St. Vincent Meet
Wilfred Dederer
a Vincy
Douglass Brisbane is a proud Vincentian – 83 years young and in love with life
Douglass "Brizzy" Brisbane
by Bob Berlinghof
Bob Berlinghof
A Vincy-style Renaissance Man
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Douglass Brisbane, 83, M.B.E., O.B.E., C.B.E., is well-known for his booming voice and hearty demeanor, a larger than life figure around town, or as I knew him, a wiry brown man in a speedo behind the wheel of Goldfinger, his fishing boat. These days he lives alone since his beloved wife Mabel passed away two years ago, and though frail, his mind is sharp as he recounts his remarkable life. Brizzy is the embodiment of a Vincy-style Renaissance Man: successful businessman, visionary garden designer, hotelier, play producer, horticulturalist, shrub sculptor, chicken and livestock farmer, sharpshooter, firearms trainer, fine artist, and environmentalist. He is probably best known as the creator of the stunning Montreal Gardens, which he bought in 1959 and developed as an exporter of cut flowers and ferns, with guest cottages, a main house, pool, and restaurant. Gardening was Brizzy's number one love, and as we sit on a spacious verandah over the lush but overgrown garden of his Prospect home he quips, "I used to have help, but they only
helped themselves." Brizzy traces his ancestry back to Scotland and Sir Charles Brisbane, a former Governor of St. Vincent. His father founded O.D. Brisbane and Sons, commissioned agents at first, then importers. Douglass was born in St. Vincent in December 1927. At the age of twelve, Brizzy’s parents separated and he and his mother relocated to Grenada. An avid reader and book collector, he recalls his first business venture, "Copper Cash," renting his comic books for a penny apiece. When his mother would tell him to get to sleep he would read under the sheets from the light of "labelles" (fireflies) collected in a jar. A serious lung infection required young Douglass to recuperate in Trinidad for nearly a year, where he busied himself with his books and taught himself to paint. He pursued this passion his entire life, along with his legendary love for animals – and the animals always seem to love him right back! As a youngster, he raised chickens in his bedroom; in later years friends recall a particular one-legged blackbird who would perch itself on Brizzy’s shoulder as he walked around his garden doing chores. Even now he regularly feeds birds and iguanas on his porch and dotes on his six "Bequia poodles," the loyal Fatty Dan, Elizabeth Taylor, Snowy, Duke, Stinker, and Pebbles. He moved back to St. Vincent in 1946 after studying accountancy and working in Grenada selling rice, sugar, textiles, lumber, and other essentials. He married Mabel Grant in 1948 and
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