The Development of the City Council and some Events, Port-of-Spain, 1840s-1900s

Port-of-Spain in the latter half of the 19th century, from about the 1840s to the 1900s, was becoming a prosperous town. 

Map of 1837

The business sector was located along the northern and southern sides of Marine Square (today Independence Square) from the foot of Picadilly Street in the east to the St. Vincent Street wharf in the west, with lower Frederick Street partially occupied with retail establishments. 

The colony’s economy was based on agriculture, and its principal exports were cocoa and sugar. There were the expected vicissitudes in the prices of these but, notwithstanding, the export-import businesses thrived. There were dozens of well-established merchant houses. There was the Colonial Bank (ancestor of today’s Republic Bank) ten or twelve steamship agencies, several insurance companies and  many well-appointed hotels. Interestingly, the first school of Port-of-Spain was the Mico Institution. It was one of the 300 “normal” schools established in the Caribbean during the post-Emancipation era. Beginning in 1835 elementary schools were established in the British Colonies in the West Indies, by the Lady Mico Charity. The building is still in existence, on the right hand side of Pembroke Street, just up from Knox Street. The first secondary school was founded in Port-of-Spain in 1836 by the Little Sisters of the Order of St. Joseph de Cluny, St Joseph’s Convent, a school for girls.

The first inland Postal Service came into being in 1851. The Meat Market was on Charlotte St. and the Central Market just behind it on George Street.

The tram on Marine Square crossing Henry Street.

THE TOWN COUNCIL 

1840-1853

The town had not merely grown since the disastrous fire of 1808, but had actually flourished, as the foundation for its development and management had been put into place in 1840 with an Ordinance for ‘regulating the powers and constitution, and settling the mode of election of the members of the Corporate Body called the ‘Illustrious Cabildo’ of the town of Port-of-Spain, and changing the name thereof to that of the ‘Town Council of Port-of-Spain’. On the 6th June, 1840, the new Council met for the first time.

Modernity was in the air when the first cargo of ice arrived on Boxing Day 1844, and large crowds went to see ice for the first time being delivered to the Ice House on Marine Square. 

Port-of-Spain’s growth also created the opening up of new residential neighbourhoods such as New Town. New homes, large and small, were built on streets named in the memory of past governors Woodford and Picton, and of colonial administrators Charles Warner, Attorney General, and Edward Marli. 

The Port of Port-of-Spain handled some 28,001 hogsheads, 3,157 tierces and 7,65 barrels of sugar amoun ting to 67,542,660 lbs; 10,709 puncheons, of 110 gallons each, and 121 tierces of molasses; 5,008,920 lbs of cocoa; 74,416 lbs of coffee; and also small quantities of cotton and indigo. The total value of these exports was £390,009. Imports amounted to £548,471, while the revenue of the colony was £95,733 and the expenditure £106,316. This was one of our earliest recorded budget deficits. (A tierce is an old measure of capacity equivalent to one third of a pipe, or 42 wine gallons.)

Trinidad’s first trial by jury took place in December of 1844. It was a matter of receiving goods under false pretences–an offence hitherto not punishable under Spanish Law. The jury, after retiring for a few minutes, returned an unanimous verdict of guilty and the guilty party received a sentence of twelve months. 

1845 saw the Cocorite Leper Asylum opened and a petition praying for direct representation of the people in the Legislature was addressed to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Also in that year the first East Indians arrived on the Fatel Rozak. Later that year an earthquake caused the bells of Trinity Church to ring at 12.40 p.m. It was the 6th of September.

On the 1st of October, 1849, the Port-of-Spain Gazette reported that “a considerable crowd composing people of the lowest order assembled in front of the Government Buildings” (today the Red House). They were protesting a clause in the gaol regulations which, among other things, provided that debtors should have their hair cropped close, and wear a prison dress, and assist in gaol work. It soon became apparent that the police could not control the increasingly hostile crowd. The Riot Act was read, the order to fire was given, four of the five muskets were discharged, and four persons fell wounded, two of whom later died. Governor Lord Harris called in the 88th Regiment and a company of the 2nd West India Regiment. With the aid of some six hundred special constables and a volunteer horse patrol of seventy strong, they were soon able to restore order in the town. 

The first system of primary education in Trinidad emerged in 1851 when Lord Harris, having established the Wards system across the island, called on each Warden to open at least one school. The first Ward schools were established in districts around Port-of-Spain. 

The mid-19th century saw some dangerous health threats to the population of Port-of-Spain. In the 1850s the population of Port-of-Spain was 18,501. An outbreak of Asiatic cholera in the months of August to October 1854 affected some 4,200 people or almost 25 percent of the city’s population. The deaths from cholera were 2,112. In the space of nine weeks from the 13th of August to the 27th of October, 57 percent of the infected populace died.

The young ladies of St. Joseph’s Convent circa 1880s.

The convent admitted girls from various backgrounds 

including those from distinguished coloured families 

such as the Philip of Philipine Estate, the Romain, 

Rosseau and Dick families of the Naparimas.

St. Joseph’s Convent circa 1880s was the home 

 the d’Heureaux family of 18 Kent Street. 

THE BOROUGH COUNCIL

1853-1898

The population of the colony in 1853 was estimated at 76,500. The Town Councillors presented a petition to the Governor-in-Council (Lord Harris) praying for a new constitution based on the same principles as those embodied in the English Municipality Corporation Acts. This was granted, and by Ordinance No. 10 of 1853, which provided for the ‘’Regulation of Municipal Corporations in the Island,’’ the name ‘Town Council’ was changed into that of the ‘Borough Council of Port-of-Spain.’ 

The new Council met on 31st August, 1853, with Louis A. A. de Verteuil, M.D., as Port-of-Spain’s first Mayor (De Verteuil Street in Woodbrock is named in his honour). 

Michael Maxwell Philip returned to Trinidad on the 2nd of January 1855 to practice at the local bar, he became the first Mayor of Port-of-Spain who was not of European descent, 1867-1870. He was Solicitor-General, 1871-1888 and acted as Attorney-General in 1873 and in 1885. Maxwell Philip Street in St. Clair is named for him. 

Secondary education for boys commenced in 1859 when the  Queen’s Collegiate School was started, and in 1863 St. Mary’s Collage opened its doors.

Under the auspices of the new Borough Council a lecture on “Electricity and Magnetism”, a novel topic at that time, was delivered by Mr. Humphrey at the Town Hall.  The Race Stand on the Queen’s Park Savannah was built and the Port-of-Spain Water Works inaugurated to bring water to the town from the Maraval Reservoir. A system of sewerage for Port-of-Spain was commenced but not completed, only one district being connected with pipes. 

To deal with perennial flooding of the town during the rainy season the Wharf Extension project was commenced to counteract the heavy silting along the Port-of-Spain seashore. It was completed under the direction of Mr. Sylvester Devenish. Flooding is a problem in Port-of-Spain that somehow has never been solved! 

The fountain in Brunswick (Woodford) Square was presented to the municipality of Port-of-Spain by Gregor Turnbull in March of 1865. At its inauguration, the Creole Band performed under the auspices of Leon D. O’Connor, then Mayor of Port-of-Spain. A street in Woodbrock is named for him. The 1880s saw the City’s carnival celebrations turn riotous resulting in almost all the oil lit street lanterns being broken.

Mr. and Mrs Guppy, of Queen’s Park West going out for a drive. 

Robert Lechmere Guppy sent specimens of this local species

 from Trinidad to the Natural History Museum in London, 

where the fish were named in his honour. 

The little fishes are called “millions” in Trinidad,

and made us famous in the world along with 

Angostura Bitters and the Pitch Lake.

