Ms. Vivian Elaine Stevens is a Person with a deep commitment to helping others. This attribute which drove her to dedicate 30 years of service to a profession where compassion and patience are necessary for success. 
   Her service started in 1942 where she was trained for three years at the Glendon Hospital in Montserrat in general nursing and midwifery. From there Stevens moved to Nevis in 1947 to assume the post of Staff Nurse at the Alexander Hospital. 
   After spending three in this post. Mrs. Stevens seized the opportunity to further studies in this field. She attended a Public Health Nursing school from 1950 to 1951.
   Her duties then took her to Anguilla and one year later. 1952 she return home to St. Kitts to work at the Tabernacle Health Centre and 8 months later was transferred to the old Road Health Centre. This job proved extremely challenging as she served the area from Halfway Tree to Challengers and transportation at the time was limited to say the very least.
   Mrs. Steven worked in the area for five years. She formed a bond with the people in the community who embraced her and was extremely appreciative of her dedicated service.
   A transfer in 1958 to the Basseterre Health Center as Supervisor of Public Health Nurses was the final stop in her career until she retired in 1977.

               Theresa Richardson  

   A graduate of the St. Kitts-Nevis teachers college Ms Richardson devoted over 37 years to the teaching profession, educating children in various communities around St. Kitts. Since retiring formally from the profession she has become an entrepreneur and founded Richardson’s Enterprises, providing low cost meals to Industrial workers. 
   Ms Richardson was able to shape the character and positively influence the lives of many people in particular those she taught over the years. Now in her 70s she is still teaching voluntarily. This speaks to her commitment and dedication to the children of the nation. Twice weekly Ms Richardson visits the St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School were she helps the slow readers and those weak in mathematics to build their skills.  

    DONALD LLOYD MATHESON

   On the 24th January 1914, Donald F. Matheson and his wife Charlotte Matheson nee Mercer welcomed a son into the world. They called him Donald Lloyd. He was educated at the St. Kitts Grammar School and then at West Buckland School in Devon, England. The young man returned to St. Kitts in 1931and was given a temporary assignment to teach at his old school where he taught History and was the games master and Cadet Corps Commander. In 1943 he was recruited into the Administration were he served first as Clerk to the Administrator and Clerk to the Council and then as Assistant to the Administrator. 
   Matheson was appointed Education Officer in 1947. Under Matheson’s guidance, old structures were replaced by modern buildings and new ones were added where necessary. These included the West End Primary School and the Valley Secondary School in Anguilla, the Gingerland infant and Senior Schools, the New River Junior School and the Charlestown Secondary in Nevis and the Cayon and Molineux Schools in St. Kitts. 
   The teaching staff consisted mostly of untrained or pupil teachers and students were taught by rote. Lloyd Matheson made it his mission to revitalize education in St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. His solution was the Primary School Intending Teachers’ Programme under which three year scholarships in the Grammar School and the Girls High School to the students with the best passes in Seven Standard Certification. On graduation, the students were bound to teach in an elementary school. An annual Easter Vacation Course for all teachers enhanced the skills of those already in the profession. 
   During a trip to Trinidad, Matheson found the steel pan. He liked it and brought one to St. Kitts and made it available for interested persons to try. Among those who first played it was Cromwell Bowry who was soon able to tune other drums and before long bands started to rival each other on the streets of Basseterre on j’ouvert morning .
   Matheson was not daunted by hard work and in the 1950s he served as Chairman of the Tourism Committee. Carefully the local administration was trying to expand the sources of revenue for the island. At Conaree, the Committee set up and maintained a number of bathing huts facing the Atlantic. It was one of the first attempts at providing an infrastructure for tourism development.
  He also served as income tax commissioner, Chairperson of the Water Board and was a member of numerous committees dealing with Social Welfare, Libraries, and Economic Development. From 1952 to 1955, Lloyd Matheson was appointed as Senior Administrative Secretary. It was during this period that he was called upon to act as Administrator. 
   Following retirement from the Civil Service, Lloyd Matheson turned his attention to S.L. Horsford and Company Ltd where he held several positions in the company and its subsidiaries. 
   In 1965, when the Society for the Restoration of Brimstone Hill was incorporated there was little interest in the restoration of the fortress. Lloyd Matheson saw potential, a historical site to be enjoyed by Kittitians and visitors alike. He and his Council of Management, together with numerous volunteers worked tirelessly to find funding from a variety of sources. Their efforts made a number of modest improvements possible in preparation for the royal visit of 1966. 
    The following year the Caribbean Conservation Association was formed and Lloyd Matheson was its first treasurer this also gave him the opportunity to promote Brimstone Hill. 
   The Society for the Restoration of Brimstone Hill felt secure enough in 1971 to attempt a major restoration. Sufficient funds had been collected to allow for the restoration of the Prince of Wales Bastion which was in reasonably good condition. Two years later, at the invitation of Premier Robert Bradshaw, Prince Charles was asked to open the restored bastion. The timing was perfect. The newly appointed National Historical Committee of which Matheson was Chairperson, declared 1973 to be a Historical Year. 
   Elaborate preparations were made for the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the arrival of Thomas Warner in St. Kitts. These included the publication of a booklet entitled the Thomas Warner Story by Matheson.
   The Society for the Restoration of Brimstone Hill continued to make progress, restoring several buildings. The passing of the National Conservation and Preservation Act of 1987 gave the society a great deal of autonomy and that same year it was legally reconstituted as the Brimstone Hill Fortress and National Park Society. A proposal was written to have Brimstone Hill nominated by UNESCO as a world heritage site of universal value. Matheson retired from the presidency of the Society in 1989and the following year, by special resolution, the Council of the Society declared Donald Lloyd Matheson, President Emeritus for life and named the new visitor’s centre on the Hill in his honour. Matheson continued to attend meetings of the Council and even frequent the office and finally in 1998 a new proposal was made to UNESCO. 
   D. Lloyd Matheson died on the 25th August 1999. The following year UNESCO placed Brimstone Hill Fortress on its Heritage List. 
       (St. Kitts & Nevis Kittitian Gallery)

