David O'Carroll OBE

David O’Carroll OBE lives in Wales with his wife Elisabeth and they have three children and five grandchildren.

He was born in London in 1951 and was brought up in Wimbledon. After graduating from University College Swansea, University of Wales, where he attained a B.A.(Hons) in Political Science & Government, he joined the UK Civil Service. He was awarded the OBE in the 2009 New Year’s honours for his public service in the Department of Health.

After retiring he spent nine years as a volunteer Generalist Adviser for the Citizens Advice Bureau in Swansea, and pursuing his love of longbow archery, gardening, beekeeping and family history.

He has published two family histories and several articles about his Barbadian ancestors, including two in the Journal of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society. He also writes fictionalised short stories to bring his genealogical research to life for otherwise uninterested family members.

His links to Barbados are through the Gall family who arrived on the island at the end of the 17th century. His mother, Clara Gall was born in Dominica and lived in Barbados as a teenager.

Morris 8 bonnet badge

Reflections: Col. Duke’s Morris 8

The great thing about BajanThings is that the articles often trigger memories of Bajan days gone by. BajanThings reader Mark Layne wrote from Nova Scotia having read the article: “The Duke Affair – A West Indian versus the colonial establishment“, about Colonel Duke who was summarily dismissed by a new Governor in 1948 – the …

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Dame Freya Madeline Stark DBE

Freya Stark (married name: Perowne)

Dame Freya Madeline Stark DBE (31 January 1893 – 9 May 1993), was a British explorer and travel writer. She was the wife of the Barbados Colonial Secretary Stewart Perowne and was one of five passengers who travelled in May 1948 from Barbados to Trinidad to join the Empire Windrush for its historic passage to …

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Major Teddy Goddard a Bajan policeman from below the cliff

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CNS Lady boats poster

The Canadian Lady Boats

Between 1928 and 1952 The Canadian National Steamship Company Lady Boats (The Canadian Lady Boats) operated two routes from Canada to the West Indies the: eastern-route route: where steamships, Lady Nelson, Lady Hawkins and Lady Drake, provided a year-round service every two weeks from Halifax to Bermuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Lucia, …

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Col. Reginald Michelin, Commissioner of Police, Barbados, 1949 to 1953

It was always hot – Memoirs of Col. Reginald T. Michelin, Commissioner of Barbados Police 1949-1953 post Col. Oriel St.A. Duke

Reginald Townend Michelin (1903-1998), CMG (1957), CVO (1953), OBE (1952) took the post of Sub-Inspector, Police, Jamaica, 1924 and Inspector, Police, Leeward Islands, 1928. He was made Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nigeria, 1930, and Commissioner of Police, Barbados, 1949 and Jamaica, 1953, retiring in 1958 from the Colonial Police. In 1940 he married Nina Gladys …

It was always hot – Memoirs of Col. Reginald T. Michelin, Commissioner of Barbados Police 1949-1953 post Col. Oriel St.A. Duke Read More »

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