A Better Day

SIDSEL JØRGENSEN A PHOTO STOR Y FROM

BARBADOS

A BETTER DAY A PICTURE DIARY OF PRESENT AND PAST

A BETTER DAY SIDSEL JØRGENSEN

1884-2014

From a tourist brochure ca 1900

LOOKING FOR

A BETTER DAY a picture diary of present and past

BARBADOS

SIDSEL JØRGENSEN

TRACING HISTORY 3 Reverse of a childhood photo of Caspar from 1887, by the Scottish photographer W. G. Cooper who was working in Barbados from around 1872 - 1909 4 Detail from Sunbury plantation

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LOOKING FOR A BETTER DAY

THE PICTURE THAT SPARKED THIS BOOK 5 Ingeborg Marie born 1863, Claus Torolf born 1885, Adolf August born 1844 and Caspar Severin born 1884. And I assume the three people standing in the back must have been their employees.

A FRESH START I imagine they were looking for a better day when my family left for Barbados in 1885. As a photographer I am interested in old family photographs. And when I realised that the small boy standing by his father in this picture was the same person I knew as my greatgrandfather, I became very curious. He was still small when he died in 1965, but no longer a boy.

He had seen other days, other places, he was full of stories. His mother died during their stay in Barbados. According to family lore, she fell down the stairs in their house. I wondered; what stairs, where was Barbados, and why did they leave Norway to live on an island far away?

Adolf August left to make a new start. And he had a new young wife, his cousin Ingeborg Marie.

Pregnant with their second son, Ingeborg Marie spent weeks on a sailing ship from Le Havre to Bridgetown. I didn’t set sail like they did. My trip was comfortable with wine, video and well prepared food.

Will I be able to find her grave after all these years, and their house?

On Google Earth I found the cemetery. I was curious to find more.

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SAILORS 3 Anchor in the garden of Barbados Museum 5 Caspar in the garden of Kensington House at Fontabelle 1887 4 Caspar in Kristiansand, Norway

A MANS WORLD After his wife died, Adolf August returned to Norway with his sons.

Only four years later he died of meningitis.

And Caspar? He became a skipper, sailed the seven seas, and as a mature man stopped by his home port, Kristiansand. And just like his father, he married his cousin ‌ I wanted to see the island of his childhood. The place that was part of making him the person I knew.

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TREASURY

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The library at the Barbados Museum 5 Librarian Harriet Pierce 4 Staircase in St. Johns Church

REMINISCENCE When I came to Barbados I showed a picture of their house, taken on the day of Ingeborg Marie’s burial, to Harriet Pierce at the library of Barbados Museum. With the help of Richard Goddard the house was identified as Kensington House of Kensington Estate, just opposite the cricket museum on Fontabelle Road. It was torn down in 1995 to give space for the new cricket stadium - Kensington Oval.

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LAST JOURNEY 5 Kensington House on the day of Ingeborg Marie’s funeral, 30. April 1897. The flag at half mast, and the undertaker’s carriage waiting.

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CHANGING HANDS Kensington House was the vicarage for St.Mary’s Church from 1954 to 1964.

5 Sunbury Plantation House has been restored to its original state after a fire, and is now open to visitors.

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK Plantation houses often changed owners and residents, either as a result of gambling, changes in the economy or the hazardous sugar industry.

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GLORY DAYS

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Restaurant in St Lawrence Gap. 5 Interiors from Sunbury Plantation

NATIONAL TRUST Old plantation houses are now open to the public under the heading OPEN HOUSE, (and OPEN BAR I will add). Which in a way feeds the imagination with ideas of how it might have been in former days. The rum is the same, and its effect …

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CHANGING OF TRADE The old sugar ramp forms an interesting background for cruise-ships.

5 A Cooper photograph of the main quay with the Norwegian flag flying high. According to the “Shipping Intelligence” of May 1897 a Norwegian ship was part of the daily routine. 4 Setting sail on a traditional schooner.

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BLACK PEARL 5 In former times the pirates of the Caribbean were probably not as charming as Johnny Depp.

4 Todays treasures can still be found by the sea, like fishing on the beach, or exploring the “Animal Flower Cave�.

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FADING TRACES 3 The record book at Westbury

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Schoolgirls playing among the unattended graves

THE NEW CEMETERY After hurricanes, cholera and other causes of death, the small cemeteries around the local churches became overpopulated. Five burials a day was not unusual in the 1890s. Ingeborg Marie where the 383 rd. person to be buried that year, and it was only the middle of May ‌

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THE THREAD OF LIFE Before Facebook, there were other books - and images.

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FACTS OF LIFE 3 The library at the Barbados Museum 5 Hibiscus 5 Working hands 3 Barbados National Archives 4 Ingeborg Marie with Caspar and his brother on a visit home

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CEREMONIES Undertakers in Roebuck Street 6 The card with the announcement of Ingeborg Marie’s death and burial.

3 Westbury cemetery 4 A dove resting in peace at Fontabelle.

FROM DUST TO DUST “The plot is bought and paid for, so she is here somewhere” said Richard Cummings, responsible for the graveyards. And I was left with three alternative graves in section “C” with headstones that were weatherworn and impossible to decipher after years of neglect in the harsh sun.

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THE ONE AND ONLY 5 All roads in Barbados will sooner or later lead you to Bridgetown.

You either go into the city or out of it. No other places count.

TRAFFIC IN BARBADOS The only advice I got about driving in Barbados was to “stay alert, and on the left” …

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HANGING IN THERE 5 In Broad Street I find that “Harrisons” is still in business. This is where my great-great grandfather Adolf August was employed as clerk for a period, according to “The Barbados Business & General directory for 1887”.

