many persons may not be familiar with, especially the younger folks.

“From 1834 to 1838 was the period of apprenticeship, when the slaves would have been earning some money by having their weekend markets. All of their resources were given to one man, who, it is said, would bury the money at the bottom of a tamarind tree somewhere on the sidelines for safekeeping.On the day of the actual sale of the land, he dug up and brought out the money (Dutch guilders), which was $39,000,” the Chairman explained.

According to Harcourt, the slaves thought they should honour Baron Van Groningen for his noble gesture of selling the plantation to them, so they decided to call the village Baron and the villagers were called Baronians. The former Chairman noted that, “Beterverwagting would have set the trend for many other villages in this country. On August 18, 1847, the slaves gathered at the train station to elect the first village council to run the affairs of the community.”

Among the 40 proprietors that were gathered, the former Chairman noted that one woman was present, Clara Elizabeth Walcott. “She was a strong woman,” said Harcourt. “When the village council was elected at that time, only men were allowed to vote, but she demanded that her name be the first name on the title for the village despite the fact that she wasn’t allowed to vote and her name was the first.”

Know your history
Harcourt is asking the young people to educate themselves, value the contributions of the people who came before them and get to know and understand the history of the village, and it is only then that they will learn to appreciate where they came from.

According to him, young people have many problems, but the elders should also allow them to be themselves, guide them and advise them to be better individuals in their communities.

Beterverwagting was also the first village on the East Coast to have been drained by the first “steamed drainage pump” in the entire colony. It was also the first village to have its drainage canal run from north to south. The pump was based along Agriculture Road in the village of Mon Repos.

The village of Beterverwagting is very diverse in its ethnicity and the village has produced politicians, doctors, lawyers, policemen and policewomen, teachers, nurses, businessmen and businesswomen, farmers, construction workers and a number of other professions for its people.

Like its people, the community is home to many important structures as well, including educational and health facilities, a post office, places of worship and small and large corporations such as the head office of Ansa Mcal, Gafoors, a police station and the Emancipation Monument, among other notable structures.