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Barbados The Demise Of Sam Lords Castle

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Reproduced from Rosemary Parkinson’s Facebook Page

CLICO purchased a bunch of amazing historical properties on this island from Sam Lord’s Castle to Great Houses with promises made to restore and fulfill dreams the past owners could not because lack of finances…all have been left to rack and ruin by this ‘busted’ company.

Meanwhile years/months later nothing is being done about these heritage sites. Give them away for crying out loud instead of having them destroyed…there are hundreds of people here who would do anything to have these properties and bring them back to their old glory…including me for that matter!

There is a Great House in St. John that I would not only fix up but turn it into a haven for all creative people to live (for a small rent), paint, write, put on stage plays… whatever! But instead they lie there crying tears of filth, decay, bats and crack-heads, and the ghosts of yesteryear turning in their graves all the while!
Shameful lot of greedy and stuped people we are!

Not sure…but believe it was Andrew Hulzmeier who did this amazing video long before this fire…anyhow…it went all over Facebook and I do believe those in power saw it too…a very powerful message…but what was done? Nutting.

Today it has been burned to the ground.

And by the way guys, those of you who hate to see our historic buildings surviving and becoming useful.. there are lots more…so get out there with your bulldozers, your fire bombs and just get rid of the lot and be done with it…one time! There’s still time to ravish every one of them so that we are left finally with an island of square concrete blocks of no aesthetic value. And whilst you’re at it, please do not forget the old trees that have withstood the ravages of time by sheer willpower – we need to get rid of those too hear?

Such a disgraceful society we live in!!! But if that is what you want, go for it!

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37 responses to “Barbados The Demise Of Sam Lords Castle”

  1. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Sam Lord’s castle was owned by a thief called Sam Lord.
    Sam Lord’s castle was built with criminal funds.
    Sam Lord lured ships onto rocks so that he could rob them and probably killed the passengers and crews of those ships.

    What is there to celebrate about Sam Lord’s castle?

  2. David Avatar
    David

    What Sam Lords was and what happened to Sam Lords Castle last night are two different issues.

  3. St George's Dragon Avatar
    St George’s Dragon

    The Colosseum – used for gladiatorial games. It is estimated that half a million people and over a million animals died within its walls.
    The Palace at Versailles – the seat of power of the French Monarchy which was overthrown because of oppression.
    The Pyramids – probably built by slave labour.
    The Great Wall of China – a million people died constructing it.
    Tower of London – notorious for the imprisonment of prisoners who offended the King.
    I suggest that we follow Carson C. Cadogan’s logic and agree that there is nothing to celebrate about these buildings. Best to demolish them, I think.

  4. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Instead of cussin Carson, why not rebutt his reasoning.

    Ehample. Even though he is probably historically correct, the Castle provided a base for a Hotel and generated employment and taxes.

    Out of evil came good.

  5. ac Avatar
    ac

    O.k. History should be about the truth no matter how cruel or unkind. We should not ignore those facts which would make us uncomfortable. While finding comfort in those that make us feel good. History should always have the final word and should separate truth from fiction lest we forget the past in our hurry to reach the future.SAM LORDS CASTLE for better or for worse. What can one say now since it has been turn into a political football. I guess not all fairytales have happy endings!

  6. Wayne Smith Avatar
    Wayne Smith

    I saw a new clip recently about families that were allowed to restore and live on properties that were of significant historical interest. The state had funds for neither the restoration nor the upkeep. Restoration had to historically acurate. From time to time these properties would go on show. Would it be too much to introduce this to some of our dying historic properties?

  7. KISSMYA Avatar
    KISSMYA

    where is it written that Sam Lord was a pirate andlured ships onto the rocks

    which reputable History book has an account
    Wunna better check wunna facts

  8. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Barbados was owned by the British who imported and owned African Slaves
    Sam Lord lured and captured the British ships who were bringing more Brits to settle and cargo to sell
    What do we do now that we know some history?
    Destroy this little piece of rock that depends on the same Brits now called tourists. Yes on this little piece of rock we can stand on our own, we can destroy its history, we can destroy the hand that feeds us.

