London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

PHOTOS: Scores of residents re-enact the Great March of 1949

Scores of residents embarked on the 15-minute journey from the Band Stand to Sir Olva Geroges Plaza yesterday as the territory commemorated the 72nd anniversary of the Great March of 1949 which led to the restoration of the legislative council (now called the House of Assembly).
The residents re-enacted the historic protest which was led by one of the BVI’s national heroes Theodolph Faulkner. Faulkner who was joined by other national heroes such as Isaac Fonesca and Carlton deCastro along with more than 1,500 BVIslanders who marched through the streets of Road Town to the Commissioner’s Office in protest of issues adversely affecting the territory at the time.

Changes were demanded by these protestors and it became the catalyst for political development which lead to the evolution of what is now the modern BVI.

Culture Minister and Deputy Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley said he was proud to see the number of people who showed up for the commemoration of the history-defining march in the territory.

He also acknowledged the role of the Virgin Islands Communal Association (VICA) in staging the re-enactment as it was the first time it has happened since 2014.

“There has been a reawakening of the Virgin Islands spirit and just as sister Helda said, there is a need for us to know and appreciate our history and culture and that is why the cabinet decided on two new holidays in particular. One day is Heroes and Fore-parents day and the other is the 1949 great March and Restoration Day because we want that story to be told. We want it to be told on a consistent basis,” Dr Wheatley said.

Meanwhile, Director of the Department of Culture, Dr Katherine Smith, said while the territory commemorates the march — which she describes as the most defining moment in the life and the story of the Virgin Islands — it is equally important to acknowledge the journey and struggle of the territory’s political status which is key to its cultural identity.

“In the words of our leaders in that march, today we are marching towards freedom and we will continue to March until that freedom has been secured,” Dr Smith said about the re-enactment.

The commemoration also heard testimony from Hilda Abbott-Smith who was thirteen at the time of the march and one of the more than 1,500 people who participated. Abbott-Smith said the BVI is currently lacking historical and cultural knowledge along with the integrity of those who fought for self-government.

“We should know our history; we should know our culture. But everybody brought their culture and we lose our culture and that is where we are today. I’m going to tell you something today [about the march]. Behind every story, there is another story and that march was not the first story. The first story came from the federation. The British Virgin Islands was under the Antigua Federation and they kept all the money and send us the weevil and the dregs and we had to survive how we could,” the elder said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×