“In 1911 and at the prime age of 42, Baron Bliss was struck by paralysis and was for the remainder of his days, confined to a wheelchair. Many will remember a paraplegic who used to move around Belize in a chair that was said to have belonged to the Baron but that fact has been disputed. While no one knows for sure what happened to the Baron’s chair, a popular theory is that then governor, Sir John Alder Burdon, would never have given it to a poor and common black man for he was not nearly the liberal that the good Baron was.”
– BARON BLISS DAY, by the Casado Internet Group, Belize
In our mid-week issue last week, we published an article on Baron Bliss written some years ago by the Casado Internet Group. When the Baron Bliss holiday comes up March 9, we will reproduce the article, because it is a very important article, for several reasons.
Today I want to discuss the article’s reference to an old, crippled Belizean whom we used to call “Baron” in my childhood days in the 1950s. The writer referred to the fact that some people used to say that the wheelchair used by the Belizean “Baron” had originally been Baron Bliss’ wheelchair. He then threw cold water on that speculation by saying that the British Governor at the time, John Alder Burdon, was not as “liberal” as Baron Bliss was, hence Burdon would not have allowed Baron Bliss’ chair to be passed on to a black Belizean.
There are three things, however, which suggest to me that Burdon was not a virulent white supremacist. The first is the fact that it was his, Burdon’s, Archives, which told the story of the 1773 slave revolt, the settlement’s largest such revolt ever, on the Belize Old River. The colonial education system in British Honduras had buried that story until I discovered it in the library that used to be upstairs of the old Bliss Institute. This was back in 1969, 1970. I really don’t remember how the discovery came about, but the fact is that Sir John Burdon had done a great service for us descendants of slaves in the settlement of Belize. There is no proof that he intended for us to use this material to honor our ancestors. He may have been merely a meticulous historian. But, a virulent white supremacist would have ignored that material. They actually burn books they don’t like, you know.
My second argument has to do with the fact that when Baron Bliss knew he was going to die, he sent for Burdon to help him prepare his will. It was a sensational will, because the Baron was leaving all he owned to the colony of British Honduras, on whose land he had never set foot and whose population was overwhelmingly black. All the Baron knew of us was that the fishing here was spectacular, and he had held friendly conversations with the Belize fishermen who would sail past his yacht, Sea King, anchored in the harbor. Baron Bliss’ will has benefited this country and our people substantially. He is our greatest benefactor. A sinister Governor could have sabotaged Baron Bliss’s intentions in different ways. I would argue that Burdon faithfully complied with the Baron’s act of love for Belize.
My third argument involves the 1928 cycling expedition to Cayo and back which has now become the greatest one-day sporting event in this region – the Holy Saturday Crosscountry Cycling Classic. Burdon was the Governor then, and Monrad Metzgen’s writings all give testimony to the fact that the Governor was a supporter of the event, experimental as it was. If the Governor didn’t support the ride, it would probably not have happened. For sure it could not have been as great and as successful as it indeed was.
According to Wikipedia, Burdon was Governor of British Honduras from 1925 to 1932, which means he was here for the terrible 1931 hurricane. He died in 1933.
Wikipedia also claims Burdon wrote the Brief Sketch of British Honduras, a historic publication which has disappeared from Belize for some reason or the other.
On the subject of Governors, in 1969, while teaching at the Belize Technical College, I was invited to Sir John Paul’s Government House to be interviewed by the Trinidadian novelist, V. S. Naipaul. Naipaul subsequently disrespected me in his reference to our discussion. I don’t recall meeting the Governor.
As far as I can recall, the only Governor I ever met was Sir Richard Neil Posnett, who invited me to Government House in 1974. I took Jack “Poppa Treetop” Jordan along with me, and we took a picture with the Governor, which I framed and had somewhere. I believe this was around the time of the Guatemalan threat when Posnett famously told Belizeans on Radio Belize, “Rest easy, and sleep well,” after the Harriers arrived.
After leaving Belize in 1976, Posnett was in Bermuda, where the local authorities accused him of financial irregularities. Because Wikipedia reports that Posnett turned down a posting of consul general in South Africa because of his disdain for apartheid, I would tend to be a Posnett fan. I am glad to know that Sir Richard was exonerated on these charges. In fact, Wikipedia refers to his reputation as an “enthusiastic decoloniser.” (In Bermuda, they are still a colony.) Any Governor who would invite a local black power leader to chat at Government House, is all right in my book.
Power to the people. Power in the struggle.