Norman Fowler(Editorial note: This entry did not result from an interview nor from an obituary. It was developed in part from information received from Adrian Clarke (asc12@btinternet.com) who is writing a biography of Peter Watson, and in part from information received from Christopher Varlack, Acting Chief records Officer of the Virgin Islands. But this piece also includes source material from other locations such as Wikipedia; “The Virgin Islands”, a book written by George T. Eggleston and published by the D. Van Nostrand Co. in 1959; and “Broken Dreams”, a book on British Football by Tom Bower published by Simon and Schuster in 2003.)
The Norman Fowler story is an interesting if incomplete one in the history of expatriates in the BVI. Fowler was an American who may have been in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. After the War he left the US and he lived in England from about 1950 until 1956 with his lover, Peter Watson, who was a well-known, wealthy English art collector and benefactor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Watson_%28arts_benefactor%29). Watson was found “mysteriously drowned in his bath” on 3rd May 1956, aged 47. Wikipedia reports that “Some have suggested that he was murdered by his young American lover, Norman Fowler”, and this suggestion seems to have stemmed from Hugo Vickers biography of Cecil Beaton (which I have not yet seen). It would appear that Fowler was never charged with this crime, however, and reportedly returned to England on a number of occasions in subsequent years.
Fowler is reported to have inherited the bulk of Watson’s estate and left England for the Caribbean. According to George Egglestone who met Fowler in Roadtown in 1958 (and thought him to be a “slim earnest ascetic-looking” Englishman), he sailed his 12-ton vessel Catania across the Atlantic in 1956 with well-known single-handed sailor Edward C. Allcard. Fowler sold Catania in St. Thomas and decided to settle in the Virgin Islands. He was present in the British Virgin Islands, certainly by 1958, perhaps earlier.
His interest as a “Builder” of the Virgin Islands stems from the fact that he did have a significant amount of money, and was prepared to invest it in a number of interesting – if slightly “off the wall’ schemes, including what Eggleston describes as a “Three Pronged Venture” to improve various aspects of life on Tortola. The first “prong” involved setting up a newspaper, The Tortola Times, in the rear of a building on Main Street in Roadtown. The remains of the building in which the paper was housed still remain, albeit in considerable disrepair. In the front part of the same building were the offices and vault of the second “prong”, namely his bank, The Tortola Trust Company. Upstairs the third “prong” consisted of The Tortola Theatre, a hundred-seat cinema (with room for fifty more, standing!) that showed four performances a week – apparently grossing Fowler $1,200 per month.
More interesting, perhaps, was his previous entrepreneurial venture - to promote shark fishing on Anegada. According to Egglestone, he invested $16,000 in trying to start a fishermen’s cooperative “to raise the standard of living of the poor people on the outer islands”. The plan was to ship the shark hides to New Jersey in order to produce exotic, durable, fine-grained “leather”. A small airport was constructed at the western end of Anegada near Cow Wreck Beach, to facilitate this industry. For various reasons this enterprise was unsuccessful. The airport was rarely used and was abandoned after the shark fishery failed.
Most fascinating is the fact that Fowler at one time owned Wickham’s Cay (the “real one”, not the reclaimed contemporary land that continues the same name), which he later sold to Ken Bates who is better known in England as a controversial football entrepreneur, and a man who made his money by “breaking the rules”. It seems likely that Fowler had (in a paternalistic way) the best interests of the Virgin Islands at heart. This cannot be said about Ken Bates. Fowler purchased the land from the Honourable Isaac Glanville Fonseca. Bates’ attempts to lease (for 199 years) both large parts of Anegada and the areas of Roadtown now known as Wickham’s Cay 1 and 2, make up a significant part of the recent history of the Virgin Islands, largely because Noel Lloyd (and others) engaged in a successful fight against Bates plans through the newly formed Positive Action Movement (http://bvinews.com/bvi/second-viewing-for-noel-lloyd-a-patriotic-man-celebrating-his-life/). Bates’ scheme collapsed in 1971. One version of Norman Fowler’s part in this story is to be found in “Broken Dreams” by Tom Bower (pp: 109-110).
During a business visit to the Virgin Islands in 1966, Bates met Norman Fowler, an American who had negotiated an unusual agreement with the British administrator of the colony. Development of the islands’ economy, explained Fowler, had been hampered by suspicious natives and the absence of flat land around Road Town, the capital of Tortola, a mountainous island with a population of 2,000. With the approval of the British government, Fowler planned to exploit the explosion of tourism across the region by reclaiming 2.5 acres of water between the capital and an islet at Wickham’s Cay. The new link would release 60 acres of land for the construction of houses, hotels and a marina. Fowler’s operation had, however, collapsed. Every day’s successful dredging was reversed during the night as the sea crept back over the reclaimed land. The fault, Bates realized, could be rectified by hiring a competent Dutch engineering company. A stark comparison appealed to Bates. Land in Road Town cost $3 to $4 per square foot, while in St. Thomas, in the nearby US Virgin Islands, land values had risen to over $40 per square foot. The reclaimed land in Tortola, Bates believed, covered with a luxury holiday complex, would earn profits of possibly $50 million. Aged thirty-five, Bates saw an opportunity to earn money in a tax haven and avoid Britain’s 90% rate of income tax. Telephoning Torquil Norman from the Treasure Isle Hotel, Bates bubbled excitedly about “earning enough in three years to retire for ever.”Fortunately, Bates’ scheme failed, although he apparently still has a presence in the BVI via a number of offshore companies he owns. Fowler left the Virgin Islands in the late 1960s, soon after the Wickham’s Cay debacle. His schemes had been largely unsuccessful and he did not appear to get on with the “natives” who would not “cooperate” with him. He died on Nevis, probably in 1970 (perhaps 1971). He also, interestingly, drowned in his bathtub. Although he does not fulfil one of my criteria for Builder (a residence of twenty years), his attempts to stimulate the local economy and society in very difficult times, and in very innovative ways, make him worthy of inclusion. His involvement with Ken Bates also makes him a small but key part of a critical period in the history of the Virgin Islands.Fowler agreed to transfer the rights owned by his company, the Tortola Development and Trust Co., to Bates. Once the deal was completed, Bates began negotiations with Martin Staveley, the local British administrator representing the Foreign and Colonial Office.
I suppose it could be argued that Ken Bates’ part in BVI affairs should be included in my ‘Builders” profiles. But his significant involvement was short and, to say the least, it very hard to see him described as a Builder of the country. He is better known locally as a BVI Exploiter. More information on the Ken Bates/Wickham’s Cay/Noel Lloyd controversy can be found in Broken Dreams, and in A Patriotic Man a ninety minute documentary, made by two BVI filmmakers – Andrea and Amanda Wilson – together with Jahphix TV and the BVI Social Development Department – which tells the story of Noel Lloyd’s life through interviews with Noel himself, and the supporters, friends and family who remember the central part Noel played in stopping the Bates Hill developments.
Draft of December 14th, 2011