In 2000, Professor Joycelynne Loncke reminded me about the importance of the study of 19th century British Guiana as I prepared to start research on the history of music in Guyana during the 20th century. Her advice has revealed many vistas and is providing the framework for a better interpretation of the 20th century social and cultural history of Guyana.
One vista that I focused on has been the nuanced role of the Scots in Guyanese 19th and 20th century social and cultural history. There is substantial evidence about the Scottish presence in Guyana's history. This presence is evident in agriculture, religion, administration, and the arts, especially music. Today, many Guyanese families can still proudly trace connections to the pioneering Scotsmen. Very few Scotswomen came in the early days.
In a previous article in this series, I cited Cruickshank who stated that by 1759 Scotsmen had already "invaded the Land of Mud. Up the [Demerara] river was a coffee plantation owned by Benjamin Nicholls named 'Tweedside.' Another Scot, Donald Stewart, grew sugar cane at 'Dunoon.'"
By the end of the 18th century Scotsmen were significant plantation owners across Demerara.
This presence and influence would continue through the 19th century. The cornerstone for St Andrew's Kirk was laid in 1811, making it one of the oldest churches in Demerara. The first concert of sacred music in Demerara was held in 1822 at St Andrew's Kirk.
In his important essay Colonial Images of Blacks and Indians in Nineteenth Century Guyana, Robert Moore noted "by 1870 the practice of employing coloured overseers [on sugar estates in British Guiana] had died out. Only young Englishmen or Scotsmen were employed." Henry Kirk's Twenty-Five Years in British Guiana covers the period 1872-1897 and makes clear that although the numbers of Scotsmen had declined by the end of the 19th century, their influence was still significant in British Guiana's economic, social, and cultural life.
During the early decades of the 20th century, Scotsmen dominated the officer ranks of the British Guiana Police Force.
This sort of track record, especially the practices of the late 18th and 19th centuries always leads to other questions. What do we know about their life-styles? Who were the women who mothered their children?
Chroniclers of the lives of Scotsmen in British Guiana during the 19th century have indirectly and directly referred to their relations with African women.
In the late 19th century, Henry Kirke wrote "In the earlier part of the century [19th] there were few white women in the colony, so it was customary for the managers of estates, merchants, and other white men to have what was called an establishment, presided over by a black or coloured woman, who looked after the servants and the comfort of her master generally."
Winnie Hunter (nee Wishart) in her unpublished manuscript speaks to the fact that many of the Scotsmen came as bachelors, and spoke warmly about wishing to know more about her great-grandmother "who must have had African ancestry."
According to Kirke, children made by black and coloured women, "were as a rule, kindly treated by their father, who brought them up, sent them to Scotland or England to be educated, and of such are most of the coloured doctors, barristers, etc, whom we have in our midst."
Winnie Hunter has written that her great-grandmother, after the tragic death of Alexander Wishart, the scion of the Wishart family in 1848, "succeeded, single-handed, in bringing up her son to establish for himself a position of respect in the community." Winnie Hunter is not certain about the name of her great-grandmother.
I have always wanted to find out more about the mothers of these early Guyanese professionals; the mothers of some of the families that made significant contributions to Guyana's social, economic, cultural, legal, medical, and political heritage.
Andrew Watson
The story of Andrew Watson brings us one step closer to knowing a little bit about these invisible women in Guyanese history. Andrew Watson is recognized as "the world's first black international football player" and the "world's first black football administrator."
Andrew Watson was born in Demerara, British Guiana in May 1857. His father was "a wealthy Scottish sugar planter Peter Millar and [his mother a] local girl Rose Watson." At the age of 14, he was a student at the exclusive King's College, London. Here he excelled in sport, especially football (soccer).
At the age of 19, he was a student of philosophy, mathematics, and engineering at the University of Glasgow.
The University of Glasgow's records indicate that during the period 1859-1888 there were 14 British Guianese at the university. These included John L Alexander (Medicine) and Joseph Martin Jansen (Arts) who were from Berbice. There were several medical students from Demerara and these included, John P. Watt, Hector C. Cameron, Donald Fraser, Charles Gibbon, David Elliott, Thomas Patterson and George Thorpe. Other students from British Guiana were studying Arts, Greek, and Law. These records tell us much about the fathers of the students. Many of them were medical doctors, planters, builders, merchants, and owners of estates.
The records are silent on the mothers. Inquires to the university's archives revealed that those records were not routinely kept. However, it was clear from other sources that Watson's mother was a woman of African descent.
Watson continued to excel as a footballer at the University of Glasgow. As a result he made a name for himself and established a number of unassailable records.
He played for Scotland's premier team, Queen's Park Football Club, and led the team to several Scottish Cup wins. As a result, he is recognized as the first black player to win a major football competition.
Watson represented Scotland on three occasions. In 1881, he led Scotland's team to a 6-1 victory over England. For this he is recognized as the world's first black international football captain.
Watson later joined The Corinthians. Jonathan Coates considers this to have been a "remarkable coup." He noted, "The Corinthians were regarded as one of the most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world, with only 50 members, yet here they were admitting a Scot of Pan-American heritage."
The story of British Guianaese-born Andrew Watson fired the imagination of football circles in the United Kingdom during the early years of the 21st century. The BBC produced a special Andrew Watson: Scotland's Lost Captain.
In concluding his article on Andrew Wastson, Coates noted, "Andrew Watson, Glaswegian aristocrat, gentleman, pioneer of amateur football and scourge of the English. And a black man to boot. How on earth were we ignorant of him for so long?"
Let us extend that remark and ask why have we been ignorant for so long about the black women who have mothered so many of Guyana's influential families.
There is virtually no record of Watson's life after football. It is known that he emigrated to Australia and that he died in Sydney.
There are many stories associated with music in Guyanese history
Sources
Internet
'Andrew Watson' available on-line at http://www.answers. com/Andrew%20Watson
Vibert C. Cambridge. 'Celebrating our Creative Personalities: John 'Bagpipe' Fredericks - There is more to the name.' Sunday Stabroek, November 9, 2003.
J. Graham Cruickshank. Notes on the History of St. Andrews's Kirk, Demerara (Georgetown, Demerara : Estate of C.K. Jardine, Deceased, 1911)
Henry Kirke Twenty-Five Years in British Guiana (London : Sampson Low, Marston & Compnay, Ltd., 1898. Reprinted in 1970 by Negro Universities Press, Westport, Connecticut)
Winifred M. Hunter. A Creole Family: An Unfinished Memoir (c) 2005.