Margaret Benjamin

Margaret Benjamin (née Towers) comes from a farm family in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England, a town of about 18,000 people not far from Middlesbrough. She now lives in an apartment at Towers, near West End, Tortola, with a view of Benjamin Hill.

Margaret spent some ten years in Guernsey (one of the “Channel Islands” off the coast of Normandy) after leaving Yorkshire. She left the Channel Islands after her marriage ended, and sailed to the Virgin Islands in 1979-80 with her then boyfriend – originally planning to sail around the world. They came on a 39 foot ketch called Alligange named after a large rock off Guernsey, and she has stayed ever since, and is now a BVI Resident.

Margaret and her partner decided to make a living by working in the incipient charter industry, and living on their boat. But as Alligange was too small for chartering, they bought Illusion II, a 57 foot ketch, which still operates in BVI waters. She worked at chartering for four years before she tired of it and decided to move on land, and commit more strongly to living in the Virgin Islands. She sold her house in Guernsey and bought her Towers apartment in September 1984 (originally built by OBM for their employees), and also bought Trude Real Estate (from Australian John Trude) in 1985 (along with a local partner). Margaret had gained an expertise in property and property management in her previous life, and so this seemed a natural business for her to get into. She ran Trude until the mid-2000s when she retired.

The real estate business, like most others, was very different in the mid 1980s, before the ‘finance boom’ brought a new flood of migrants to Tortola. There were, at that time, only four companies in operation: Island Real Estate (Pam Romney, here since 1969), Smiths Gore (on the BVI since 1965), Romney Associates Real Estate Ltd, and Trude Real Estate. There are now many more real estate companies (perhaps over twenty – the exact number is hard to tie down) and like many other industries it became for Margaret less personal and less interesting and less fun. In the 1980s there were fewer ‘local people’ involved in buying and selling real estate, as well as in managing properties, but with the development of the country that situation has changed significantly. Margaret doesn’t think that she could do now what she did in the 1980s, as the real estate business has changed, but she doesn’t regret doing it. It is harder now, with lots of competition and a limited amount of business to go around. She once knew every lawyer on Tortola, but this is obviously no longer possible or necessary, with so many working in the financial and trust sectors. The real estate business is now larger and more professional, and several companies now have alliances with multi-national operations. She enjoyed her work thoroughly, but times have changed.

There have been many other changes that Margaret has noticed over the years as the population ahs grown, the population mix has changed, and tourism and finance have transformed the economy. The BVI are now more modern, but in the process of getting there have lost a lot. The amount of traffic is a major change that has affected all of Tortola. This is, of course, related to the building boom that as taken place, and the in-migration of many more black and white expats to work in the new industries. There has also been a change in culture. Thirty years ago Margaret found the people living in the BVI much friendlier and children much more polite. Now people don’t seem to have as much time for each other, as ‘work’ has assumed a greater significance in their lives.

The old ways seem to be dying out with the older people. You didn’t use to lock your house or your car, now most people do both. Security and safety have become major concerns, as the number of people has increased and crime, including violent crime, has become a fact of life. Despite modernization, utilities such as water are far from perfect, and the roads can be bad, and the postal service does not seem to have improved very much if at all.

On the positive side, of course, most people have more money and financial security now, and there are many more goods and services than there used to be. In general communications are better, with fibre optics (Cable and Wireless have been quite progressive), the new airport, and an improved ferry terminal in the offing.

Over the years Margaret has been involved with a number of local organizations including being secretary of the Sports Club, and a member of the Royal Virgin Islands Yacht Club. She is also involved with operation of the Old Government House Museum. She still spends most of the year in Tortola although she lives for the summer months in England (in Deal, between Dover and Ramsgate in the county of Kent) in order to avoid the worst of the hurricane season. Her future is not certain, as it may be tied to health and health facilities. But for now she will continue as she has done for a few years, with her book club, and golfing excursions to St. Thomas, and the friends she has made over the past three decades. And her view over West End and Benjamin Hill.
 

Draft of February 10, 2011 of interview of February 9th, 2011

Builders of Tortola Guide
Builders of Tortola Contents
Back to the Main Contents Page