The Shillingfords of Dominica and Their Family Tree PDF Download

Author: Davison Shillingford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781985780293
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
About this BookSomewhere in the 1780s, three Shillingfords landed in Dominica. They were Thomas, William, and their nephew Charles, blacksmiths out of England in search of their fortune. Imbued with the Protestant Ethic, these Shillingfords were variously blacksmiths, government employees, overseers for absentee estate owners, and later, estate owners in their own right. And one hundred and fifty years after their arrival, the Shillingfords were among the most successful and prominent families on the island. This is their Narrative and Family Tree. The Tree contains more than 2,000 entries, collected over several years, and sets out detailed family connections. The Narrative, on the other hand, gives us an overview of the Shillingfords of Dominica, where they came from and their impact on the island. It introduces us to many noteworthy Dominica Shillingfords, like Thomas, the son of Charles who first came to Dominica. It was Thomas who broke the island's white color-bar to marry a woman of color; and there is his son Thomas Howard (THS), the patriarch of west coast Shillingfords, who brought shops and sea communication to the isolated west coast; his son Howell Donald (HDS) became one of Dominica's leading politicians and a Commander of the British Empire. We also meet the visionary Albert Cavendish (ACS), principal developer of Dominica's early commercial and manufacturing enterprise. More recently we meet Sir Brian Alleyne, son of Hermia Shillingford Alleyne, knighted for his outstanding jurisprudence; then there is Shane Shillingford, one of the most successful bowlers in West Indies cricket. But many Dominica Shillingfords have moved on to other countries. In the Family Tree we see several of these. They have migrated to Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad, Jamaica, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. They are making their own contributions to their adopted communities, as did THS, HDS and ACS before them. Today, out of that ancient Blacksmith's anvil now flows Macoucherie rum leavened with community service. I hope this Shillingford Narrative and Family Tree is informative and engaging, and an inspiring tribute to those ancient Blacksmiths. - Davison Shillingford