The Victoia Park in St Vincent and the Grenadines is a National Treasure- a land mark and a place of historic importance. It was created and named to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee and it was dedicated on the 22nd June 1887.
In June 2016, Victoria Park will have been in existence for one hundred and twenty-nine years. The following information about the process that led to the creation of Victoria Park is from the Sentinel Newspaper which was the first newspaper in St Vincent. The first edition of the Sentinel was published on a Friday in January 1887 and the Publisher was James A Stowe.
The area that is now Victoria Park was bordered by the North River, several large residences of wealthy families of European descent, a lodge and the Anglican Rectory. Prior to mid 1887 it was an open space: a round dirt area which was utilised mainly by the soldiers stationed at Fort Charlotte. They used it for drills and parades and it was also used to play cricket.
Early in 1887 discussions began within the Administration as to the best way to commemorate the occasion of Queen Victoria's fiftieth anniversary on the throne of England. Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born on the 24th May 1819, she became queen at the age of eighteen and her coronation was held on the twentieth of June 1837. She was until recently, the longest serving British Monarch. She reigned for sixty-three years and seven months until her death in January 1901.
In May of 1887 there were four suggestions which were being considered as memorials to mark the Jubilee:
(1) A public grant payable to an Agricultural Society.
(2) The erection of an improved lighthouse at Fort Charlotte.
(3) A fountain in the Market Place with a canopy over it surmounted with a statue of H.M. the Queen and two drinking troughs attached or adjoining.
(4) An ornamental drive around the Parade Ground in Kingstown leaving the centre for recreation as at present.
The decision was taken to prepare a Memorandum to be sent out for signature by His Excellency Sir Walter Joseph Sendell, Governor-in-Chief of the Windwards; to expedite the conversion of the Parade Ground to a ‘Public Park’ in commemoration of Her Majesty’s Jubilee. The Memorandum outlined the following:
“A park called Victoria Park
-that the place be levelled and turfed
-two belts of trees be planted and
-a carriage road formed between them;
-the inner portion remaining as at present, a recreation ground.
On Wednesday 22nd June 1887 the Victoria Park will be opened by Sir Walter Joseph Sendell and a display of fireworks will take place in the evening. Mrs Sendell will be asked to plant the first tree at Victoria Park.”
After its official opening in 1887 Victoria Park continued to be used for drills, military parades and cricket, but also became a general recreation area.
Since then Victoria Park which became known to Vincentians as simply ‘The Park’; has hosted a number of diverse activities- many of which are of special significance to our nation's history. As the main recreation ground in the country until well into the twentieth century it has been the site of cricket matches, football matches, athletics meets, political, social, and cultural gatherings. The Park has also been the major venue for large scale concerts, shows, crusades, rallies and in recent years the Community College Graduation Ceremony has been held there.
Many of the residents of the surrounding areas played various sports and games at The Park over the years with football and cricket being the most popular. In the 1940’s and 50’s a group of boys who frequented The Park and played football there every day -whenever there was no formal activity taking place – became known as ‘The Parkboys’.
The various military parades to celebrate Empire Day, Her Majesty's Birthday, many of the State visits by Royalty and Heads of State; and the move from Statehood to Independence in 1979 then annually Independence Day; have been held at the Victoria Park.
Carnival in St Vincent was at one time held in the gardens of the Administrator’s Residence- Government House, it was moved to the grounds of the Court House and then to the Youth Centre (on Back Street, next to the Ministry of Works compound). In the late 1940’s the Carnival was moved to Victoria Park and although Carnival has been through some major changes such as moving from the pre-Lenten period to June /July in 1977; The Park has remained home to most of the big Carnival shows for over sixty years.
The management of The Park has been in the hands of various entities such as the Administrator’s Office, Kingstown Town Board, the National Sports Council and most recently the National Lotteries Authority. Improvements and additions have been made to the Park with the building of a pavilion and in the 1960’s the enclosing of the area with a wattle fence. The wattle fence was later replaced with a wall enclosure with three large gates. The six palm trees along the river grew to more than thirty-five feet and were eventually cut down to avoid the danger of them falling down. In the 1990’s a new stand was added to mark the visit of President Kaunda of Zambia- the Kaunda Stand; and since then more stands have been added and/or the old ones rebuilt. The park itself or the grass area has been dug up, the area levelled and replanted.
[These photographs of Victoria Park are part of the collection of Robert Mowbray Anderson's work, which was donated to the St Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust by his grandson Osei Morris.]
