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Presents BUILDERS OF TORTOLA |
Dr. Robin E. Tattersall OBE, FRSCI Robin Tattersall has lived in the Shark Bay Road area of Brewers Bay since 1996. He has always liked this part of Tortola, which thanks to the Shirley family that owns much of the land in his area has remained largely unchanged over the years. Robin arrived in Tortola on October 10th 1965 on his 28’ sloop with his wife and family (see also the Jill Tattersall Interview in this collection for details about the trip) to take up the post of Government Surgeon (from 1965-76). They lived for a short time in the (old) Fort Burt Hotel, before moving to the first Public Works built house at John’s Hole, near what is now the Museum that was then on the waterfront – before ‘reclamation’. Tortola was then a “very rural place”. He has also lived in Green Bank (1967-73), becoming one of, if not the first, white expat to live in ‘the country’. He has also resided on Camano for a couple of years, in the Hodges Creek area (where he still moors his yacht), and (for a time in the mid 1970s) in what became his clinic, the “Purple Palace” in central Roadtown.
Robin was born in 1930 in Cheshire, UK, in what is now part of Greater Manchester. Both his father and grandfather had been ‘into’ yachting, so it was no surprise that Robin spent much of his youth in boats. Much of this time was in Abersoch, a village on the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales where he later went to school for a couple of years (in an all-Welsh school!) because of the Second World War. He was later educated at Manchester Grammar School and in Cambridge, before entering St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London – then located at Hyde Park Corner. He played his way through school (rugby) and also worked as a male model with Richard Avedon and Suzy Parker – a brief but spectacular career (“a means to an end”) that had him appearing on the front pages of Vogue, Harpers and Queen.
As he was finishing medical school, at 35 years of age, he saw an article in the British Medical Journal which encouraged new doctors to spend two years abroad. As Robin wanted to be a general surgeon rather than a specialist this would give him the opportunity of killing two birds with one stone. The Tattersalls eventually settled on the BVI (see also the Jill Tattersall Interview in this collection). Although he left Britain on a “Banana Boat” he arrived at Roadtown on his 28’ sloop via St. Lucia, much to the surprise of the locals who were expecting a rich playboy doctor on a huge yacht.
When Robin arrived on Tortola he found a largely-subsistence society with no TV and poor communications (e.g. only a few dozen telephones), and a minimum of facilities and infrastructure. Main Street was really the only street – and it was very different from today. There were maybe 50 white expats in the BVI at this time – including the Tattersalls. Although life was simple on the islands the people were magnificent. It was hard work but it was much appreciated by the islanders. Agriculture of a sort was the major way of life. People were scattered across many islands – all of which were his responsibility, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The medical budget in the early years was some $120,000 per year. It made one realise what you could do without. Robin found it stimulating, fascinating, and satisfying. He did his own anesthesiology – and almost everything else. He had to improvise and make his own instruments and creatively cope with a shortage of blood and blood donors. He read an article that suggested that coconut juice (a natural isotonic beverage with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood) could be used in place of blood plasma. It worked!! It was great from the professional point of view – he could not have had the same kind of career in England.
The government gave him a $100 horse allowance in his first year, but not being much of a horseman he had this converted to a boat allowance in the second year – most people were easily accessible by water. When he bought a (faster) Bertram vessel (the government boat was often ‘indisposed’) he became known as the “flying doctor”. He traveled to Virgin Gorda and Anegada and the other islands. Everywhere the pace of life was very different, of course, to England and Europe.
Life was challenging and interesting, and Robin and his family stayed after the end of his first contract – and he has of course, remained ever since. Although still working for the government, he also set up his own clinic, which later evolved into the Bougainvillea Clinic (“The Purple Palace”). When a locally born surgeon returned to Tortola in the mid 1970s, the government said Robin could stay on the island as a surgeon but not use government facilities. This further stimulated the growth of his own clinic. His practice also changed, moving from general surgery towards a greater degree of plastic (aesthetic and reconstructive) surgery. He had been ‘turned on’ to this form of surgery by the well-known plastic surgeon, Henry Elliott Blake back at St. Georges, and was pleased by the opportunity to do more in this area of expertise.
For somebody who came to the BVI when there were few white people and almost no vehicles (his first car, a VW, had license plate # “300”), clearly everything has changed. And it is almost impossible for Robin to pick out the ‘major changes’. The whole way of life has altered, with agriculture diminishing - and the once common donkeys almost disappearing. In the mid 1960s Robin Tattersall had a salary of $3500 – plus his $100 horse allowance. His income is now somewhat greater, although he has no horse allowance any more.
Tourism has become a major pillar of the economy, although Robin, like many others, has yet to be convinced of the value of cruise ships. He does not see a significant financial contribution to the country as a whole from ‘cruisers’, although some groups may benefit. From his window in the Purple Palace, a host of cruise ships in the harbour may even be seen as visual pollution! Ironically Robin now sees sailing as less important in the BVI than it was, with fewer sailors, fewer races, more catamarans and more power-boats. But he admits his ‘monohull bias’ may be affecting his perceptions to some extent.
When Robin came wooden houses were the norm. Now huge concrete structures abound. They are bigger but may not be safer in a hurricane. The built up areas have grown but in a haphazard way, with no integrated planning. One cost has been the traditional ‘look ‘ of the place, which is still apparent on other Caribbean islands. Heavy equipment is ubiquitous. There seems to be an obsession with road widening (the ‘four line highway’ through central Roadtown being only the most obvious example) when some restriction on the number of vehicles on the roads should be a concern.
Government has grown incredibly, providing employment, but also (as has been recently admitted by the government) financial and budgetary challenges. Along with bigger government have come new and more officials, higher malpractice insurance, more restrictions (à la UK), and more administration. And it has all happened so quickly. The new hospital may be a boon, but it may be too expensive for the country to afford, and could be a millstone around the BVIs’ neck. What is needed is great primary care on the islands, with the rest being farmed out elsewhere.
If Robin was to have arrived here in 2010 instead of 1965, he feels life would have been easier in some respects, but harder in others. There are more and better facilities, but in many ways life is more frustrating, and less challenging and thus less satisfying. Would he have done thing differently? He jokes about running a bareboat business (he was once a partner in the first bareboat charter boat company in the BVI – pre Moorings) where he could have made more money, but concludes that he prefers the road he did take – “it’s been very pleasant”.
Robin Tattersall, a ‘belonger’ since 1977, has certainly made a difference to the BVI, both with his general practice and his plastic and reconstructive surgery. Although Robin sold the Bougainvillea Clinic to Dr. Heskith Vanterpool in early 2010 he is still carrying on his surgical practice as before. He “needs” to keep working, and will as long as he enjoys it. He was 80 years old two weeks after the completion of this interview and was planning to ‘power walk’ an October 2010 marathon in Athens marking the 2500th anniversary of the “Battle of Marathon” in 490 B.C.
Second Draft of July 26th, 2010 of interview of July 8th, 2010
Builders of Tortola Guide