Barbados Celebrates Its Heroes on

National Heroes’ Day

April 28, 2010

National Heroes’ Day is a public holiday in Barbados.

National Heroes’ Day is a public holiday in Barbados.

Trafalgar Square, Bridgetown

A country occupying the easternmost island of the West Indies. Probably first visited by the Portuguese, the island was settled by the British in the early 1600s, became a separate colony in 1885, and gained full independence in 1966. Bridgetown is the capital and the largest city. Population: 281,000.

The Right ExcellentSamuel Jackman Prescod (1806 – September 26, 1871) became the first person of African descent to be elected to Barbados’s Parliament in 1843.

He also helped found the Liberal Party, whose following included small landowners, businessmen, and coloured clerks. The Barbadian parliament has enacted that he should be called “The Right Excellent” and that his life should be Celebrated on National Heroes Day .

According the Barbados’ Order of National Heroes Act, those people that have “given outstanding service to Barbados”, “contributed to the improvement of the economic and social conditions of Barbados”, and demonstrated “visionary and pioneering leadership, extraordinary achievement and the attainment of the highest excellence” will be honored every year on April 28, a day set aside as National Heroes’ Day.

History of National Heroes’ Day in Barbados

The country of Barbados has been shaped by the vision and achievement of numerous people, and in 1998, the parliament wanted to recognize those people. In April of that year, Prime Minister Owen Arthur announced that April 28 would be celebrated as Barbados’ National Heroes’ Day.

The day would serve as a means of both taking pride in post-independence nationhood and also recognizing the contributions that Barbadians have made.

Arthur also announced that Trafalgar Square in Bridgetown would be renamed to National Heroes Square.

The April 28 date was chosen in honor of the birth of Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, one of the ten national heroes remembered every year.

The current list of heroes remembered each year is:

Bussa (????-1816)
Sarah Ann Gill (1795-1866)
Samuel Jackman Prescod (1806-1871)
Dr. Charles Duncan O’Neal (1879-1936)
Clement Osbourne Payne (1904-1941)
Sir Grantley Herbert Adams (1898-1987)
Rt. Hon. Errol Walton Barrow (1920-1987)
Sir Hugh Worrell Springer (1913-1994)
Sir Frank Leslie Walcott (1916-1999)
Sir Garfield St. Aubyn Sobers (1936- )

Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow

Each of the ten received the title “Right Excellent” as part of the act. The act was amended in 2009 to confer extra privileges to living heroes.

Barbados’ National Heroes’ Day Traditions, Customs and Activities

Schools are particularly involved every year with spreading awareness of Barbados’ national heroes to the youth.

Special historical presentations, re-enactments, and games are typical fare for Barbados’ youth.

Heroes Day Cup

www.barbados.org/chess/

Additionally, sports are typical on the island on this day. Games like hockey, soccer, and even chess are to be found. In April and May of 2009, Barbados had its first Heroes Day Cup, a chess tournament celebrating the people and history of the game, with festivities tied directly into the National Heroes’ Day festivities.

In the heart of Bridgetown, many celebrations take place at Heroes Square. Food, music, and fireworks are to be found, with many stalls giving others the opportunity to discover more about Barbados’ culture and the people that have shaped it over the years.

Heroes Square – Bridgetown

This is located in front of the parliament buildings and was known as Trafalgar Square until 1999. It is home to a large bronze statue of Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, which was erected in 1813, and was actually there before the one in London! However as this statue does not commemorate a Barbadian, it was moved from prime position to the edge of the gardens in 1990.

Here you will also find the Cenotaph, which commemorates Barbadians who lost their lives in both World Wars.

And finally in the square you will find the Dolphin Fountain, which commemorates piped water into Bridgetown in 1861. However the fountain’s water supply is never turned on to show appreciation for the limited water resources on the island.

At the government buildings that overlook Carlisle Bay, you will find a bronze statue of Sir Grantley Adams, the first premier of Barbados.

At the NIS Building, just off Collymore Rock you will find a bronze statue to Sir Frank Walcott.

In Rock Hall you will find a monument that represents freedom; it commemorates a family of freed slaves and the village of Rock Hall, which was the first free village in Barbados.

The most famous of emancipation statues is that of Bussa, a huge bronze statue that shows a slave with broken chains, it is located on Highway 1 on the Emancipation roundabout. Bussa is rumoured to have led the slave revolt which led to emancipation.

There is a bronze statue of Sir Garfield Sobers, a great honour to this cricketing legend as he gets to drive past it every day and know how proud his fellow countrymen are of his sporting achievements. It is located on Highway 1, at the Sir Garfield Sobers roundabout.

On the west coast road you will see Needlepoint, a monument erected to honour those who lost their lives in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner as it took off from Barbados, killing all 73 people aboard. The monument was unveiled during the 1998 visit of Cuban President Fidel Castro to Barbados.

At Gun Hill Signal Station, you will find a 10ft high Lion, which was carved by Captain Henry Wilkinson an officer at Gun Hill Signal Station in 1868 from one single rock.

In Holetown, you will find two monuments – one marks the 1625 landing of the first settlers in Barbados, who were the English crew of the Olive Blossom, the other is to commemorate those who lost their lives in both the World Wars.

There are also two new statues to be made in bronze to honour the Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, who led Barbados to its independence and another one for the Right Excellent Samuel Jackman Prescod, who led Barbados to the democracy that is today.