Colonel William A. Phillips

For other uses, see English Harbour (disambiguation).

English Harbour is a natural harbour and settlement on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean, in the extreme south of the island. The settlement takes its name from the nearby harbour in which the Royal Navy established its base of operations for the area during the eighteenth century. Its population is 759 (2001 Census).

English Harbour is a centre of boating, especially yachting. There are two sheltered deepwater harbours nearby; English Harbour itself and Falmouth Harbour.

Naval history

Map of English Harbour dated 1745

English Harbour is best known for Nelson's Dockyard, a former British Navy base; it displays restored 18th and 19th-century buildings and other historical artefacts from the colonial period of the dockyard, especially the time it was commanded by Horatio Nelson.

Fort Berkeley at the harbour entrance

The Royal Navy had begun using English Harbour as a safe haven in the 17th century. In 1704 Fort Berkeley was built on a spit across the harbour entrance to defend it.

The Antigua Legislature assigned English Harbour to the King for naval use in 1725, and included adjoining land in 1729. By 1745, the harbour was fortified. Captain Horatio Nelson arrived in July 1784 as the senior officer of the Northern Division of the West Indies Station, commanding HMS Boreas, until his departure in 1787. Nelson referred to the harbour as an "infernal hole," while the "residents of these Islands are Americans by connexion and by interest, and are inimical to Great Britain. They are as great rebels as ever were in America, had they the power to show it." Nelson was joined in Dec. 1786 by Captain His Royal Highness Prince Wiliam Henry, commanding HMS Pegasus.[3][4]

HM Naval Yard, Antigua, began on the eastern side of the harbour (on the site presently occupied by the Antigua Slipways boatyard) in the 1730s. The Yard was expanded across the bay on the western side (on the site known today as Nelson's Dockyard) in the 1740s. Both sites remained in use over the following decades. Each at first consisted of careening wharves and storehouses; to these, other buildings were added over time. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars a substantial complex of facilities had been developed at English Harbour: in addition to the twin Dockyards, the Harbour accommodated a Victualling Yard, an Ordnance Yard (where the Gunpowder House Hotel now stands) and a Royal Naval Hospital. The Commissioner (the senior Navy Board official at the Dockyard) resided at Clarence House on a hillside overlooking the bay.[5]

Governor Shirley drew up plans in 1782 to fortify the high ground to the east. Construction of Shirley Heights began in 1788 and proceeded until 1793. Fort Shirley was garrisoned by the 86th Regiment in the 1830s, replaced by 180 soldiers of the 36th Foot in 1833. The garrison was abandoned in 1854, making the harbour defenceless.[4]: 127, 134, 201 

Subsequent history

The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company used the harbour as a port of call from 1840 onwards.[4]: 201 

After 1815 the dockyard decreased in importance. By the 1850s the eastern yard was being used as a coal store and the western yard was described as being in poor repair.[5] Nevertheless, the yards remained open, finally closing in 1889. Sixty years later, the first moves were made toward preserving what became known as Nelson's Dockyard. Today it flourishes as a yachting centre as well as a historic monument,[6] and is described as 'the only working Georgian dockyard in the world'.[7] Much of the surrounding area is a National Park.[8]

After the land was returned to the Antigua government in 1906, the harbour facilities fell into ruin. Governor Kenneth Blackburne is credited with launching the restoration program in 1951, which raised 40,000 British Pounds. This restoration drive was a consequence of a 1948 study by the Ministry of Works stating that the more important building were worth restoring, enabling the naval dockyard to become an attraction for island visitors in 1961.[4]: 202, 256 

In 2018, politicians urged local squatters to take advantage of plans to allow them to buy their plots of land for $1 if they had lived there for ten years or more.[9]

Demographics

English Harbour has three enumeration districts.

