Tony Edwards d. 2006

A.J. “Tony” Edwards came to the Virgin Islands from the United Kingdom (UK). ) He was born in 1943 in Dartford, Kent, and was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey, which was founded in 1509 and the site of the first recorded game of cricket around the year 1550 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Grammar_School,_Guildford). His early education clearly prepared him well for his later life as a social critic in the Virgin Islands. After school he apprenticed, as an electrical engineer, at Bristol Aircraft (part of the British Aircraft Corporation and now part of British Aerospace), gaining a training that he was to use for the rest of his life.

In the mid-1970s Pam and Tony went on a canal boat holiday in France, and decided to do more boating – by traveling around the world in one. In 1976 they bought a sailing craft – a gaff rigged yawl named Robben made in South Africa in 1938.  As Pam explains it, Robben:

 “had been built as a supply boat for the prison island of Robben, was co-opted into the South African navy during the war and sold off as war surplus in the Mediterranean to a member of the Marines who rigged her as a sailing vessel and sailed her back to the UK and used her as a recreational vessel and also as a sail-training boat for youngsters in the Isle of Wight.  Her original name was Colene but she was re-named after his son Robin, but it had to be Robben because there was already a Robin registered.  A hard chine boat built of wood unobtainable now in the lengths used, she looked after us in some very difficult times.”

They moved to the Isle of Wight to familiarize themselves with the vessel and with sailing. They spent the next four years doing this, and then in summer 1980 headed off to “see the world”. Starting with the Mediterranean Sea. Tony and Pam spent a pleasant summer in “the Med”, but found that winter sailing in this region can be much more trying, and it almost led them to never sailing again. They stayed in Gibraltar for nearly a year, with Tony operating an electrical machine shop, but after consultations with friends who told them that sailing across the Atlantic wasn’t too bad, they sailed for the West Indies in February 1982. They actually aimed (unlike many other early expat-immigrants) specifically for the Virgin Islands as they had some friends here, and sailed past Cooper Island into Roadtown in March 1982. Although they later looked around other islands in the Caribbean they decided that the BVI was the place for them.
 
After initially working at Nautool, Tony owned and operated T and W Machine Shop Ltd. in Baugher’s Bay. Pam and Tony first lived on their boat in Road Harbour for seven years, but it was destroyed in Hurricane Hugo in September 1989 (washing ashore close to the wreckage of Robin Tattersall’s craft). They then built their dream house in the Zion Hill area of the West End where they lived for 19 years, until Tony’s death, in 2008, aged 65.  Pam and Tony received ‘Belonger’ status in 2007.

Tony embraced his new community on the BVI almost as soon as he arrived, and his best-known contribution to the Virgin Islands was as an outspoken commentator on, and critic of, various aspects of life in this country. His opinions were regularly published in The BVI Beacon newspaper from 1984 on (and also at times in Island Sun and Virgin Islands Standpoint ). These included what some might consider as relatively mundane topics such as shipping, fishing and people’s motoring habits. But he was also quite willing to delve into more controversial subjects including taxation, voting, constitutional issues, and slavery – often resulting in a flurry of responses from other readers, both Belongers and Expats, both in the private and government sectors of the country. Reading his articles today indicates, however, that a lot has not changed over the years in some arenas, and many of his letters on for instance roads and traffic and driving could be resubmitted as is, providing accurate commentary on current situations.

Many of his views were controversial, and it was suggested after his death that these views were a major reason why it took so long for the Edwards’ to get “Belongership”. His death brought an outpouring of letters to The BVI Beacon, as well as a lengthy Editorial, praising Tony and his pursuit of free speech, and regretting his early demise.

A piece attributed to Gautama Buddha (563-483 B.C.) helped to guide his life and influenced his writings:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
 

Draft of January 25th, 2011.
Includes notes of interview with Pam Edwards of January 16th, 2011

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