                           STANLEY SEBASTIAN

Stanley Theodore Sebastian was the son of Joseph Matthew Sebastian and Clarisse Richardson. He grew up in Newtown in his mother’s household. At an early age he learnt how to move in various social circles. From his mother he acquired friendliness towards all with whom he came in contact. His father, on the other hand, challenged him to be outstanding. 
   Young Stanley received his foundation in education at the Basseterre Boys’ School then under the guiding hand of the head master, Samuel Beach. Once those school years were behind him, Stanley Sebastian served as a pupil teacher at Palmetto Point then advanced to the position of Assistant teacher. 
   Following a course in Public Health, Sebastian was employed as an inspector assigned to Gingerland, Nevis. Through the regional branch of Public Health Engineering, of the Department of Colonial Development and Welfare, enabled him to undergo further studies in this specialized field. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to the University of Manchester where he won a bronze medal for his academic performance.
   Stanley Sebastian returned home as a Public Health Engineer. He found that a great deal of work was waiting to be completed. In 1959, the World Health Organization awarded him a fellowship which he used to obtain a Masters of Science degree from John Hopkins University in the United States. This enabled him to join such distinguished professional organizations as the Institute of Public Health Engineers, the Institute of Water Engineers, the Royal Society of Health and the American Water Works Association.
   In St. Kitts Sebastian put his qualifications to good use. As a civil servant he became known for being straight forward, energetic, and loyal. He had a great sense of humour and tenacity for getting the job done. His crowning achievement was the laying of the water main leading from Wingfield River to Basseterre. At the time this allowed one million gallons of water per day to reach town effectively eliminating water shortages except in serious drought conditions. He was later assigned to the Frigate Bay project as Development Engineer. 
   Sebastian’s interests however spanned a wider spectrum of intellectual and cultural involvements. His professional career must have been, in part at least, responsible for his interest in fossils. But Stanley Sebastian also had a love of music. He taught himself the piano, sang in the Moravian Choir and became an authority on ballroom dancing. He served as president of the Mutual Improvement Society and also took an active interest in sports giving a great deal of support to the Netball Club. 
   Stanley Sebastian died in June 1969. 
             (St. Kitts & Nevis Kittitian Gallery)

