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Presents BUILDERS OF TORTOLA |
Jill Tattersall Although Jill was conceived in India where her father had been Governor of Bihar and Orissa (a former province of British India), she was born in Cornwall, UK, after the family had moved back to England in 1931. They settled in Maldon, Essex, a small “Domesday Book” town on the Blackwater estuary, where they started a new venture in horticulture - growing apples. Jill now lives in the Sir Francis Drake condominiums at Nanny Cay.
Fast forward to the 1960s by which time she was married to Robin Tattersall, and was an avid sailor and equestrian. He was a surgeon at the time in the UK but wanted to have a more general medical practice than seemed likely under the contemporary UK system. Jill began to research overseas locations. The Turks and Caicos were a possibility and they very nearly went to Nigeria (to the point of having some cedar chests made to hold their luggage), but chance intervened. At almost the last minute Robin came across an advert for a surgeon’s post in the BVI, Jill researched and found that it was a great place for riding and sailing, and as the saying goes, ‘the rest is history’.
The Tattersall family (their boys were James, Mark and Simon – Johnny was born in the BVI) left their “modern house” in Wimbledon, and set sail on a banana boat for the Caribbean in 1965. With them they took a sloop they had had built in Wales - called Summer’s Cloud after Jill’s first book - the aforementioned cedar chests full of their belongings, and the furniture (paid for by the UK government, but which they had been able to choose) for their Tortola residence. Jill later wrote a story of her trip entitled “Storm Passage to Paradise” for Woman’s Own, a British magazine (which calls itself ‘one of the best loved weeklies for women’) that had also serialised her book. This serialisation covered the cost of shipping the sloop as deck cargo.
They landed first in St. Lucia and then, after a stop in Grenada, came to Tortola on Summer’s Cloud, finding that not only was it impractical for Caribbean waters, but that its red sails made it a danger as it could not be easily seen by other, larger vessels. After arrival in Tortola, the sloop didn’t get much more use. When they arrived the Tattersalls found that the Dick-Reads who they soon met, were among only some 50 people who had not been born in the BVI. – with perhaps 50 others who had left the islands and later returned (including ‘amazing people’ such as Cyril Romney and H. Lavity Stout – both of whom were late Chief Ministers of the country).
They initially stayed at the Fort Burt Hotel and then the Treasure Isle Hotel (two of the very few then in existence), but then moved to a house (under construction when they arrived) near the present Magistrate’s Court in John’s Hole. Later they moved to Greenbanks Estate just off the Ridge Road. At that time life was much simpler than now. Initially Robin got a “horse allowance” for emergency transport to help him in his work. The island was “full of donkeys”, but had few motor vehicles. Later a Volkswagen Beetle was obtained (with license plate # 30!!) and well used by the Tattersalls. Their refrigerator was actually an icebox, until electricity was supplied. The telephone service was less sophisticated than now, with one of the ‘wind-up’ phones currently only seen in museums and movies. Initially, they were not welcomed by everybody – foreigners were few and far between in those days – but before long there were demonstrations urging them to be allowed to remain in the BVI – which of course they did, “despite all”. After that “everything fell into place, and people were lovely to them.” Robin worked at the hospital, but was also allowed to set up his own clinic, which he opened on Main Street, in close proximity to Peebles. He often sailed to the hospital from his house, as it was quicker and easier.
Since that time, of course a lot has changed. The Royal Engineers were instrumental in building the first airfield – which soon helped to bring the tourists in. They flew out at times in a Twin Otter to Antigua after reaching the airport in the Austin Champ (jeep) using the old-fashioned but effective ferry between Beef Island and Tortola. The Queen’s visit in 1966 spurred on changes to the road network and to bridges and these have continued ever since. Jill remembers the road to the West End being opened. Electricity, available to the Tattersalls in their early years, and only in Roadtown, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. is now much more widespread. There were more rum distilleries in those days (only one now remains, Callwood’s in Cane Garden Bay) including Todman’s at the top of Joe’s Hill.
Jill helped out in the medical practice (she is a trained Occupational Therapist) and traveled the islands to the clinics on Anegada, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke, commonly in their own motorboat as the government vessel was often out of service. Eventually, in 1976, Jill and Robin bought the private Bougainvillea Clinic (“The Purple Palace”) and changed their residence once more. The structure was built originally to be an elaborate hotel, with decorative styles and furnishings from Italy and elsewhere, but this was never opened. It sits on top of old ‘Fort Road Town’ on Russell Hill. The strong room of the fort is still part of the clinic.
She taught her children in their early years, but also continued to develop her own impressive curriculum vitae. Jill has acted as Reuter’s correspondent in the BVI. She has written many books (see for instance http://www.librarything.com/author/tattersalljill ) of both fiction and non-fiction. She has become a well-known watercolour artist and writes poetry (see also http://www.missnancysjournal.moonfruit.com/#/jill-tattersall/4513004875 ). She has given community service on the BVI in several ways such as the Library Committee. In her ‘spare time’ she has become a prominent local historian and archaeologist, with a considerable knowledge of local place-name (toponymic) origins, as well as being an internationally known expert on the lost languages of the Carib and the Arawak.
Although her sons all live elsewhere around the world Jill, who is now divorced, has no plans to move. She will stay in the BVI with their “almost perfect climate” and write and paint, and help out with birding in this ‘cross roads’ location. She obviously still keeps very busy.
(Second) Draft of February 2nd of interview of January 13th 2010
Builders of Tortola Guide