THE TOWN COMMISSIONERS

1899–1907   

On 18th January, 1899 as the outcome of a long controversy between the Council and the Government, Ordinance No. 1 of 1899 was passed in London abolishing the Borough Council of Port-of-Spain, and substituting it with a new corporation under the name of the ‘’Town Commissioners,” the four members of which were all nominated by the governor, Sir Hubert Jerningham, K.C.M.G. Jerningham Avenue is named in his honour. 

The railway, which first made its appearance in 1846, was in 1876 extended to include Arima, followed by a tram service in Port-of-Spain that made its appearance in 1883. Modernity was in the air, or should I say in the ear as the first telephone rang in the city in 1885.

The original Town Hall building on Knox Street 

was once the home of Don Ramon Garcia LL.B., died 1869, 

father of the Hon. George Garcia, Solicitor-General, Attorney-General, 

Puisne Judge & acting Chief Justice (served from 1849-1874) &

 grandfather of Hon. George Lewis Garcia, Solicitor General, 

Attorney-General (served from 1888-1897). 

It once contained a private chapel.

THE TOWN BOARD

1907–1914

On 1st of May, 1907, the then three local authorities of Port-of-Spain, viz: The Town Commissioners, the Water Authority and the Sewerage Board, were by the Port-of-Spain Town Board Ordinance 1907, merged into one body known as “The Port-of-Spain Town Board,” also a wholly nominated Corporation. At an Extraordinary Meeting of the Legislature held on 22nd August, 1913, the governor, Sir George Le Hunte laid on the table a dispatch, No. 286 of 29th July 1913, from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, approving of the resolution passed by the Legislature on 25th June previously to the effect that the nominated system be gradually superseded by some measure of election of members by the rate-payers; and the governor then announced the appointment by him of a committee of sixteen members to consider the details of the proposed change in the construction of the Town Board.

CONSTITUTION OF THE CITY

By the Port-of-Spain Corporation Ordinance, No. 24 of 1914, (now Chap. 224 of the Revised Edition of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago), Port-of-Spain is constituted a Municipal “City,” and its inhabitants are declared to be a body corporate under the title of The Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Port-of-Spain.”

This group, comprising members of the City Council in the 1930s, 
include at least six ex-mayors of Port-of-Spain: 
Enrique Prada (front row in dark suit. On his left is Audrey Jeffers), 
Garnet McCarthy (front row, third from right, white suit), 
Gaston Johnson (front row, second from right), 
George Cabral (second row, second from left), 
T.P. Achong (second row, third from left), 
Captain Andrew Cipriani (second row, extreme right), 
Victor Gormandy (tall man far right). 
Among others shown here are: 
A.P.T. Ambard, Charles Lastique, Murchison Rigsby, 
Leo Pujadas, H.A. de Freitas, and L.B. Thomas.

The Water Riots of 1903

“De brave, de brave 

De brave, de brave 

Many were sent to eternity 

In the riots of 1903.”   

(Fijornel)

A large crowd gathers outside the Red House in Port of Spain in protest to the proposed bill.
Photograph—Mr. & Mrs. Peter Stone. (Book of Trinidad)

The southern wing of the Red House prior to the Water Riots. Photograph—Mrs. Hélène Farfan. (Book of Trinidad)

THE DAY OF THE RIOT 

The adjourned meeting of the Legislative Council was held at noon on Monday, 23rd March, 1903, His Excellency the Governor Sir Alfred C. Maloney, K.C.M.G., presiding… Admission to  the Council Chamber was from an early hour refused the general public, strong guards of police, armed with sticks being posted at all entrances. In addition to the usually provided accommodation, 150 chairs had been hired and ranged all round the room. As noon approached, some 50 to 60 of these began to be occupied, the large proportion being government officers. In the meantime an immense crowd of the general public filled Brunswick  Square and Abercromby Street, as well as the grounds to the west and along St. Vincent Street and, headed by the Committee of the Ratepayers Association, they proceeded to the main entrance to the building and demanded admission. The doors which had been closed against them were all guarded by strong bodies of police. Lieut-Col. Blake refused to allow anyone to pass.

A ticket to the public gallery of the Legislative Council  (Book of Trinidad)

MASS MEETING AT BRUNSWICK SQUARE  

In the same Friday morning there appeared in the Gazette an official notice in the following terms, with regard to the admission of the public to the Council Chamber on the following Monday:—
‘Public notice is given that, on account of the limited accommodation in the Council Chamber, and the great inconvenience caused when the members of the public are anxious to attend the debates, admission to those parts of the Chamber not appropriated to the use of the members will in future be given by tickets only, in accordance with the practice of the Imperial Parliament…
Tickets will be issued… in the order of application, at the office of the Clerk to the Legislative Council…
Special arrangements will be made for the Press.
(Sgd.) Harry L. Knaggs,
for the Clerk of the Legislative Council.

On the next day, Saturday, 21st March, a mass meeting was convened by the Ratepayers’ Association in Brunswick Square, for the purpose of discussing this ‘ticket regulation,’ which was declared on high legal authority to be illegal…
(22nd March, 1903)

The Red House in flames. Photograph—O.J. Mavrogordato. (Book of Trinidad)

The advanced members of the Association then asked for permission to enter the Council Chamber and were met by Col. Blake, standing one pace in front of the constables, who informed them that he was instructed by the Governor to oppose any attempt to forcibly enter the building. Admission would be, as had been announced, by ticket only. He was backed by an armed squad of police and would oppose force by force; and the degree of violence of the one would be measured by that of the other… The challenge was accepted by one or two members who, partly pressed forward by the surging but orderly crowd, partly advancing with hands and arms  raised high above their heads to show that no violence was intended, came into contact with the Colonel and were forced back… Mr. Lazare then from the top of the steps informed the crowd what had taken place, and begged them to let their protest take a quiet and peaceable form most likely to recommend itself to the English people whom they might depend upon to see that they got ample justice for, the wrongs and outrages that were being heaped upon them… He begged them to refrain from any further acts and merely remain about the grounds of the building while the debate proceeded. The crowd then drew off to the square, where speeches were delivered urging that strict order be observed… In the meantime, the rising temper of the people was not lessened by the discovery that orders had actually been issued to the fire brigade to turn three firehoses upon them should they assemble outside the Council Chamber. Shortly after, the order was given to Lieut. Whiteman to turn on the hose but this he refused to do, saying he was appointed to put out fires, not to drench crowds, and   presently the cheering, the singing of the national anthem, and the lessening of the crowd gave a clear demonstration of the resolution of the public protest. Shortly before noon, all the stores and business places in the town closed as a further mark of protest against the action of the Legislative Council. Immediately after 12, the Governor, accompanied by his private secretary, drove down to Government House, closely guarded by police and, protected by a similar guard, proceeded to his office where there had been stationed another 35 armed constables. Accompanied by the Colonial Secretary, with Captain Dutton, A.D.C., His Excellency entered the Council Chamber and took his seat; at the same moment ten more armed constables entered the room and took up positions with the rest. Amidst every mark of public demonstration against the proceedings and a momentarily growing scene of popular excitement, the Legislature came to order, and the Clerk rose to read the minutes of the proceedings of the previous Monday’s meeting.