Sir Cuthbert Montraville Sebastian, GCMG, OBE, MDCM 

    Born October 22, 1921) is the Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis. He was appointed Governor-General in 1995 and was sworn in on January 1, 1996. Sir Cuthbert was knighted with the Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1996.
   Sir Cuthbert Sebastian was the last surviving son of the late Honourable Joseph Matthew Sebastian (Member of the Legislative and Executive Councils of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, until his death in 1944) and the late Mrs. Inez Veronica Sebastian (nee Hodge).
   He studied at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree. He entered Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he studied medicine and graduated, in 1958, with a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degree to become a surgeon.
   He has served in St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla as Pupil Teacher, Learner/Dispenser, Chemist and Druggist, Laboratory Technician, Senior Dispenser, Medical Superintendent and Obstetrician-Gynaecologist. He was Chief Medical Officer of St. Kitts and Nevis from 1980 to 1983.
  During the period 1962 – 1966, Sir Cuthbert pursued training at the Dundee Royal Infirmary, Scotland in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
   He was a rear gunner during World War II in the Royal Canadian Air Force, voluntary Captain in the Scottish Army, local physician to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (Prince Charles), when His Highness visited St. Kitts in 1973 (the Prince of Wales visited the island to open the newly-restored Prince of Wales Bastion, 1st June). In addition, Sir Cuthbert was ADC to the then Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla Premier, Robert L. Bradshaw, when Bradshaw went to Buckingham Palace on the occasion of Her Majesty’s 25th year on the Throne.
   In 1969, Sir Cuthbert received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
   Dalhousie University honoured him with an honorary degree in 1998, and in 2005 he received an honorary doctorate degree from Mount Allison University.
 On July 5, 2002, Sir Cuthbert an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) of Edinburgh in Scotland, for his outstanding career and service to humanity in the field of medicine.
  In 2005 the College of Arms bestowed on Sir Cuthbert his personal Coat of Arms.
  Sir Cuthbert dead on Saturday 25th March, 2017 after a prolong illness.

      Rev. Dr. William M. Conner O.B.E

         Born 21^st June, 1921 – Died 11^th November, 1990

 

   
   He was the pioneer of the Baptist Witness in the Federation and established 

 Three independence Baptist Churches (Antioch, Mt. Carmel and Calvary) in St. Kitts.

      At the time of his death he was pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church for 27 years.

    He received several awards and distinctions locally and internationally including the opportunity to present the keynote address when the Federation gained political independence on September, 19th, 1983.

   The St. Johnson Village School was renamed the Dr. William Connor Primary School in his honour in May, 1988.

   Pastor Connor was famous for saying “mommy, daddy send your children to Sunday School” 

                  Ms. Doris Maisie Halliday (St.Kitts)

                      Education (Medal of Honour)

Committed, persevering and disciplined are some of the adjectives used to describe Ms. Maisie Dorita Halliday. Love for her country led her to teach and pioneer various parenting classes, projects for underprivileged children and scholarships.
   Mrs. Halliday commenced her teaching career in Anguilla in 1952 after gaining three Standard seven Certificated. As a Pupil teacher she was paid $14.80. By 1959 she had qualified as a certified Teacher. Having passed the seven tiers of examinations- usually emerging first or second in the Leeward Islands.
 1960, Mrs. Halliday was selected to attend the Leeward Islands Teachers Training College in Antigua where she passed brilliantly with several distinctions.
  1963 to 1974 she taught at the Sandy Point Primary School before being transfer to the Tabernacle All Age School. To her credit the Tabernacle All Age School attempted the certificate in a Secondary Education (CSE) which at the time was intended for Government Secondary Schools.
  A Grade 1 pass was accepted as a GCEO’Level pass, There was a sense of joy and achievement on the part of students, parents, and teachers. When passes were attained, it was also through Ms. Halliday’s initiative that the Tabernacle School was able to gain several annual prizes for its outstanding school garden.
 1978 to 1991 Ms. Halliday was Principal of the Irish Town Primary School and pioneered the introduction of the primary school uniform and graduation ceremonies. She again actively promoted school gardening and the school won prizes in the annual school gardening competition of the era.
   She was also instrumental in fostering a strong bond with the Irish Town Community resulting in a strong Parent Teacher Association. She also raised funds to construct a fence for the premises, which generally has remained intact.
  During her tenure Irish Town School introduced Parents Classes to assist the parents in supervising their children and assisting with homework assignments. Parents were also apprised of various other aspects of school and community problems and asked for collaborative solutions. Many underprivileged children were assisted through the brighter Dawn Project uniforms, food packages and church wear.
  The Irish Town School motto of ‘Strive for Excellence’ was coined and students participated in various competitions including: essays, spellings bees, art and Carnival. The Irish Town Monetary Award was also instituted and was given to the student who gained the highest number of passes in CXC Exams after their transfer to the Basseterre High School.
  During the next phase of her teaching career. Ms.Halliday was promoted as tutor to the then St.Kitts-Nevis Teachers Training College with responsibilities for Social Studies. Reading and the attendant Supervision of Schools in those subjects. She also found the time to commence studies at the University Centre, and in 1993 graduated with the B.S.C Degree Honours in Administration.
  After retiring she was recalled and asked to operate a Reading centre in one primary school and to teach English in two secondary schools because of a shortage in those areas. She also thought English in the Evening Institute Classes and helped many dropouts and under achievers in attaining certificates.
  Outside of her public service activities Ms.Halliday has served as a Sunday school teacher, preacher, choir member and church-based sewing class teacher. She also takes pride in her Christianity, long lasting marriage and loving five children and two grand children.

