A. C. Shillingford
A. C. Shillingford | |
|---|---|
| Born | Albert Cavendish Shillingford 11 May 1882 |
| Died | 7 March 1938 (aged 56) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Albert Cavendish Shillingford (11 May 1882 — 7 March 1938) was a Dominican businessman.
Early life
[edit]Albert Cavendish "Gerald" Shillingford was born in Saint Joseph, Dominica, the son of Albert Charles Shillingford and Anne Marie Pinard of Newtown, Saint George. He attended the Dominica Grammar School in Roseau.[1]
Career
[edit]After receiving his druggist license upon completing training at the Roseau Hospital, Shillingford partnered with fellow student Sidney Green to establish Shillingford & Green, Druggists in 1905. After five years, the partnership was dissolved, leading to the creation of their respective businesses, Shillingford's being The Phoenix.
Shillingford later expanded his business ventures, drawing inspiration from his uncle, Thomas Howard Shillingford, who had successfully opened shops in villages along the west coast. He implemented a similar strategy in Roseau, the capital, founding A. C. Shillingford & Co. Over time, the company grew into a diversified enterprise encompassing the pharmacy, a grocery store, 3 dry goods stores, an insurance company, a hardware retail and wholesale business, apparel stores, and an auto dealership. He also co-founded the Dominica Tribune newspaper, was a member of the board of the Dominica Banana Association, and served as a trustee of his alma mater, the Dominica Grammar School.
With the support of relatives including his cousin; politician and planter Howell Donald Shillingford, he expanded into agriculture, acquiring estates that produced limes, oranges, bananas, sugarcane, and other crops. In 1924, he established a lime processing factory in Newtown, followed by another in Soufrière. His operations later expanded to neighbouring islands, where he constructed additional lime processing plants in Trinidad and Grenada. This expansion broke the monopoly held by the British-owned L. Rose & Co., allowing local yellow lime growers to secure better prices for their produce.
By the 1930s, the extended Shillingford family led by "A. C. S." and "H. D. S." held significant influence in Dominican society, they owned a lot of the island's plantations and controlled most of the commercial interests in Roseau, which while wandering around, Leigh Fermor wrote that "every shop appeared to be called Shillingford".[2] This combined with their membership of the legislature made them both directly and indirectly politically powerful.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Politics
[edit]Shillingford opposed British political dominance by supporting the Dominica Taxpayers Reform Association. He was a financial backer of the 1932 Dominica Conference, which was attended by regional political figures, including Arthur Cipriani of Trinidad and Theophilus Marryshow of Grenada. The conference advocated for a federation of the British West Indian Territories. He was an early ally of Dominican barrister and activist Cecil Rawle, whom married his sister Eva.[10]
Shillingford was noted by the British colonial administration for his criticism of the treatment of West Indian soldiers who served in World War I. He protested their assignment to labor battalions under poor conditions, arguing that they had been unfairly treated despite their service to their "mother country" Britain.[3][4][5][6][11][12]
Death
[edit]On Monday morning 7th March 1938 at the age of 56, Shillingford died in a drowning accident off the coast of the Hatton Garden Estate bay, Marigot, whilst sea bathing with his cousin Howell and the estates overseer Mr Riviere. His funeral garnered a large number of people from all walks of life, the procession began by leaving his home at New Street, In Roseau, where all the shops closed and the banks flew their flags at half-mast to pay their respects.[1][5][13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Christian, Gabriel (11 August 2014). "A.C. Shillingford – A captain of Dominican industry". www.thedominican.net.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Leigh Fermor, Patrick (2005). The traveller's tree. John Murray (published 3 January 2005). p. 99. ISBN 978-0719566844.
- ^ a b Hlousek, Petr. "Rum by Macoucherie Estates / Shillingford Estates Ltd. - Dominica". Peter's Rum Labels. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ a b The West Indies and Caribbean Year Book. London: Thomas Skinner & Co. 1926. p. 292 – via University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- ^ a b c "The late A. C. Shillingford". The Dominica Tribune. 12 March 1938. p. 4.
- ^ a b Christian, Gabriel J. (6 September 2023). "Remembering the Dominica Dispensary, Early Medical Care & Roseau in the Old Days". The Sun. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ Connor, Wilbert (17 August 2009). "Astaphanism and Dominican politics". thedominican.net. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "A.C. Shillingford Co. Ltd". businessviewcaribbean.com. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ Honeychurch, Lennox (2007). A to Z of Dominica Heritage. Macmillan Caribbean (published 30 June 2007). pp. Shillingford (E). ISBN 978-0333946251. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012.
- ^ "N/A". Dominica Guardian. 5 June 1919. p. 3.
- ^ Andre, Irving W. (2014). The Extraordinary World of Albert Cavendish Shillingford. Pont Casse Press (published 1 October 2014). ISBN 978-0981292151.
- ^ Charles, Mary Eugenia (25 October 1975). "A tribute to H. D. Shillingford". The New Chronicle.
- ^ "Albert Cavendish Shillingford". New Pittsburgh Courier. 9 April 1938. p. 15 – via newspapers.com.