Traditional Boats On Stamps Process Needs to Be Reviewed

By: Prof. Yinka G. Lloyd Stanford New York

As an educator and an Anguillian with a New York rising, I welcome the documentation of Anguilla’s marine history so that “the younger generation in Anguilla will be given an opportunity to learn more about the traditional sea-faring life of the island when a new definitive issue of postage stamps is released on June 10.” On behalf of the family of my late paternal grandfather Mr. Richard James Lloyd (Roaches Hill), and in his memory, I would also welcome a fair and reasonable process for the inclusion of “traditional boats on stamps” for “these boats, which are no longer in existence.”
To be more specific, I would like to know who made the final selection, and what determined the criterion for inclusion on the “traditional boats on stamps.” Why were the “Lady Lloyd” and the “May Lloyd” excluded from the documentation of the “Traditional Boats on Stamps?”

The “Lady Lloyd” and “May Lloyd” were a major part of Anguilla’s marine history. Let the record duly state from this day forward, that there can be no genuine documentation of Anguilla’s marine history without the inclusion of the “Lady Lloyd” and the “May Lloyd” in history books or on stamps. In the event that anyone wonders why, or simply forgot, I will state some of the reasons in the following paragraphs.
Both schooners were fully operational at the same time as the “Betsy” and the “Warspite”, and other boats that were selected for documentation on “the traditional boats and stamps.” The “Lady Lloyd” and “May Lloyd” also traveled many of the same routes: to Santo Domingo, St. Kitts, Curacao, Aruba and even as far away as Trinidad. The “Lady Lloyd” and “May Lloyd” like all those other boats that were similarly situated served Anguilla over rough seas and during trying times. Both schooners were just as large, and operated as passenger and cargo schooners, both were in fact based in Anguilla and anchored at the Forest Bay or Crocus Bay between voyages.

According to childhood family stories, when the Government of Anguilla cargo was “piled” up on the “wharf” in St. Kitts, or some Anguillians did not have “their passage”, it was quite common for the “Lady Lloyd” and “May Lloyd” to transport the government’s cargo, or take passengers back and forth to Anguilla “for free.”
Moreover, although the “Lady Lloyd” and “May Lloyd”, were operated as my grandfather’s family business; he not only employed his sons and other family members, many other Anguillians were steadily employed on a long-term basis. Also, many young people were trained or apprenticed with my grandfather and his sons as “sea-farers” “back in the day.”
Furthermore, as boat racing is a major part of Anguilla’s culture and history and our “national sport”; the “Lady Lloyd” and “May Lloyd” also raced into Anguilla’s harbour with anxious wives and families waving flags or dancing in a joyous mood to welcome back their “men” after a tedious voyage from places such as San Pedro de Macoris in Santo Domingo.
My dad Capt. Theodore Lloyd, until his retirement, spent over twenty (20) years or more as a civilian employee of the United States Naval Service. He was the first Anguillian to bring private yachts on excursions from the U.S. Virgin Islands into Blowing Point, Anguilla. Should I then say that the yachting clubs in Anguilla today are standing on his shoulders?
In conclusion, in honour of my grandfather’s last two surviving children my uncle George Lloyd of Little Dix, and my aunt (“Mimy”) Jemima Lloyd of Northside, and all of the family members of the late Richard James Lloyd, as well as extended Anguillian family far and near, it would be a fitting tribute to Anguilla’s rich history to include the “Lady Lloyd” and the “May Lloyd” in the documentation history of Anguilla’s “Traditional Boats on Stamps.”
Finally, I applaud those whose efforts led to the documentation of Anguilla’s “Traditional Boats on Stamps’, as a means of preserving our history for the “younger generation.” It is indeed a focal part of Anguilla’s rich culture and history, and a story that must be told with fairness and inclusion. Thank You.

P.S. A special thanks to The Anguillian Newspaper and Mr. Colville Petty.