    People like Carson Cadogan went to school but the system failed him. He is an empty shell with no soul.

  9. The Scout Avatar
    The Scout

    People like C.C and G.P I put in the same classification as either morons or oxymorons. It takes a variety of persons to make this world so exciting. Continue guys, you’re proving us right.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    It is an absolute tragedy we as a country would allow such a prime piece of real estate to go rab.

  11. Yardbroom Avatar
    Yardbroom

    Nothing is “sacred” from the torch in Barbados, it has been so for centuries “very sad” but historically accurate. Even the Methodist Church in Bridgetown was put to the torch in 1823, because it had the audacity to admit slaves.

  12. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    @David

    It is GREED, SPITE and WICKEDNESS to let this prime piece of real estate go to rab.

  13. ?? Avatar
    ??

    CCC, is entitled to his opinion. No matter how wrong or distorted it may be. Someone said the education system failed him, I think they might be right

  14. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    JUST ANOTHER COUPLE OF NAILS IN BARBADOS’ COFFIN!

  15. David Avatar
    David

    Relavant links:

    CLICO On Course

    CLICO Holdings

    Castle Lift

  16. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Tell me; if this abandon structure was located in Chapmans Lane, Cats Castle, Nelson Street or any such places, would information of its distruction have made news on Barbados Underground?
    Would anyone waste time writing about it on facebook?

    Just asking.

  17. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    @Carson Cadogan aka DE VILLAGE IDIOT

    It is a pity that you cannot comprehend and reason. The education system failed you miserably!

  18. wonder Avatar
    wonder

    this is now one more mess up goverment should have look to restore castle.

  19. John Avatar
    John

    Yardbroom | October 22, 2010 at 6:42 AM |
    Nothing is “sacred” from the torch in Barbados, it has been so for centuries “very sad” but historically accurate. Even the Methodist Church in Bridgetown was put to the torch in 1823, because it had the audacity to admit slaves.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    If you check the baptism registers of the Anglican Church in 1823 you will find that large numbers of slaves gained admission to that Church through the sacrament of Baptism.

    In fact, if you go back to Baptismal Registers in the 1600’s you will find that slaves were being admitted from then.

    It follows that the Methodist Church could not have been burnt down because it was admitting slaves.

    Were that true the Anglican Churches would have been torched … but they were not!!!

    There has to be another historically accurate reason, which we are yet to hear, why the Methodist Church was burnt down in 1823.

    It cannot be because it admitted slaves!!

  20. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Sam Lords castle burned down.

    Life goes on.

  21. John Avatar
    John

    … and if you look at the Registers you will find the Christian names of slave and free on the same pages in those Registers.

    There are two ways I found to distinguish a slave’s name from a free person’s name by looking at the index without having to resort to the Baptismal certificate.

    One way is to look for a surname.

    The free person had their surname entered as well as the Christian name the Church gave them.

    The slave had no surname entered, only the Christian name given by the Church at Baptism.

    The second way is to look for a small cross.

    There is usually one beside the slave’s Christian name, but not the free person’s name.

    I think the cross is to indicate that there was no surname to enter.

    This method is not idiot proof as there were slaves with surnames, even in 1823, but not many …. just as there were also a few freed persons without surnames.

    The taking of surnames by the freed slaves occurred gradually and it would appear, as needed.

    There is a book called a”A Colony of Citizens” by Laurent DuBois about Guadeloupe which is worth reading if only to appreciate the huge differences in the emacipation experience between French and English possessions … one of the reasons I think why to a Bajan the phrase “Go to France” has the meaning it does.

    Please note, I am not saying that the English were angels, …. or for that matter ….. the Anglicans!!!

  22. checkit-out Avatar
    checkit-out

    David; Thanks for those links in your @6.58am post. They are very informative. The Rawdon Adams address and the Nation Newspaper accounts are quite telling. Looks like there might be a need for a commission of inquiry into CLICO Barbados and its operations and interactions from at least 2005.

  23. Yardbroom Avatar
    Yardbroom

    Hi John @ October 22, 2010 at 12:21pm
    @ Yardbroom
    Quote: . . .” There has to be another historically accurate reason which we are yet to hear, why the Methodist Church was burnt down in 1883″. . .