The Hon. Sir Henry Alcazar, the leading coloured Barrister and Legislator of the period.
Photograph —Mrs. Hélène Farfan. (Book of Trinidad)

Lt. Emmanuel Lazare

MR. ALCAZAR PROTESTS 

As the Clerk began to read, Mr. Alcazar rose to a point of order…as to whether it was in pursuance of any standing orders of the Legislative Council, requiring all meetings of the Council to be in public that this day’s meeting was held. He referred to the ticket regulation and, without at present going into the question as to whether it was not, as many persons considered ultra vires for the president to make such a regulation, he stood on the point that standing order 4 required all meetings to be held in public and he understood that a number of members of the public had been excluded today from this meeting.
Some discussion arose and the colonial secretary, having inquired what exactly was before the house, Mr. Alcazar formally moved the adjournment of the house.
Mr. Goodwill seconded.
The motion was lost by a vote of 14 against 6, Messrs Fenwick, R.S. Aucher Warner, Marryat and McLelland voting with the officials.
Mr. Alcazar:—I rose to move the adjournment as a protest and to discuss a public grievance, and upon such a motion it was most inappropriate and improper that the officials should have voted. I now give notice of protest against the vote; I beg to notify Your Excellency that I leave this Council and decline to take any further part in its proceedings.
Mr. Alcazar then left the Chamber.
Messrs. Goodwill, Gordon and Leotaud also gave notice of protest against the vote.
His Excellency then read his formal ruling on the question of order as to the ‘ticket regulation,’ that he maintained his right to act as he had done.
Mr. Gordon then rose and said that after what had fallen from His Excellency, he felt it incumbent upon him, with great respect, to follow the course taken by Mr. Alcazar. He could not consent to remain at a Council whose standing orders and regulations could be varied at the irresponsible whim of the Governor.
Mr. Gordon then left the Chamber.
After a pause,  the order of the day was proceeded with the Clerk reading the minutes of the previous Monday’s meeting.

The Southern Wing gutted by fire. This photograph was taken by Mr. H. Stone, Acting Registrar, who, with the help of the firemen, saved the records in the Registrar General’s Office. Photograph—Mr. & Mrs. Peter Stone. (Book of Trinidad)

The debate on the second reading of the waterworks ordinance was resumed… His Excellency rose and proceeded to read a lengthy address to the Council on the history of the bill. During the reading, the crowds around the building outside had been growing more and more noisy and turbulent —the singing of the national anthem, Rule Britannia, the beating of drums, the blowing of whistles and the cries of women carrying flags, were on the increase. Almost all the windows in the lower storey had been broken and, after a while, an accident occurred which acted like a spark upon a train of powder. And in a moment a most regrettable riot had broken out. For some offence, a woman on the Red House lawn was arrested by a constable, who was immediately struck by a couple of stones flung by some small boys. Thereupon the constable released the woman and was at once attacked by her, too. Members of the crowd closed on her and dragged her and the boys away; but the evil was done. In a moment, stone-throwing was widely taken up by the crowd. Stones were pelted in a terrific shower into the Council Chamber through the glass doors and windows. People and police alike fled from the eastern galleries into the Chamber, and the Council came to a standstill. So hot became the shelling that in a few minutes, the whole of the unofficials had to rise and seek shelter, as did the reporting staff also, behind pillars, bookcases, etc. Presently the crowd to the west of the building got wind of the proceedings on the east and at once, without question, started to pelt stories too. Then the entire Council rose and moved for shelter to the inner galleries around the fountain courtyard in the interior of the building. For fully ten minutes was the fusillade kept up, several people in the building being hit. After a while the crowd broke in through the east and west iron gates into the inner courtyard, overpowering and driving back the squads of constables who had been hastily summoned to oppose them, and the whole crowd proceeded to stone the Council and the other fugitives from the Council Chamber who crowded the inner balconies. A suggestion was made to His Excellency to stand forward and state to the crowd that he withdrew the ordinance; but this he declined to do. The Governor, his A.D.C., Major Collens, the Press representatives and others then took shelter in the small vacant office behind the Education Department on the upper floor, the whole party seeking what shelter they could behind presses and bookcases with which they barricaded the doors from the showers of stones and broken glass which assailed the room. It was the Director of Public Works and Mr. Fenwick who were the two members of Council for whom, judging by the occasional cries heard, the most apprehension was to be felt. What became of the latter is not clear but Mr. Wrightson was, with much difficulty, smuggled out of the room by a strong guard of police, disguising himself in a police tunic and helmet. In a similar way was the Attorney-General gotten safely over, and both remained at the police barracks. For the Governor, however, and those with him, for a good while there seemed no way of escape, it being impossible to venture out of the room. Presently, the news came —and was immediately after confirmed by the penetration of the pungent smell of smoke into the room—that the Red House had been fired. The discovery was made from the brigade station opposite that fire was set in the Registrar-General’s Office (under which the Governor and party were imprisoned), the Survey Office and the Hall of Justice simultaneously. Fanned by a gentle breeze, the flames spread so rapidly that in a few moments it was decided by the whole part, including the Governor, to risk the blows from the showers of stones which were still flying, rather than risk the fire. The door into the Council Chamber was opened and the rush of dense black smoke into the room where the party was imprisoned at once justified the wisdom of the decision to move on. At the same moment, a sound of firing from the police immediately followed the reading of the riot act by Mr. A.S. Bowen, in the presence of Colonel Brake, caused a sudden cessation of the stone-throwing. The whole party then ran down the Colonial Secretary’s main staircase into the crowded streets, and the Governor was rushed under a strong police guard right across into the police barracks and kept there till he could be sent privately up Edward Street to St. Ann’s; while Mr. Wrightson, also under a strong police guard and surrounded by a guard of armed   sailors who had been fetched from the warship in the harbour, was rushed to the wharf and sent off in a small boat and kept on board H.M.S. Pallas… Although the riot was checked by the first volley fired and the crowd at once began to disperse, it was noticed that volley after volley was fired, and that, too, quite indiscriminately in all directions… The killed were afterwards found to have numbered 16, while 42 at least were wounded, some of them at quite a distance from the scene of the riot.
(25th March, 1903).

ARRIVAL OF THE REGULARS 

A couple of men of the Lancashire Fusiliers, sent for by the Governor, from Barbados, arrived on Wednesday evening by the three-masted schooner Sunbeam, having been towed up from the Bocas by the Iere and Paria. An immense crowd gathered to witness the landing and was at first driven back by the police:—
But on the advice of Supt. Sergt. Peake and a naval guard of 12 men from H.M.S. Pallas the crowd was allowed to reform, and in a most peaceful and orderly manner watched the landing, easily controlled by the sailors.
(27th March, 1903).

ARRIVAL OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION 

The Special Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of State to inquire into the recent riots in Port of Spain, arrived on the H.M.S. Trent on Tuesday morning the 28th April, 1903… accompanied by Mr. H.M. Vernon as Secretary, and Mr. W. Walpole, shorthand writer…The first sitting was held on Wednesday the 29th at the Princes Building, which had been specially fitted up for the purpose. The grounds around the building and to the north on the Queen’s Park Savannah presented a very pretty, if unusual, scene of military activity. A double row of white conical tents were ranged right across marking the encampment of the Lancashire Fusiliers who, to the number of 21, exclusive of another 210, in barracks at St. James, came over from Barbados. In the centre was mounted one maxim gun. The appearances of counsel were:—
For the Government: The Hon’ble Vincent Brown (Attorney-General), Mr. R.S. Aucher Warner, Mr. L. A. Wharton.
For the Ratepayers Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and the United Committee, and relatives of the killed:—The Hon’ble H.A. Alcazar, Messrs E. Scipio Pollard, E.A. Robinson and C.J. McLeod.

THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION 

The report of the Commission was dated 2nd July, and was at once sent out by the Colonial Office; it was a lengthy document, and was published in extenso in the Gazette. Its findings were:—
1. That the riot is to be attributed to public opposition to the proposed waterworks ordinance, stimulated by falsehoods and incitements to violence of certain speakers and the Mirror newspaper.
2. That there was excessive and unnecessary firing by some individual members of the police force.
3. That two, if not three, persons were brutally bayonetted and killed by the police without any justification whatever.
4. That the Executive Government failed to take adequate measures to correct misrepresentations about the draft ordinance.
5. That there is a regrettable and serious division between a large and influential portion of the community of Port of Spain and the Executive Government regarding public affairs.
6. That there has been most deplorable delay in prosecuting the rioters… and the taking of steps to enable the police who committed outrages to be also prosecuted; but most significantly, they also recommended the reference of the draft ordinance to a select committee.
(July 1903)

Edgar Agostini, K.C.

The Hon. Mr. Louis Wharton, K.C.

FIRST TRIAL OF RIOTERS 

Punctually at half-past ten yesterday morning, the special sessions of the Supreme Criminal Court, ordered by the Governor to be held for the trial of 22 persons indicted for riot on the 23rd March last, were opened by His Honour Mr. Justice Routledge in Greyfriars Hall, Frederick Street. In addition to the usual strong guard of police sent down to every sitting of the sessions, a feature which excited considerable remark was the presence of 26 rank and file of the Lancashire Fusiliers, under rifles and fixed bayonets, a somewhat unusual show of military ferocity in the precincts of Greyfriars Hall…
The Hon’ble V. Brown, with the Hon’ble L.E. Agostini and Mr. L.A. Wharton, prosecuted, instructed by Mr. A.D. O’Connor and Messrs E. Scipio Pollard and G. Johnson, instructed by Messrs. E. Maresse-Smith and J.A. Lassalle, appeared for the defence…
The trial lasted for a week, and it was on the afternoon of the 30th July that the jury retired at 4.30 after a most emphatic charge by the judge. Ten minutes afterward they returned into court. In the meantime, the square opposite the Hall, and the length of the pavement on either side of the street as well as Knox Street had filled with a dense crowd, composed of all classes of the community… A strong guard of police appeared and took up positions at various points of the Hall while a detachment of Fusiliers with loaded rifles and fixed bayonets were posted about the yard and outside the judges chambers. The jury again retired after further directions… Close upon three hours passed and no verdict had been returned. The closely-packed Court House, which was fortunately lit by electricity, grew more and more filled and all waited anxiously for what seemed likely to be an abortive verdict. At 7.15, the Acting Chief Justice returned into Court and the jury came back. After the usual questions, nine prisoners were unanimously declared not guilty, one prisoner was found not guilty by 7 to 2, and one not guilty by 8 to 1; the jury was not unanimous as to any one prisoners guilt. By a majority of 8 to 1 they convicted another; as regards the other three, they were divided 6 to 3. The judge refused to accept the verdicts, to the fact that after three hours, a majority verdict either way could be taken. The judge held he was only empowered, not compelled, to do so. The jury retired, His Honour intimating that he would take the verdicts or discharge the jury at 9 p.m. He then formally discharged those who had been acquitted, and as each reached the street he or she was received with round after round of cheering. Punctually at 9 p.m. the judge returned to Court and, to the surprise of all, the jury returned a verdict in two more cases, one guilty by 7 to 2 and one not guilty by 7 to 2. In the remaining case that of Lolotte Borde, they remained 6 to 3… The following sentences were passed:—
Joseph James and Lilla Assing, 5 years each,
Abraham James, 4 years,
Octave Romain and Johnnie Blades, 5 years each.
(21st -30th July 1903)

The arrival of the troops. Photograph—Mrs. Hélène Farfan. (Book of Trinidad)

THE TRIAL OF THE FOUR 

It was not until the December sessions that the trial of Messrs. J.C. Maresse-Smith, H.N. Hall, E.M. Lazare and R.R. Mole, on the charge of inciting to riot, was held. Mr. Vincent Brown, with Messrs. Edgar Agostini and L.A. Wharton prosecuted, for the Crown:—Mr. Alcazar and Mr. A.E. Hendrickson, instructed by Mr. H.M. Iles, defended Maresse-Smith; Mr. E. Scipio Pollard, instructed by Mr.  L.J.A. Lassalle, defended Hall; and Messrs. A.E. Robinson and W. Blanche-Wilson, instructed by Mr. T.M. Kelshall, defended Lazare.
The instructions of the Secretary of State to the prosecution of Mr. Mole were not given effect to, it was understood on the strong advice of the local law officers. The trial ended on the 18th December in a unanimous verdict of acquittal for all three accused.
(19th December, 1903).

The H.M.S. Pallas of the South Atlantic squadron brought the British troops to Trinidad.
Photograph—G. Duruty. (Book of Trinidad)

THE NEW WATER AND SEWERAGE BOARD 

One of the earliest victories of the riot was the transfer of the management of the water-works and sewerage system to a Board of mixed official and unofficial personnel; and the Gazette of the 30th September, 1904, records the holding of the first meeting of the new authority, composed as follows:—
Hon. R.G. Bushe (Auditor-General) Chairman
Hon. W. Wrightson (Director of Public Works)
Hon. D. Slyne (Receiver-General)
Dr. C.F. Knox (Acting Surgeon-General)
Dr. G.H. Masson
Mr. Alfred G. Siegert
Mr. L.A. Wharton
Mr. B.H. Stephens
Mr. H.Y. Vieira
with Mr. J.A. Lamy, barrister-at-law (Town Clerk) as Secretary. (30th Sept. 1904).

The City of Port-of-Spain (Franklin Year Book 1939)

 1783–1840

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THE BOARD OF CABILDO.    Before the Island of Trinidad became a British possession, it previously belonged to the Crown of Spain, and its chief town was St. Joseph – 6 miles from Port-of-Spain. This town was managed by a Board called ''The Illustrious Board of Cabildo.'' In the year 1783 this body removed its meeting place to Port-of-Spain, which by that time had been officially recognised as the Chief Town. On the Capitulation of the Island, in the year 1797, the management of the Town remained vested in this Corporation. In 1813, its minutes were ordered to be kept both in the Spanish and English languages instead of in the former tongue only as hitherto. By December of the same year, however, only the English language was used.

1840–1853

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THE TOWN COUNCIL.    In the year 1840 an Ordinance was passed for ''regulating the powers and constitution, and settling the mode of election of the members of the Corporate Body called the 'Illustrious Cabildo' of the town of Port-of-Spain, and chang-ing the name thereof to that of the 'Town Council of Port-of-Spain'.'' On the 6th June, 1840, the new Council met for the first time under the Presidency of Sir Henry George MacLeod. The Council was composed of the Governor, who was President, and twelve other members.

1853–1898

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THE BOROUGH COUNCIL.    In the year 1853 the Town Councillors presented a petition to the Governor-in-Council (Lord Harris) praying for a new constitution based on the same principles as those embodied in the English Municipality Corporation Acts. This was granted, and by Ordinance No. 10 of 1853 which provided for the ''Regulation of Municipal Corporations in the Island,'' the name 'Town Council' was changed into that of the ''Borough Council of Port-of-Spain.'' The new Council met on 31st August, 1853, with Louis A. A. de Verteuil, M.D., as Mayor. The Council was now composed of twelve members, one of whom was Mayor.

1899–1907

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THE TOWN COMMISSIONERS.    On the 18th January, 1899 as the outcome of a long controversy between the Council and the Government, an Ordinance No. 1 of 1899 was passed by direction of the Secretary of State, the Rt. lIon. Joseph Chamberlain, abolishing the Borough Council of Port-of-Spain, and substituting for it a new corporation under the name of the ''Town Commissioners," the four members of which were all nominated by the Governor, 'Sir Hubert E. II. Jerningham, K.C.M.G. The first Chief Commisioner so nominated by His Excellency the Governor was Hon. S. W. Knaggs who received for his services an honorarium of £300; while each of the other Commissioners received £100 per annum.

