Walter Griffith Hodge, though passed on to the Great Beyond 13 years ago, is one of those unforgettable Anguillian personalities many were fortunate to know. One of the things keeping his memory alive is the Walter G. Hodge Memorial Anguilla Day Lecture, now in its third year and sponsored annually by the Social Security Board.

The brochure for the June 2 lecture described him as having been “a father, family man, politician, teacher, treasurer, shipwright, builder” and one with “so many talents yet so humble and gentle a personality.”

Born on November 2, 1920, the 5th child of his parents, Walter G. Hodge had a full and successful life. He attended the East End Primary School where he served as a pupil teacher and then teacher. During the latter part of the 1930s he was the recipient of the first Government Scholarship to the Trinidad Teachers’ Training College. On his return to Anguilla he was offered a post at the Basseterre Boys’ School in St. Kitts but because of the economic situation he was obliged to refuse the appointment. Instead, he taught himself navigation and the required astronomy at home.

Walter, demonstrated a love for the sea at an early age. At age 8 he and his brother built a sailboat called the Unique which served as a tender for the family schooner, the Thelma. He rebuilt the family’s other schooner, the Excelsior Hodge, and later installed a motor in the vessel making it the first Anguillian commercial vessel to be fitted with an engine.

At age 22, he was elected as Anguilla’s representative to the then St.Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla Legislative Council in the first contested election for the one local seat. To this day he has been the youngest Anguillian elected to a political position.

After his legislative service Walter turned to the sea. Having learned the theory of navigation, he took the Excelsior on a practice run to Trinidad where he confirmed his ability by having his sighting agree with the location of the islands down the Caribbean chain. In the midst of his sailing days he became known as a master shipwright and built the Ramona, Yankee Girl, Atlantic Star, Flying Fish and others. His sailing days effectively ended when the beloved Excelsior was lost, together with other boats, in a freak hurricane in January 1955. Just over one year later he married Olive (proprietor of the Anguilla Drugstore). He then concentrated on building and carpentry and built St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on land donated by his parents.

In the 1960s he played a role in building houses for those who lost their homes in Hurricane Donna. Later he spent some time in the US Virgin Islands where he was forced to seek employment as was the case with other Anguillian men at the time, due to the economic conditions in Anguilla. These conditions fanned the flames of rebellion and eventually led to the 1967 revolution when Anguilla broke ties with St.Kitts-Nevis.

Walter returned home early that year to play a key role in the revolution. His home was at various times the conference room and armory of the revolution. He was nominated Chairman of the Peace-keeping Committee formed to manage the affairs of the island and was later nominated to an Advisory Council in 1968 pending elections. He was then appointed the first Treasurer of Anguilla. After that he became Comptroller of Customs following which he served as a Ship’s Surveyor.

Walter G. Hodge was described as a man of exemplary qualities. He was a disciplinarian and churchgoer with a crystal clear tenor voice. He was a storyteller extraordinaire. He was honoured by the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society for being a keeper of the oral tradition and also by the Anguilla-Virgin Islands Society for community work. He was awarded the Medal of Honour, posthumously, for his role in the Anguilla Revolution on Anguilla Day 2003.

The late Walter G. Hodge

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