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LIFE UNDER THE SUN 5 Street scene from Bridgetown. Farley Hill ruins where the film “Island in the sun” was shot.

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Local church in St. Lawrence Gap An aloof observer in Rockley

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Street observer at the Worthing crossroads

EDEN The Bajans are said to be very religious, and I think it’s no wonder you believe in God if you live in Paradise.

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ALL HANDS ON DECK 4 from top left: Sheena at Chefette 4 A customer in a hurry 4 Barbeque chef at “Big B� 4 Pirate inspired bartender on the hillside 4 Police officer at the Boardwalk 4 Exercising in Worthing 4 Shelly Bourne with golden hair 4 School girls in Swan Street 4 Gardener Darcy Williams at Rockley 4 Ricky Cummins at the Westbury Cemetery 4 The colour of rum 4 After school in Swan Street

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TRUE COLORS Barbados is said to be the only country where McDonald’s had to give up.

They have their own local fast food chain without burgers, Cheffette. ”We are chicken eaters” says Richard Goddard.

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�And when the judgement trumpet bust, The Good Lord he going say: All other peoples please stand back.

Bajans walk up first�

Kathleen Catford Hughes

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REGGEA

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There is a small tribe of Rastafarians in the hillside of Scotland district, but the music is everywhere

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MODERN TIMES Biking at Rockley Golf Club 5 Advertisement May 1897

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UNESCO

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The old part of Bridgetown was included in the World Heritage List on 25 June, 2011

LAW AND ORDER Founded in 1628, Bridgetown was a shipping and trading center for the Caribbean in a triangel with London and Boston. European goods and fashions were easily accessible, and the ships returned with sugar and rum. Though some of the rum was for local consumption, Bridgetown had a huge variety of hotels and bars. After years with a system of loosely organized “watchmen�, a police force was established around 1835.

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SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS

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The work of Anthony Thomsen is still in demand

PUNCH The rum doesn’t spring from wells - as one might wish. It is made from molasses, which is a residue from sugar production. Later the process has been refined, and the white rum is said to cause no hangover ‌

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Rum on display at St. Nicholas Abbey, Handcoloured old photograph.

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SERIOUS BUSINESS in bottles and barrels

NEWS A story from the newspaper “Agricultural Reporter” 11. May 1897 tells the story about “a nine year old boy being ardured to receive a dozen stripes with rods for stealing some sugar canes …”

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SELF SERVICE

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Special brand 4

4 Palm detail 4 Fishballs in Bridgetown 4 Dancing on the south coast Local brand 4 Grilling flying fish in Oistins

SLOW RYTHM On an island where the fish comes flying by itself, the palms are natural fans, and the rum is at hand. You just have to give in.

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THE WILD SIDE Norman Mailer says in his book Harlot’s Ghost:

“Yes, I was all for the rum, dark deeds and the intoxication of the Caribbean” At night at a beach bar seems to confirm this …

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MIMICKING NATURE

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As the family grow larger, and the economy improves, you just add another section to the house

VINTAGE CHARM The rum and sugar production is also part of the origin of the characteristic SHATTLE HOUSES of Barbados. Completely symmetrical and possible to dismantle, move and reassemble on short notice. As tenant farmers didn’t own the plot of their house, it was practical if you had to move for another job.

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ABANDON SHIP In former times, sailors let monkeys swim from their ship to show the direction towards land. They were said to be excellent navigators.

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SHELTER 5 The pink flamingos live secluded in their wild-life reserve on the south tip of Barbados, but the green monkeys roam the island as they please

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OCEANS APART I understand why my ancestors chose this tropical island for their fresh start.

An average of 3000 hours of sunshine a year, a constant mild breeze to keep them cool, and work to be found for a trained seafarer.

Did Caspar ever go back as a grown man? I can just wonder, but being a captain himself, I guess he stopped by during his years at sea. And maybe he dreamt of bringing his own wife and boys to live here, too. I will never know ‌

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SAME HORIZON NEW LIFE

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The Careenage

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Sugar-ramp, and bay in Bridgetown

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TRADEWIND 5 With my partner Håkon on a schooner outside the bay of Bridgetown

Thank you!

I want to thank everyone I met during my quest for the story behind the old family photograph.

Those who let me take their picture, and shared with me the “Barbados feeling”.

Ricky Cummings for his patience while I searched the cemetery.

The Barbados Museum, and Harriet Pierce at the library, and especially Richard Goddard for taking interest in this project and sharing his knowledge with me.

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SOURCES: Private vintage images and documents. The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.

The Barbados Public Library. Barbados National Archives. Bygone Barbados by Ann Watson Yates. Armstrong Agencies.

Ins and Outs of Barbados. Bridgetown Barbados. A walking Tour by Morris Greenidge. Historic Houses of Barbados

by Henry Fraser & Ronnie Hughes. Wikipedia. Historic Bridgetown by Warren Alleyne.

Insight Pocket guide to Barbados by Discovery Channel. The Barbados Business & General directory for 1887.

Editing guidance: Nathalie Luyer, visavisphoto Paris Proofreading: Annabelle Despard Printing: Bjorvand & co

www.sidselfoto.no Sidsel Jørgensen is a photographer living in Kristiansand, Norway.

All photographs taken in Barbados 2012 - 2014, except the historical ones. Š Content of this book may not be published in any form without permission from the publisher

ISBN: 978-82-996816-8-1

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I suppose they were looking for a BETTER DAY when my small ancestral family left for Barbados in 1885.

As a photographer I am interested in old family photographs.

And when I realised that the small boy standing by his father’s side in this picture was the same person I knew as my great-grandfather, I got very curious.

DURUM ISBN: 978-82-996816-8-1 www.sidselfoto.no