    “It cannot be because it admitted slaves”

    ” In the period 1820-26 (the year of passage of the Slave Consolidated Act which reformed existing slave laws) there were stormy sessions within the House of assembly and between that body and the planter-dominated Council. The ameiloration proposals coming from the British parliament and the pressure brought to bear on the island by the humanitarian movement created considerable apprehension. Fear was evident and in this charged atmosphere clashes were inevitable. In 1823, an enraged white mob completely destroyed the Methodist chapel in Bridgetown, because it had opened its doors to slaves.”
    page:28
    The White Minority In The Caribbean
    James Curry Publishers Oxford
    ISBN 976-8123-10-9

    I will not push this one John, I wll leave it to Sam Lord and his lantern hanging from a tree.

  24. Yardbroom Avatar
    Yardbroom

    Ps: 1823

  25. John Avatar
    John

    Yardbroom

    The historical fact (raw scientific date) of the baptismal register vs a historian’s surmise.

    Which do you think should prevail?

    Me ….. I found out in my youth to go to the source of the data and not to trust anything a historian, or for that matter most people, tell me.

    I have read the passage to which you refer although in a different context.

    I think it might have been quoted verbatim in the papers year in year out every April when it comes time to justify the elevation to the status of national hero of Sarah Ann Gill, herself a Methodist.

    Once I got to understand the Baptismal Registers I dismissed it as rubbish.

    Oh, certainly the passage has some facts in it, but its conclusion is what is flawed.

    The historical fact of the Baptismal Register just doesn’t fit the surmise published by James Curry Publishers Oxford in their book.

    BTW, what is the name of the author/historian?

    You could expect a newspaper to follow the surmise because it was printed in a book, …

    ……. but cuh dear man, …..

    …. don’t just repeat surmise ad nauseum because they see it written down somewhere …

    It becomes propaganda and Bajans might actually start believing it.

    Check the facts.

    Question and search out the truth.

    The answer to a simple question like “at the time of the disestablishment of the Aglican Church in Barbados, how many Bajans were Methodists and how many were Anglicans” would have exposed the flawed reasoning of the historian.

    … or “why so many Anglican Churches?”

    …. or “Anglican schools”?

    What’s your take on the Quaker influence around that time?

  26. Yardbroom Avatar
    Yardbroom

    Hi John
    I just made a “light” throw away remark from memory; knowing that I did not just make it up and you are asking me to go to my library and look at copies of originals. Do you realize it is Friday and I am chilling. . . we can have a serious discussion later on: Quakers, Religion and Caribbean Slave Society In The Early 19th Century.
    Cuh dear man chill!!!

  27. harry Avatar
    harry

    pave paradise and put up a parking lot.
    wonder how long till condos go up?????????
    wonder why police not looking for arsonist.?
    wonder why SAM lords went to pot to begin with.
    these foreigners should be made to keep their hotels and
    resorts up to a certain standard or forfeit it.
    truth is the tourist can not swim in that rough water and shore break up there.
    but the castle itself could have been mad into a small hotel.with
    a twist.
    does this have anything to do with st Phillip not being allowed to build new hotels???????????????????????????
    probably.
    may be there is a loophole in that law when it is burnt down???????
    well ,well what a surprise!

  28. harry Avatar
    harry

    and what does this have to do with slavery?????
    you know blacks were not the only slaves in the history of the world.
    don’t you?
    get over it!
    so the connection is that slaves were admitted to sam lords.??????
    wunna does meck me laugh doe.lol

  29. John Avatar
    John

    Yardbroom I cool here sitting down resting myself for the moment.

    The blogs, when I get a chance to comment, are relaxing, a way of chilling.

    Just was in the front contemplating the beauty of the moon tonight.

    No blog could match that.

    I chill whenever and wherever I can because when life gets busy I got to go with the flow so all I can do is watch the blogs in passing and long for a break to contribute.

    I think a historian is supposed to have gone to the source data, examined it and put together a plausible theory of what happened without ever having witnessed events.