                 Warren Cecil Tyson OBE

                   (November 1903   March 1983)

 

 

   Mr. Warren Cecil Tyson was born in St. Kitts on November 11^th, 1903. Twice widowed, he was the father of three children – Leo, Pam, and Rigby – by his first marriage. He attended the Basseterre Boys School and was subsequently employed there as a Pupil Teacher. In the early 1920’s he moved to seek more lucrative employment as a clerk on the Canadian Steamships. In 1928, he obtained employment with J.W. Thurston & Co. Ltd., as a clerk. After some years, as a result of his diligently performing his duties, he was promoted to an Executive Director’s position with the firm in 1958, which he held until the Company went into liquidation.

  He was one of the founding members of the St. Kitts–Nevis-Anguilla Trading & Development Company Limited (TDC), a public company, which acquired the trading interests of J.W. Thurston & Co. Ltd. And H.F. Wildy and Co. Ltd., and was appointed the first Chairman and Executive Director. He was also a founder and Managing Director of St. Kitts Masonry Products Ltd., Director of St. Kitts Breweries Ltd., and Director of the St. Kitts Bottling Co. Ltd.

  Mr. Tyson was a keen sportsman and played an active role (both administratively and on the field) in cricket, football, golf, rifle shooting, and tennis. He was outstanding in the last mentioned sport and was Lawn Tennis Champion of St. Kitts for many years. He was also President of the Basseterre Lawn Tennis Club and Secretary of the St. Kitts Cricket Association for several years.

  Mr. Tyson was also a member of the Masonic Lodge Mount Olive 336 S. C., of which he was a Past Master. He was also a member of MountOlive Royal Arch Chapter 830 S. C., where he was a Most Excellent Past 1^st Principal.

  Additionally, he served as secretary and Almoner of the MountOlive Lodge, for an extended period of time. Brother Tyson gave incalculable service in the building of the new lodge, which now houses the Temple at Taylor’s Range, Basseterre, St. Kitts.

  He served for numerous years as a member of the Defence Force, as well as, on several Government Committees. He was also an active member of the Mutual Improvement Society.

   Above all, Mr. Tyson was dedicated to his church, the MoravianChurch. He was a prominent member, taking part in many activities there. He was also a member of the Church Committee and Treasurer of the Congregation for many years.

  Warren Tyson was a man of Strong character and sound judgment. In his duties and functions with discipline and determination, he was never afraid to give his opinion on any matter that would bring relief. He was hard working, honest, kind and compassionate and if at all possible, he expressed these qualities in a manner that would bring relief. He had won the respect of not only the staff of TDC but also of all sectors of the community. Being people-oriented, it is no surprise that the welfare of his family was always importance to him.

  His service to the public in general was recognized when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, conferred upon him the honour of Order of the British Empire (OBE).
 Mr. Tyson was also an advocate for education throughout the entire nation and to mark his commitment to academic enhancement, TDC funds a scholarship program in his name.