The Water and Sewerage Authority. In 1904 the Water Works and Sewerage Works, which up to then had been under Government administration, were placed under the management of a Board known as the ''Port-of-Spain Water Authority and the Board of Commissioners of Sewerage.'' This dual Committee heldits first meeting on 29th September, 1904 under the Chairmanship of the Hon. R. Gervase Bushe. The personnel of the Board included five ratepayers appointed by the Governor.

1907–1914

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THE TOWN BOARD.    On the 1st of May, 1907, the then three local authorities of Port-of-Spain, viz: The Town Commissioners, the Water Authority and the Sewerage Board, were by ''the Port- of-Spain Town Board Ordinance,'' 1907, merged into one body known as "The Port-of-Spain Town Board," also a wholly nominated Corporation. This Board comprised a membership of eleven – the Chairman, the Hon. Adam Smith, receiving as a remuneration for his services the sum of £300 per annum.

    At an Extraordinary Meeting of the Legislature held on the 22nd August, 1913, the Governor, Sir George Le Hunte G.C.M.G. laid on the table a despatch, No. 286 of the 29th July 1913, from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, approving of the resolution passed by the Legislature on the 25th June previously to the effect that the nominated system be gradually superceded by some measure of election of members by the rate-payers ; and the Governor then announced the appointment by him of a committee of sixteen members to consider the details of the proposed change in the construction of the Town Board.

    The Ordinance introduced as a consequence was passed on the 29th May the same year, coming into force on the 26th June 1914.

CONSTITUTION OF THE CITY

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    By the Port-of-Spain Corporation Ordinance, No. 24 of 1914, (now Chap. 224 of the Revised Edition of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago), Port-of-Spain is constituted a Municipal "City," and its inhabitants are declared to be a body corporate under the title of ''The Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Port-of-Spain." The city is divided into five Wards, known respectively as the Northern, Southern, North-eastern, South-eastern and the Western Wards. Three Councillors are returned by each Ward and the term of office of a Councillor is three years. The elections of November, 1917, made the City Council entirely elected it having been previously constituted of partly elected and partly nominated members, the nominated members going out of office gradually each year and being replaced by elected ones. From the year 1919, one Councillor in each Ward goes out of office every year, the retiring member being always the one who has served longest without re-election. In addition to the fifteen elected Councillors, there are five Aldermen elected directly by the Council, either from among the Councillors or from persons outside the Council who are qualified to be Councillors. The term of office of the Aldermen is three years, after which they all go out of office together. The Mayor is elected annually by the Council from among the Aldermen or Councillors ; he is, by virtue of his office a Justice of the Peace for the City, and continues so during the year next after his year of office, unless disqualified ; and he may not serve the office of Mayor for more than three successive years. Provision is made in the Ordinance for the grant to him of an honorarium of £500 a year, and a sum not exceeding £100 a year for the reasonable travelling expenses incidental to the office of Mayor.

    The Councillors are elected by the Burgesses of the City under an Elections Ordinance based on the provisions of the English Ballot Act, and the rules made thereunder for Municipal and Parliamentary elections. To be entitled to vote at elections of Councillors a person must be enrolled as a burgess in the annually prepared burgess roll of the city ; and in order to be enrolled he must be of full age, a British subject by birth or naturalization, or (if a foreigner) he must have been resident in the colony for at least five years ; and in addition he must be either the occupying owner of a house or business place in the city assessed at an annual rental of at least £10 or the tenant of such house or business place for which he has paid one year's rent at least to the amount of £12  10s. ; provision is also made for lodger burgesses paying at least £62  10s. a year for board and lodging combined. Provided that the conditions of actual occupation of the qualifying premises are complied with, it is not essential that a burgess shall reside in the city, residence within a 10 mile radius being sufficient.

    To be qualified as Councillors, persons must be not only actually enrolled in the burgess roll of the city, but must be entitled to be so enrolled ; they must be British subjects by birth or naturalization ; and must be either occupying owners of a house assessed at the annual rental of not less than £50 or tenants of a house assessed at not less than £62  10s. ; or they must, in lieu of the occupation qualification, be in receipt of an income of at least £312  10s. per annum. Inability to speak English, being in Holy Orders, an undischarged bankrupt, having been convicted of treason, felony or any offence involving dishonesty, within the previous ten years, constitute disqualifications for Councillorship. So also do the existence of certain specified interests of a financial character in contracts with the Corporation.

    The Annual Elections take place on the 3rd November every year, and the election of the Mayor on the 15th and (when necessary) of the Aldermen, on the 9th November.

    The City covers an area of roughly about three and three-quarters square miles ; and includes about 350 streets and lanes, of a total length of some seventy-two odd miles. The boundaries are defined by the Port-of-Spain Corporation Ordinance Cap. 224.

    The population of the City as shewn by 1931 Census is 70,334 souls ; but if the waterworks and sewerage districts are included, stretching as far as Maraval, and St. James on the north-west and St. Ann's and Cascade on the north-east, this estimate would be greatly increased. There are about 10,700 premises separately assessed to house rate in the city proper; and the Burgess Roll for the year 1937 comprises a total of 7,881 names. The War Rate District which extends beyond the city includes about 11,000 premises.

WOODBROOK ESTATE

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    On the 6th November, 1899 the Woodbrook Estate which had formerly been a flourishing sugar estate on the outskirts of the town, comprising 367 1/2 acres were purchased by the Messrs. Siegert & Sons from the Liquidator of the firm of Messrs. W. F. Burnley & Co. of Glasgow for the sum of £50,000. At that time the cultivation of sugar had long been given up, and about 70 acres of the Estate had been already occupied by tenantry who held about 588 lots. About the year 1905 the condition of the streets, which had long been the subject of dispute between the Government, the landlords, and the tenants, was at last settled on the following terms, viz. : That the streets should be improved and laid out, the cost being borne as follows : Government 1/2, Town Commissioners and owners 1/4 each. On the completion of the work which gave general satisfaction to the tenants, the rents in that part of the tenantry were raised by the Messrs. Siegert. About this time the area between Carlos and French Streets was also laid out into lots, and the section between Roberts Street and Ariapita Avenue, where the streets were made, had been nearly all built upon.

    On the 1st November, 1911, the estate again changed hands, the purchasers being the Port-of-Spain Town Board, for the sum of £85,000. The Board at once set about constructing streets where required and were laid out by the previous owners, the cost of which along with some minor improvements amounted to $32,138.21. On the completion of this work the rent along these streets was raised from $1.50 to $2.00 per month. The tenantry at present comprises over 1,430 lots, which are either held under monthly tenancies, or under long leases of 40 years, the whole producing a rent roll averaging over $44,000 a year.

A Ride on the Bus

A hundred or more people rushed to get the bus. It is supposed to carry 28 and no more according to law, but nobody on that bus seems to have much regard for the law.

The seats go to the victors in the battle of the doorway; though a couple have, as usual, cheated and scrambled through the window. Then the aisle fills up, while those seated have to keep ducking their heads lest they get decapitated by the bags and boxes being slung about as if it were an empty warehouse instead of a public conveyance full of seated passengers.

At last, there are 35 people in the bus and it is a physical impossibility for anyone else to get in without bursting the steep side of the body. Then the conductor arrives on the scene with a palet in his mouth, to announce that the bus they are in is no longer going. All out! And take the bus behind. Irate, having fought and won a battle to be robbed as easily of the fruits of victory, the passengers abuse the government, the railway, the driver, the conductor and then each other and each other's parents.

Now the scramble to get out instead of getting in takes place. While this is going on, the seats and windows get damaged and the passengers emerge to find their clothes torn. The other bus is already nearly full, so only ten out of the thirty-five get a passage to their home, thirty miles away.

