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- PHOTO CAPTION: 24 November 1949 - the historic march [photo
courtesy of GIS/Dept of
- Education & Culture]
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- 1949-1999: A Golden Anniversary
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- This week we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the March of November
24th, 1949 " a veritable turning point in our history and a day that
will be remembered for many centuries. On that historic day a petition
was presented to Commissioner J.A.C. Cruickshank. The document was signed
by hundreds of British Virgin Islanders and was delivered by the leaders
of a huge protest march: Theodolph Halborn Faulkner, Isaac Glanville Fonseca,
and Carlton L. deCastro. The 1,500 marchers asked for the removal of the
Commissioner, closer association
- with the United States Virgin Islands, freedom and democracy. The following
year the British Virgin Islands were given a Constitution and a Legislative
Council. The March was the culmination of efforts initiated in 1938 by
a group called the Civic League. Unfortunately World War II shattered any
hope of progress. Things did not remain completely dormant even during
those years and in the postwar years, and eventually the winds of change
touched the BVI. In retrospect this was not surprising, but the way change
came about was really extraordinary.
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- Theodolph Faulkner, a fisherman from Anegada, became vocal about the
neglect in which the islands were kept. No medical doctor had visited Anegada
for several months and his wife, Ismay, needed serious medical attention.
In the end he was forced to charter a seaplane to bring his sick wife to
the Cottage Hospital in Tortola. While in Road Town, Faulkner held public
meetings in the Old Market Square and used this forum to air the grievances
of the people who had reported to him several instances of injustice. In
due course, I.G. Fonseca and
- Carlton deCastro joined him on the platform and the crowd got bigger
every night. The stage was set for a massive demonstration that changed
the course of our history. Today we remember and honour our heroes - those
who fearlessly aired the frustrations, the suffering and the injustices
perpetrated on a people who had been emancipated in 1834 only to survive
the downward spiral of economic depression and neglect. Today those heroes
are a true inspiration and a reminder that where there is a will there
is a way, and more importantly - a reminder of what unity can achieve.
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