Restaurants Bridgetown has always welcomed travellers and has played an important role in international tourism. As a major hub and transfer point for visitors or military personnel making the transatlantic voyage, numerous taverns and hotels, some ‘notorious’, sprang up around port spaces to support the maritime economy. In the 18th century, many proprietresses were free coloured or black women who had accumulated significant land and monetary resources. Women like Rachel Pringle and Betsey Austin were known as shrewd businesswomen who leveraged their social contacts to become property owners and important players on the Bridgetown social scene. Taverns and hotels were the sites of raucous dinners and balls bringing merriment to the town, and providing memorable experiences for their guests Prince William Henry who later became William IV of England stayed at Rachel Pringle’s Royal Navy Hotel in 1786 and 1789 and his entourage’s revelry did so much damage, which he paid for generously, that Rachel renamed her establishment the Royal Naval Hotel and was immortalized in a famous cartoon by Thomas Rowlandson.
Dr. Tara Inniss Photo: The dining room at the Marine Hotel Henry Walter Parkinson. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Parkinson family.