At last, the bus starts. In the aisle, there is a woman who has settled herself on the floor, clucking like a hen as she does so. She gradually diverts herself of clothing as if she were home and prepared for bed; first comes off the stocking and shoe. Then she loosens her bodice and pulls her skirt up around her waist.

As she makes herself "comfortable", she naturally encroaches upon the space occupied by her tightly packed fellow passengers. When they try to assert their rights to the few inches they are sitting, lying or standing on, she rises, clucking furiously. She looks so formidable that everyone is silenced and she subdues, bristling her feathers as she does so.

She is the terror of the trip, that is, until two urchins get in and take up position on either side of her. They lean on her, press on her head and step on her outstretched nude legs. When she starts to cackle, they giggle and pay her no mind. At last, she can bear it no longer, rises with a titanic effort and throws them off, exclaiming, "Crise! You all want to stifle me!"

As the bus approaches within five miles of her destination, she starts to re-dress and make her toilet for arrival. Her stockings are pulled on and then begins the hunt between everybody's legs for the missing shoe that has got shoved around in the mêlées until it has found itself behind the tool box next to the chauffeur's seat. She makes such a noise and accuses so many people of stealing her almost heel-less shoe that everyone joins the search until it is recovered. The chauffeur, who eventually picks it up and returns it to her, gets roundly abused for his pains. But he is the only person in the bus that is her match. In fact, he surpasses her. In the city's tramcar is written: "It is forbidden for the chauffeur to talk to the passengers while the bus is in motion", for from the time the bus has left its starting place, the chauffeur has harangued the bus. Not for a moment has he let up from telling us about his private life, how he'd been to jail and how he liked it there.

At one part of his story, he was describing how he beat a fellow. To lend emphasis to the tale, he would let go the wheel and turn around to describe to the passengers with his hands how he did it. In the middle of one of his gestures, a jitney swung around a corner unexpectedly, and the chauffeur just missed having to describe to the court how it happened, with or without gesture.

Gradually, the passengers thinned out somewhat, as each village passed claimed a few, until there is actually a seat vacant. But to the amazement of the uninitiated, women waiting at the roadside are ignored when they frantically signal the bus. The chauffeur explains to his audience: "She alright, oui, let she get the next one."

The next one, as everyone knows, is four hours away. But the real explanation comes when on approaching the terminus at the other end, the chauffeur starts stopping every few hundred yards to pick up one or two men, who, from their conversation, are obviously friends. Together they sit and stand in the front of the bus, smoking away with their friend, the chauffeur, while the passengers behind look cynically at the sign right over the chauffeur's head, which warns that smoking, except on the rear seat, is strictly forbidden.

At last, the bus arrives at the last stop. The conductor, who has no further business, as the chauffeur is supposed to collect the tickets, now stands astride the doorway, making it difficult for passengers to leave. The passengers themselves have by now become so much a part of the environment created by the chauffeur and his conductor that they fight one another to get out of the bus, into the village, which is devoid of anything except for a few stray pouches slinking around the empty butcher's stall. The bus then turns around and begins another of its reluctant efforts to transport people.

The last two decades of the 20th century

Port of Spain in the last two decades of the 19th century, the 1880s, was a prosperous town. There were vicissitudes in both the principle economies, cane and sugar, notwithstanding trade. The export-import business fairly flourished with dozens of well-established merchant houses. There were ten steamship agencies and several well-appointed hotels.

The Port of Spain Gazette of January 30, 1885, carried an interesting notice placed there by a Mr. A.W. Grey. It notified the public that his telephone exchange, although well established since the “15 ultimo”, felt that it had to apologize to his subscribers who were at a distance from his exchange in the delay of installing their telephones. It fact, Adelbert Grey had been in town for a couple of years. He had come out representing the Tropical American Telephone Company. A lot of time and energy was spent putting up poles and stringing wires all over the city, much to the consternation of the many kite flyers. It was, however, with no little embarrassment that Mr. Grey, upon making a trip to the U.S.A., fell foul of the law. It would appear that he was paying his own salary from funds meant to be used in establishing the telephone service.

It took some doing, but Adelbert untangled himself, returned to Port of Spain and re-established his position. His rates were for business houses within one mile of his exchange, which was at Almond Walk (now Broadway), $ 4 per month, payable in advance. For residences of business subscribers $ 3 per month, also in advance.

Historian Michael Anthony reports that he did very well, so much so that he formed a company on the 5th March, 1885, the Trinidad Telephone Company Limited. It had eight employees and a shareholding of 335 shares. During this period, the police band was organised by Mr. Lionel Modrant Fraser, who was at the time inspector commandant. The customs house and steamer warehouse were completed in 1880. The San Fernando waterworks commenced to operate in 1883. José Bodu comments that the town received a liquid of the colour of pea soup and the odor of rotten eggs. This result was due to the Director of Public Works, neglecting the advice of Mr. Unsworth, and English expert, to obtain water from the Montserrat Hills, and supplying San Fernando from a sulfurous spring names La Coulee. The result has naturally proved disastrous. The San Fernandians preferred to stick to the rainwater tanks of their ancestors.

The cricket pavilion at the Queen’s Park Savannah was completed in 1887 to the delight of the lovers of the game. The architect was Mr. Gerold. Jose Bodu records that on the 7th November, 1883, the first aeronautic experiments made in the colony occured at Shine’s pasture during the course of the month. The performer was a member of Donovan's Circus, then visiting.

The first attempt was unsuccessful. The balloon hadn’t risen 10 feet high when the parachutist jumped out. A successful attempt wax made on the 11th, when the balloon reached a height of 500 ft. On a third occasion, on the 15th November at the Princes Building, the balloonist, on account of not receiving sufficient public patronage, elected to remain on terra firma and sent up the balloon without him. Shine’s pasture was generally in the area of where Victoria Square is now.

On November 17, just as the inhabitants of Port of Spain were quietly sitting down to their dinners about six o’clock, a rumour spread to the effect that fighting was taking place on the wharf. A vast crowd directed itself to the South Quay where it was seen that the Venezuelan steamer ‘Bolivar’ which had started a short time previously on her fortnightly voyage to the city of the same name, had to put back and had taken a berth alongside to the end of the steamboat jetty. It appeared that soon after weighing anchor, a number of Venezuelans had been found on board, unprovided with either ticket or passports. On being asked by the parser for their papers, several of them produced revolvers and commenced firing. An attempt was also made to seize the wheel of the steamer, but the wheelhouse was defended by Mr. Harry Lee, the son of the owner of the vessel, alongside the jetty.

The firing attracted attention on shore and the news was telephoned to the police station. In the meanwhile, corporal Skinner and two water policemen boarded the vessel. Fortunately, during the firing, only two men fell wounded, general Uritis and lieutenant de Freitas. One death occurred, but that was by drowning, Mr. Emira Ochoa, one of the party that had attempted to seize the vessel. He had jumped overboard and, while endeavouring to effect his escape by swimming, apparently entangled himself in the garments of which he was trying to divest himself. With the intervention of armed police and the arrival of colonial secretary Hon. Henry Fowler and the Hon. Vincent Brown, acting solicitor-general, order was restored and the perpetrators arrested.

In much the same manner that Adelbert Grey was given permission by the island’s colonial authorities to establish a telephone system in the early 1880s, A.M.R. Roblins of New York was allowed to lay down a system of tramways in the streets of the city. Any novelty created a stir. At a time when most residents could remember the period of emancipation and the emancipated slaves walked the streets together with their former masters, the idea of public transport, one of life’s little equalizers, attracted both attention and a degree of speculation. Already, the streets were becoming lined with tall poles, carrying thin wires through which the voices of the well-off traveled from home to exchange and from exchange to other homes and offices. Fashionable ladies acquired the knack of striking elegant poses while on the ... Now the sight of steel rails being laid out upon the city’s macadam or burnt earth streets attracted attention and discussion. A huge mule stable had been erected not far from the La Basse, near to the railway station, for the accommodation of the power that would pull the public transport, with standing room for some 80 animals (the stables, not the public transport).