    It isn’t easy, but it is easy to make mistakes.

    I am not suggesting you go to originals, just don’t accept the written word too trustingly.

    Be aware that the source data is getting more and more accessible and historians’ theories can more easily be tested against that data, sometimes even on the internet.

    Technology!

    Just thought I would throw in the Quakers to keep you on your toes.

    They have a century or so on the Methodists.

    Remarkable people, remarkable contribution. Almost invisible.

    I am trying to figure them out on the internet and from source data I have been through over and over again for years without seeing their clear footmarks.

    Beginning to read their signs but wish I was further on.

  30. Yardbroom Avatar
    Yardbroom

    Hi John
    In truth the Quakers have not been given the credit they deserve during the slave period – not that any particular group was perfect – as they did not promote what they did, with the same vigour as other religions; who were not in the teeth of the storm, but were part of the storm….but that is for another day.

    Original research is at the base of serious scholarship, but one must be aware, that often starts with an individual’s view of the situation. It can be a value judgement from where he/she stands. A comprehensive selection of views from other sources to give a broad spread and then an in-depth appraisal, “I” find helpful.

    Re: Chilling, I have reached a stage in my life, that just to walk along the sea shore with the breeze in my face, feel the warm fine sand envelope my toes, and watch the waves roll and dance with glee. . . brings me great pleasure, all free.

    I have paid my dues and is free in spirit and at peace with myself. When I do not see the light early one morning; I hope I will be in a state of tranquillity, perhaps too much of a homily.

    With your indulgence, I will scuttle away like a soldier crab; hoping that my carapace will protect me from the red hot embers of the Sam Lords Castle “nightmare”.

  31. Tell me Why Avatar
    Tell me Why

    Barbados Prime Minister, The Honourable David Thompson is DEAD. He died around 2.10 am today at his marital home in St. Philip with his wife and three children at his side. All political divide should put all politics aside and pray for his family, his friends and the people of Barbados on this sad passing. May he rest in Peace.

  32. Rosemary Parkinson Avatar
    Rosemary Parkinson

    I do not want to believe it but if it is so that Prime Minister David Thompson has indeed left this mortal coil, tears come to me eyes. I met the Prime Minister for the first time at the beginning of this year and have been in contact with him from time to time….he was very supportive of the work I am doing on a culinary tour of Barbados. In fact, I can almost say that I fell deeply ‘in love’ with his soft-spoken ways and his faith that all would be just fine. Even in his days of fighting for his health, he found time to send me a little note of encouragement. I prayed for this not to happen but someone stronger than all of us needed him elsewhere. My deepest condolences first to his wife, three children and to the people of Barbados. I believe Prime Minister Thompson deeply loved this island. Another beautiful mind gone. Rest in peace Sir.

  33. Dan Monat Avatar
    Dan Monat

    There are many people who gained enjoyment from Sam Lord’s. I was the CFO during Marriott’s last years and enjoyed my 1st years of marriage living in a small home just off the grounds. We attended many Shipwreck parties on the beach on Thursday nights. My 1st son was born while we were in Barbados. I’ve lived in many places. Never have I found such good people than the Bajans of Barbados. I miss the island tremendously and hope to return to retire near the Castle. My wife and I cried when we saw the destruction to the castle and it’s demise. I hope Mr. Grant and Clico can’t sleep at night know the tradegy they caused to many people and this great place!

  34. Dan Monat Avatar
    Dan Monat

    P.S. I hope one day many of us can get together and rebuild this great place!

  35. David Avatar
    David

    @Dan Monat

    Thanks for sharing.

    Sam Lords was a beautiful property.

    The fact we have destroyed it, is a stain in Bajan history which we regrettably will never be able to remove.

  36. EMC Avatar
    EMC

    Hello, his exploits our detailed in numerous books as well as internet websites. On a more personal note, I am a direct descendant of Samuel Hall Lord and can assure you with absolute certainty that he did in fact engage in piracy.

  37. EMC Avatar
    EMC

    Because it is part of the island’s history, whether good or bad, it is still part of the whole. That’s what makes it worthy of celebration. Not what took place there. Just it’s mere existence.

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