January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Descendants of ex-Tucker's Town residents speak out
Scores of black families, and a handful of white families, were forced out of Tucker’s Town in a bid to improve tourism. But some are still fighting the decisions made all those years ago.
Deputy Chairman at of the Tucker’s Town Historical Society, Denny Richardson made a passionate speech to listeners outside the former home of his great, great uncle Benjamin Talbot.
“Uncle Ben gave his 70 acres away for 8,500 pounds under duress. Under an order from the tribunal he had to take it or leave it. He took it along with my great, great grandmother, and my great, great aunt and their sisters.
“If we could have got acre for acre I wouldn’t be standing here. It is written, but the people who wrote the history avoided certain stories.
“This is probably the first time you have heard me say what I have had said today but its not going to be the last. I have been working on it for years. This is an opportunity to showcase the deviousness that took place over time.”
Edward McDonald Welsh, whose grandmother was forced out of her home in 1920, sat outside the old horse and carriage stables, a site where development for 24 units in a three-storey building is being proposed.
He said: “My grandmother was born in this area but they were all moved out by legislation.
“It’s all about money now. Sometimes you have to be blunt — where the hell is your backbone? Show me your DNA and we are all related.”
Eugene Stovell of the Bermuda Historical Society has relatives buried at the Tucker’s Town Village cemetery which is now situated near a golf driving range and is riddled with golf balls. While he was disappointed that nothing had yet been done to protect the cemetery, he was grateful to hoteliers for clearing the cemetery in the 1980s after it had completely overgrown.
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