HOW DO YOU chronicle 160 years of history? You start by doing a mountain of research, then weeding out the irrelevancies and condense what is left to make an interesting reading, along with accompaning photos.
Retired professor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, Vivienne Roberts, was adamant she needed to make a contribution to Barbados’ 50th anniversary celebrations, so the grandmother of two and resident of Yorkshire, Christ Church, has published a book on the entire life of St Philip Parish Church entitled, History Of St Philip’s Parish Church: 1640-2016.
While sharing her moments of triumph and uphill battles in writing the chapters, Roberts said she strongly believed in chronicling events especially where the church was involved.
“It is important because this current church where we worship is 180 years old,” she said.
She told of a St Philip’s Parish Church since 1640 which existed before the current one.
“But there is no document anywhere which chronicles that period so that others can see and add to it and appreciate the changes which have got us so far,” said the retiree.
The past tutor at the Barbados Community College (BCC) said she could think of no better time to launch the book since this period was one of reflection.
Compiling the book was no easy task and Roberts said the initial thought was just to put together a brief history of the church.
“But when I started the research which I started by going to the archives, the UWI West Indian Collection and the museum . . . with the amount of information which emerged it was too much to condense,” the mother of one explained.
Roberts said the committee which helped to bring the book to a reality consisted of her, who emerged as the writer, a local librarian and someone who grew up around the Church Village area.
From there they began to dig into old newspapers and interviewing anyone who knew anything, going back as far as the fire at the church in 1977.
The efforts of the team did not stop at the history of the church, but Roberts added that they did research on the school back then and the graveyard.
“There was very little information though to confirm what people were saying,” she said.
For almost a year Roberts, an avid piano player, said she worked on the book since starting the process last October.
Like the St Philip Parish Church, the lover of words said she has been able to endure hardships while progressing.
With a third of the book consisting of photos, the retired professor said that the coffee table book really proved to be an expensive production, especially since they were operating without funding.
“We did eventually get help but it was done on a voluntary basis,” she said.
The Far East was the place of choice to have the book printed and Roberts said that it would take a while to arrive on local shores.
“But we kept in mind that we had a goal to have it completed, especially with Barbados’ jubilee and the church’s anniversary,” she said.
“You cannot leave the pages blank and when you get to the end it gets even harder and there are schedules you have to meet and things you have to do to get where you want,” the academic said.
As a green thumb and choir member who retired from UWI in 2014, Roberts, who is originally from Jamaica, admitted to making many mistakes over the years.
“But the disappointments have made me stronger and have made me a better human being who is more empathetic. I am less judgmental, even as a trained life coach. I know I have made mistakes and I have grown from them.”
The next step for Roberts would be dedicating her efforts towards future documentation of historical works, and she is extremely passionate about contributing a project on the evolution of BCC as soon as possible.
