James Hulbert

Jim Hulbert comes from Washington D.C., USA, where he lived for most of his life – other than college, graduate school, and while traveling. He worked for the American television network NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and then for the National Association of Broadcasters. “The National Association of Broadcasters is the voice for the nation's radio and television broadcasters. As the premier trade association for broadcasters, NAB advances the interests of (its) members in federal government, industry and public affairs; improves the quality and profitability of broadcasting; encourages content and technology innovation; and spotlights the important and unique ways stations serve their communities) [http://www.nab.org/]. He currently lives at “Sophie’s Villa” (named by a friend after Jim’s cat) in Belmont, and has owned this house for over thirty years. Unlike many other expats Jim has never owned his own boat.

Jim and his late wife first came to the Caribbean around 1970, traveling to several different islands including the USVI. They first came to the BVI (Virgin Gorda  - but found it more isolated than they wanted) around 1973. When they visited Tortola they came to Smugglers’ Cove and loved it. They felt it was as perfect as anything you could find. They bought some land in the Belmont Estate, which at that time had lots of ‘roads’ but only two other homes. Their house was completed in 1977. They used it as a vacation house for nine years and then moved there permanently in 1986 after retirement. They traveled a lot but spent at least nine months of the year in their Belmont home. Coming to the BVI was the best thing the Hulberts ever did. Jim’s wife died in 2001 after 48 years of marriage. He now has a new partner, an old friend, Ann.

Thirty years ago, there were few white people on Tortola, little tourism, and few services. The airport was still small and unsuited to larger aircraft. The Hulberts accessed Belmont by traveling by ferry from St. Thomas. This was quicker and easier than flying in through Beef Island. Tortola was relatively undeveloped. Roadtown was only a tiny place, even when the Queen came in 1977, and was taken around he island in Bob Denniston’s 1966 Lincoln Continental (now rusting away below Jim’s house in the bush by Smugglers’ Cove beach). Jim remembers Riteway consisting of two small shops on Flemming Street with fish and seafood sales taking place in between the two buildings. The Hulberts brought their own meat frozen in a cooler for the first few years when they were only vacationing for a few weeks at a time.

‘Donkey power’ was still a common means of transport back then and many of the present day roads were only donkey trails. Most local people they met had never traveled off of the island, and many had never been more than a few miles from where they lived. It was hard for them to understand the local people’s language as there had been little schooling in Standard English at that time, and most North Americans found it hard to follow Caribbean Island dialects. But they got by. Jim feels that there was less of a black-white problem then. There were few white people, mostly ‘Brits’ and a few Americans. Most people had little to do with these expats. Now there are, of course, many more foreigners here from many more countries.

Although the Hulberts had planned to see the islands in more depth, this was not easy to do in the early days. They were only here for short periods of time until they retired. But eventually they explored Tortola and they saw all of the islands. He regrets that they never made many black friends, but feels that many people, both black and white, have voluntarily segregated themselves into somewhat self-contained social groups.

For some time after they moved here in the early 1970s there was at best slow development, but economic growth has speeded up a lot in recent years, and Jim feels most of the changes have been ”for the good”. There are now a lot of stores and restaurants and other services. There are many more houses and businesses. The number of vehicles has increased a lot, as has the number and quality of the roads. Jim marvels at the three traffic jams you now get daily in Roadtown (morning, lunchtime and evening), and remarks that the coming of the first traffic light was a real event for the island.

Recent development has brought its own challenges. The environment is an issue – with the Smugglers’ Cove debacle being a particularly good example of what can go wrong if people are not aware and careful. He is pleased that many of the people who objected to the development were belongers – it was not a white expat against black belonger issue. Because of the pace of recent development, and government policies, which aim for ‘selected’ overseas buyers, the price of housing is now very high. There is still no public transportation and this is problem in itself, plus one that has led to an enormous increase in the number of vehicles on Tortola.

Jim has seen the gradual evolution of government in the BVI, which he has found very interesting. He recognises that the government is often torn between increasing the number of jobs on the island and wrecking what is good in the BVI. Again, Smugglers’ Cove is a good illustration. Development has arguably been too great, but that seems to be the way the world is going. Tortola is a peaceful but prosperous island. And its non-violent ways have helped it grow.

If he ‘had his time over’ Jim would do nothing different. He and his wife had a great time in the BVI. The Hulberts took a big chance – as they really didn’t know much about the place - and it worked out well. Although they did not ‘give’ a lot to the country (other than by putting money into its economy) Jim has helped out in a local Day Care Centre. Although the standard of medical care impresses Jim and is getting better all the time, he is spending more time back in Washington D.C. now – mostly in the summer. It is closer to family. But he has no plans to leave the BVI permanently and still spends several winter months here. His daughter hopes to keep the next generations of Hulberts on Tortola.
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Draft of April 4th 2010, of interview of March 31st, 2010.

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