  • 71800 EnglishHarb-Town
  • 71900 EnglishHarb-OrdnanceBay
  • 72000 EnglishHarb-MiddleGround

Census data (2011)

[10]

Q48 Ethnic Counts %
African descendent 471 82.68%
Caucasian/White 46 8.01%
Mixed (Black/White) 6 1.12%
Mixed (Other) 23 4.10%
Hispanic 6 1.12%
Other 10 1.68%
Don't know/Not stated 7 1.30%
Total 570 100.00%
Q49 Religion Counts %
Adventist 22 3.94%
Anglican 134 23.64%
Baptist 19 3.38%
Church of God 5 0.94%
Evangelical 10 1.69%
Jehovah Witness 4 0.75%
Methodist 199 35.27%
Moravian 17 3.00%
None/no religion 33 5.82%
Pentecostal 42 7.50%
Rastafarian 5 0.94%
Roman Catholic 34 6.00%
Wesleyan Holiness 14 2.44%
Other 16 2.81%
Don't know/Not stated 11 1.88%
Total 565 100.00%
NotApp : 4
Q55 Internet Use Counts %
Yes 286 50.28%
No 279 48.98%
Don't know/Not stated 4 0.74%
Total 570 100.00%
Q58. Country of birth Counts %
Africa 1 0.19%
Other Latin or North American countries 1 0.19%
Antigua and Barbuda 435 76.35%
Other Caribbean countries 5 0.93%
Canada 1 0.19%
Other Asian countries 2 0.37%
Other European countries 8 1.49%
Dominica 6 1.12%
Dominican Republic 5 0.93%
Guyana 11 1.86%
Jamaica 22 3.91%
Monsterrat 1 0.19%
St. Kitts and Nevis 2 0.37%
St. Lucia 4 0.74%
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 3 0.56%
United Kingdom 20 3.54%
USA 28 4.84%
USVI United States Virgin Islands 2 0.37%
Not Stated 11 1.86%
Total 570 100.00%
Q71 Country of Citizenship 1 Counts %
Antigua and Barbuda 490 86.03%
Other Caribbean countries 1 0.19%
Canada 1 0.19%
Other Asian and Middle Eastern countries 1 0.19%
Dominica 5 0.93%
Dominican Republic 2 0.37%
Guyana 10 1.68%
Jamaica 16 2.79%
St. Lucia 1 0.19%
United Kingdom 15 2.61%
USA 12 2.05%
Other countries 7 1.30%
Not Stated 8 1.49%
Total 570 100.00%
Q71 Country of Citizenship 2 (Country of Second Citizenship) Counts %
Other Caribbean countries 10 12.86%
Canada 2 2.86%
Other Asian and Middle Eastern countries 1 1.43%
Dominica 3 4.29%
Dominican Republic 2 2.86%
Guyana 1 1.43%
Jamaica 6 8.57%
St. Lucia 2 2.86%
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 4 5.71%
United Kingdom 13 17.14%
USA 22 30.00%
Other countries 7 10.00%
Total 74 100.00%
NotApp : 495
Q91 Business Earning Counts %
Under $1,000 EC per month 23 45.83%
1,000 to $1,999 EC per month 5 10.42%
3,000 to $4,999 EC per month 14 27.08%
$5,000 EC and over per month 8 16.67%
Total 51 100.00%
NotApp : 497
Missing : 22
Q117 MoneyOverseas (Money from friends and family overseas) Counts %
Under 100 EC$ 441 96.74%
100 to 499 EC$ 6 1.40%
500 to 999 EC$ 1 0.23%
1,000 to 1,999 EC$ 1 0.23%
2,000 to 4,999 EC$ 1 0.23%
5,000 to 99,999 EC$ 5 1.16%
Total 456 100.00%
NotApp : 114
Employment status Counts %
Employed 265 58.14%
Unemployed 33 7.21%
Inactive 156 34.19%
Not stated 2 0.47%
Total 456 100.00%
NotApp : 114

References

  1. ^ http://laws.gov.ag/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cap-466.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ "The political Neanderthal". 12 March 2020.
  3. ^ Burns, alan (1965). History of the British West Indies. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. p. 460,545.
  4. ^ a b c d Dyde, Brian (2000). A History of Antigua, The Unsuspected Isle. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 82–83, 97–98, 100–101. ISBN 9780333751695.
  5. ^ a b Coad, Jonathan (2013). Support for the Fleet: architecture and engineering of the Royal Navy's bases, 1700–1914. Swindon: English Heritage.
  6. ^ "UNESCO listing application".
  7. ^ "Tourist information".
  8. ^ "nationalparksantigua.com".
  9. ^ Staff writer (12 March 2018). "Squatters promised land for one dollar per square foot". Antigua News Room. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Antigua and Barbuda::Statistics Division/Redatam Webserver | Statistical Process and Dissemination Tool". redatam.org. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Harbour