There were town routes which commenced at the railway station on the Queen’s Wharf. In accordance with the colour they were painted, the trams were known as the Red and Blue Trams. The Red Mule Tram started from the railway and proceeded along South Quay, up St. Vincent Street, turning west along Tragarete Road and up Cipriani Boulevard, to the corner of Queen’s Park and turned around, making its way back along the same route.

The Blue Tram, on the other route, started from the railway station, went up Almond Walk, along Frederick Street, turning east at Keate Street, up Charlotte Street and Queen’s Park East as far as the café and the big silk cotton tree (which fell this year) at the corner of Belmont Circular Road to return by the same route.

The fare for each journey was 5 cents. Tickets could be purchased at six for one shilling (24 cents). In 1895, the mules went into retirement and the trams were electrified. The new trams, imported from Philadelphia, were painted red, blue and green. They had seats that could be reversed by swinging round their backs. It was forbidden to speak to the motorman, and one was warned to wait until the car stopped before getting on or off. This did not prevent the famous city personality ‘Arthur Tramcar’ from performing spectacular feats of acrobatics on, in and around tramcars. He, to the delight of both passengers and onlookers, would rush a tram, leap on to the running board, and perform several cartwheels along the board that ran the length of the car, to jump off with the flourish of an Olympic star.

A lunatic rivalry commenced between Arthur and the motormen. Arthur, taking a bet one time that he could run right through a tram as it passed the crossroads of ... Road and Norfolk Street in Belmont, waited poised on ... Road, facing east. His brand-new, white watchekongs gleamed in the sunlight. The tram, traveling sough on Norfolk, had picked up maximum speed from as far away north as Clifford Street. Arthur pounced as the tram bolted, passed and emerged triumphant on the other side of ... Road. For those of you who wondered, the word ‘watchekongs’ is derived from an advertisement that described canvas shoes as “Watch Your Corns”.

Arthur tramcar was not the only person affected by the introduction of new forms of transport. Another city character who was much taken by the new-fangled automobiles was Mahalle. Mahalle drove with great dexterity an invisible motorcar, which would be parked on a city street. Mahalle would be seen polishing it, applying the wax and working up a sweat getting the shine just right, scrubbing the tires and spitting on the chrome, shining it to an extent that he alone could admire himself in it. He would then go and bathe, in public, and put on his best clothes, Panama hat, two-tone shoes, the lot, approach his car, flick off any dust, warned the little boys not to lean or even touch his brightly shining automobile, get in, slam the invisible door, turn the key, press the starter, put it in gear, release the brake and drive away. Many stories are related about Mahalle ‘pulling up’ in front of an orange vendor, buying six navel oranges, paying for them, tossing them into the invisible backseat and ‘driving off’.

Mahalle used to pick up his friend Spit-in-the-sea, another Port of Spain personality, who would walk, every day, from upper Duke Street to Cocorite to spit in the sea. Spit-in-the-sea would get in behind Mahalle’s invisible car, slam the door, make himself comfortable after rolling down the invisible window, and off they would go, busily walking one behind the other, one driving, the other quite relaxed, looking out at the passing scenery all the way to Cocorite for his fare to spit in the sea.

Mahalle had a sister, who sewed on an invisible sewing machine, and a brother who picked invisible cocoa. In those days, the town was peopled by greasy-pole climbers, sharpening knives and scissors artisans, ice salesmen and pot and pan solderers. Cartermen muscled their way through the donkey cart traffic jams and almost naked Indians carried enormous loads upon their heads, their lean and scrawny bodies seemingly on the point of snapping in two. There were no washing machines, and washer women washed and put out mountains of laundry to bleach on huge piles of stones. They collected them from the better-off and had to starch and iron them with dozens of irons heated on coal pots. In those days, everybody wore hats, men, women, boys and girls, rich and poor, hats were in until well after the second world war. The same with bicycles - hundreds of them flooded into the city everyday to line the pavements (unlocked) in wait of their owners.

Electricity was introduced in 1892 by the American entrepreneur Edgar Tripp. He leased a parcel of land from the Borough Council for $ 100 a year, so as to set up his plant in the general area of Stone Street, not far from Victoria Square. The Electric Light and Power Company came into existence in 1894 under the chairmanship of W. Gordon Gordon. Other directors were Eugene Cipriani and Lucien F. Ambard. More wires were strung throughout the city and its outskirts and homes and streets were illuminated by pale yellow lights which cast a strange and modern glow into the eyes of the new generation. In those days, when the moon was full, the new streetlights would be switched off so that the populace could promenade in the moonlight. 

The Great Fire of 1808

Dr. Shaw was one of the many Scotsmen who found their way to Trinidad in the first years of the 19th century. By 1808, he had established himself on lower Frederick Street, number 12, that is on the eastern side between Queen Street and Independence Square, more to the end of the block than the middle. He had a modest practice and also operated an apothecary shop from where he dispensed medicinal preparations to the expanding township.

Port of Spain had changed a lot with the arrival of the French and Free blacks form Grenada and the other French islands from 1783 onwards. Despite the upheaval of the British conquest, the old thatch and tapia buildings that clustered around the old Catholic church which was built on what is now Tamarind Square, in the general area of Duncan, Nelson and George Streets, were giving way to handsome wooden buildings, covered in wood shingles.

The French in this period built with wood. Wood was readily available. Virgin forest of hardwood stretched literally from the shoreline into the nearby mountains. The town, as it is now, had been laid out like a grill - ten streets from Edward Street in the west to Duncan Street in the east, and six streets from Marine Square to Oxford Street. Perhaps about 4,000 to 6,000 people lived there, masters and slaves, some rich, some poor, an assortment of nationalities, all shared in the growing prosperity of this busy port. Dr. Shaw, it has been reported, came home just a little inebriated as a result of having a wee drop with some of his pals, and made his way by the light of a flambeaux to the outhouse at the back of number 12. No one knows for sure what happened next - did he fall asleep on the throne? Did he drop the flambeaux, causing a blaze in between the old crates and barrels? Whatever it might have been, the next thing that happened was that his store room was ablaze. He had recently received quantities of sulfur, niter, ether and other rectified spirits and essential oils - all this soon raged with inconceivable violence. The foreday morning breeze coming from the Laventille hills churned the fire into an inferno, spreading quickly, jumping the streets not just from east to west, but from south to north. The inferno caught the town asleep. People leaped from windows, fled with nothing but their nightclothes, and in some cases nothing at all. In minutes, the place was aglow, lit up in a macabre light of raging destruction. Stores of gunpowder in various storerooms exploded. Women with children ran screaming to the waterfront. The men of the town joined in with soldiers of the 37th and the 8th regiments, who were stationed at the barracks where the hospital is now, in a vain attempt to save the town. The few water pumps they possessed had fallen into neglect, and the various wells were soon emptied. Horses and mules, tethered in stables all over the town, screamed in terror as they were killed, or bolted wildly down the blazing streets.

Almost all the buildings were destroyed, 12 square blocks in all burnt completely, 49 blocks partially. 435 houses were gutted, making 4,500 people homeless. The damage exceeded a million pounds sterling!

It was, in fact, Trinidad’s first catastrophe. The town was rebuilt, this time of stone. One can still see the high limestone walls between the buildings in Port of Spain that were erected as fire walls to prevent the repeat of such a disaster.

The Hospital

As controversy engulfs various issues with regard to the General Hospital in Port of Spain. It may be of use to recall for posterity the origins of this splendid institution and the names of the illustrious individuals who devoted themselves to the ‘calling’ of the medical profession, serving selflessly and giving generously to those in need.

The hospital was commenced to be built during the Governorship of Vice Admiral Sir Charles Elliot V.C.B. (1854 - 1856) and completed in 1858 by Govenor Robert W. Keate. Keate Street nearby is named for him. The site was originally the Orange Grove Barracks and had been built some 40 odd years before as the principal British Military Station in Port of Spain.

One may hazard that a ‘Dr. Jones’, who was medical officer to the British troops at the capture of the island in 1797 ,and who was subsequently stationed at the barracks, was perhaps the first doctor ‘in the house’.

The building was some 300 feet long and the width was 64 feet, with an open gallery 10 feet wide on either side. It could accommodate some 200 patients. Dr. Raoul Seheult, President Surgeon from 1911 to 1922, remarked that “the architect L.W. Samuel Esq., a Trinidadian, kept in mind the importance of simplicity and the value of light and ventilation”. Controversy had swirled about the new hospital be built on the site of the Orange Grove Barracks, in that many deaths had occured there at the time when medical science had not yet linked malignant fevers to mosquitoes.

The resident surgeon at the time of the opening was Dr.Richard Mercer and his staff consited of :

Chaplain, House Surgeon, Consluting Surgeon, Dispenser, Assistant Dispenser, Clerk, Head Nurse, 8 other Nurses, 2 Wardsmen, 1 Washer woman, a Cook Porter and two  Gate Porters.

There was a rapid increase in population in the second half of the 19th century, from 84,438 in 1816 to 200,028 in 1891. Much of this occured as a result of immigration from India, the West Indies and Venezuela. Trinidad was plainly an immigrant society. In this period 44% of the population or 37,502 were born outside of the island. Indentured Indians numbered 13,488 in 1861 and 45,028 in 1891. West Indians who came in search of opportunity numbered 11,716 in 1816 and 33,180 in 1891. Some 6,035 natives of Africa were liberated on the high seas by British battle ships and brought to Trinidad and released. There was some 18,980 people living in Port of Spain in 1861 and 31,858 in the city proper in 1881. Cholera had swept the city in 1854, when during a six week period, deaths averaged between 15 - 35 people per day and returned a few days later with the same appalling intensity. There was a high occurence of leprosy, said to have been introduced to the colony by the Indian immigrants.

In its first year of operation, some 638 patients were treated at the General Hospital, but there were strict rules, for instance:

“No persons suffreing from Asiatic Cholera, Small Pox, Measels, Leprosy or other infectuous or contagious diseases or insanity will be admitted”. These unfortunates had to be looked after at home. It was not until 1896 that two small wards were opened for the isolation and treatment of infectuous diseases. Already a steam laundry had been built in 1897 and a mule-drawn ambulance service had been started. 1897 also saw the installation of electric lights which replaced the kerosene lanterns of 40 years previously.

Famous Trinidadian doctors of the early period were Dr. Sir Louis de Verteuil M.D. (Paris), born in 1807, Dr. Antoine Leotaud M.D. (Paris), born in 1814, Dr. Jean V. de Boissiere M.D. (Edin) M.R.C.S. (London), born in 1830, and Dr. Richard Mercer M.D. F.R.C.S.E., House Surgeon 1858 - 1870.

There was a high standard of discipline as the following incident will demonstrate. A superintending nursing sister on making her rounds of the hospital at 6:15 pm met a visitor in the private rooms. Visiting hours were 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. She politely but firmly informed him of the rules of the hospital. The gentleman expressed his regret and left the ward. A few days afterward she was complimented by his Excellency the Governor, the same gentleman, for the manner in which she had discharged her duties.

This sketch would not be complete if mention was not made of the nurses, who worked hard, taught the student nurses well, but reaped a poor harvest. Amongst these from long ago was nurse Hackshaw, of the Gordon ward, a strict disiplinarian, nurse Smith of the Acute Female Surgical ward., nurse Senator of the Acute Male Surgical Ward, nurse Barrat of the Police Ward and nurse Irene Mitchel of the Surgery Ward. The wardsmen in the early days were Mr. Boyce and Mr. Shockness.

The Hospital’s gardens were especially remarked upon and so to was The Bell’. One peal denoted that a patient was coming to surgery. Two peals informed you that a patient, accompanied by a constable, was proceeding to surgery. Three peals were for the Surgeon General. Four peals announced the Governor.

An institution is built upon the people who serve it. In memory of the hundreds who have served we will list a handful of them - for Auld Lang Syne, my dear.

The Administrators of the Colonial Hospital

1858-1870            Richard Charles Mercer, M.D., F.R.C.S.E.

1870-1872            Thomas Cuddeford, M.R.C.S.

1872-1874            John Stuckey, M.R.C.S.E.

1874-1877            Samuel Weekes Fitt.

1880-1882            N. Claude burgoyne Pashley.

1883-1884            Charles Francis Knox, M.R.C.S.E.

1885-1887            Lewis Fabien M.R.C.S.E.

1888-1892            Henry McCaul Alston M.D. ch.B. (Edin)

1893-1897            E. Inskip Read, F.R.C.S.I.

1897-1906            Edward Angel Gale Doyle

1907-1910            Edgar Nicholas Darwent, M.D., C.M. (Edin)

1911-1922            John Francis Raoul Seheult, M.D., C.M. (Edin)

1923-1924            Ernest Abert Turpin, M.B., ch.B. (Edin)

1924-1929            Rudolf Carl Wupperman, M.B., ch.B. (Edin)

1929-1937            Joseph Erwin Adolphe Boucaud, M.B., B.S. (Lond.), M.R.C.S. (England), L.R.C.P. (Lond.)

Medical Superintendent

1938-1948            James Cook, F.R.C.S. (Edin), L.R.C.P. (Lond.), D.P.H. (Durham).

Superintending Medical Officer (Specialist)

1948-1951            Joseph Erwin Adolphe Boucaud    (Retired 1951)

Deputy Director of Medical Services and Superintending Officer

1951-1952            L.P. Younglao, M.B., ch.B., D.P.H.

1952-1955            James Arnold Waterman, M.D., ch.B. (Glas.), D.T.M. & H., F.R.C.O.G.    (Retired 1955)

Superintending Medical Officer

1955-1957            David Strthu Gideon, M.R.C.S., (Engl.), L.R.C.P. (Lond.).     (Retired 1957)

1957-                Lancelot Francis Chan, M.B., ch.B. (Glas.)

Ministers of Health

1950-1956            Norman Tang, C.B.E., Minister of Health

1956-                Dr. Winston Mahabir, Minister of Health, Water and Sanitation.

Surgeon Generals

1871-1893            Samuel Leonard Crane

1893-1901            Sir Francs Lovell

1901-1907            James de Wolf

1907-1919            Henry Lewis Clare

1919-1935            Kendrick Staton Wise

Directors of Medical Services

1936-1942            Adam Rankine

1943-1944            Norman M. Maclennan

1945-1947            George Maclean C.B.E.

1948-               Esau Jymshed Sankerali

1948-1956            A. August Peat

1956-1957            Horace Gillet, O.B.E.

1957-               L.P.Younglao (Acting)

Consultants to the Hospital as Part-time or Honoray Officers

1958                Consulting Surgeon- Bury Irwin Dasent, M.R.C.S.

1871-1893            Hon. Consulting Surgeon- S. L. Crane, M.D., ch.B.

1871-1900            Consulting Physician- Hon. Sir Louis A. A. de Veerteuil