Grateful Hill to St. Mary's College-A Journey

I attended St. Mary’s College between 1966 and 1971. I went there after passing the Common Entrance Examinations. Surprisingly, I was the only student from the Grateful Hill Primary School who was successful in the examinations that year. There were several boys and girls in my class who I was surprised were not successful too. Margaret Harper, Lola Howell, Lois Service, Lorna Nugent, Paulette Morrison, Carl Latore, June Hamilton, Margaret Phillips, Pansy Marsden, Doreen Douglas, Maureen Thames and Sonia Eason were some of the students I thought would have passed. Lorna, Doreen and Paulette did attend St. Mary’s College on half scholarships. In those days if you won a full scholarship you got a grant of money plus a book grant. Incidentally Carl Latore was the only boy along with myself who took the examinations that year. Headley Morrison, whom I thought was as bright as I was, for some strange reasons chose not to sit the examinations. On the day when the results came out Mrs. Eason, our class teacher told me that I took the shame out of her eyes. It would be remiss of me not to mention some of the teachers at the Grateful Hill School during my sojourn there. They were Mrs. Vaughn, Miss Palmer, Miss Pinnock, Mrs. Oliver, Mrs. Distant, Mrs. Creary, Miss Lindsay and Miss Gibson. Our headmaster was the legendary Ben Cox. Willie Smith was the previous headmaster but he left before I started school. Incidentally Grateful Hill was an all-age school before the advent of the Glengoffe Secondary School.

                    This piece is an addition to what Donald Howell has done. I don’t know if schools like Oberlin or Glengoffe High have year books, but it would be good. Students could do fund raising drives to fund their own yearbook. The piece by Donald Howell is instructive. There is a need for this type of work and for Donald to publish it as a book. The piece was very revealing. For example, I have read where Barry Chevannes was born in Kingston and attended school there. In the book we learn that he was one of the first students at St. Mary’s College. I knew that he was born at Big Roads, Glengoffe.  I knew his mother, Miss Doris. She operated a shop and bar in Big Roads for many years. I heard my grandmother refer to his father as, Zeb. I also knew his brother, Winston and his sisters, Thrift and Dorothy. I understand that the late professor’s day is held in St. Mary. I’m wondering if a tour could be included to his ancestral hometown. Also to be motioned is the shortcut we took in the evenings. This was called Cudjoe’s Hut. We had to cross two rivers. If it rained we walked around the road. But sometimes we came through Cudjoe’s Hut and found the river flooded. It had apparently been raining in St. Mary.

              Incidentally the Raymore brothers should actually be the Edwards brothers, Max and Desmond (Sweetpea). Raymore is actually their grandfather’s surname.

                I will try to put in some names that were missing from the piece. These were students who attended St. Marys College. I think it is time somebody did a work on Glengoffe and the brilliant men and women who came out of this community. Some family names come to mind. The Services, Howells, Chevannes, Dailys, Deslandes, Marriots, Mitchells, Phipps, Days, Exclls, Chungs, Neitas, Valentines, Crearys and several others.

                Those who came included Leroy Lobban, Paulette Hanson, Lorna Nugent, Paulette Morrison, Paulette (Jacks) Smith, Paulette (Polly) Thompson, Molly Thompson, Norman Thompson, Norman Howell, Mary Howell, Cyril Hammond. We had Winty Deslandes and his sister, Stanford Clough, Everton Walker, Distant, Errol Miller, Jennifer Wood.

                At St. Mary’s College we met people like Desrick Litchmore, Barry Litchmore, Velerie Taylor, Winston Taylor, Dorothy Rainford, Melbourne Rainford and Robert Rainford. We had students like Morris Bryan, Valdeck Rowe, Ingrid Ashwood, Veronica Heron, Prudence Hunt, Imogene Smith, Aldith Blunt. Other names I can remember are Hervin Litchmore, Daphne Lunan, Raphael Raymond, Claudia Hemmings, Norris Lobban, Raymond Bennett, Patrick Rennals. Other names coming to mind were Sybil Larmond, Frank Ranger, Norris Taylor, Janet Dixon, Joyce Pottinger, Gerbal Curtis, Everton Day, Edward Dwyer, Maria Dwyer. There were Carlton Kelly, Norman Thompson, Florizel Thompson, Robert Taylor, Lincoln Evans, John Evans, Paulette Ramsay, Geoge Ramsay, Lee Ramsay. There was also Lorna Dixon, Barrington Malcolm, Errol Mowatt, Francis Miles, Keswick Mc Donald, Wolfe, Bull Bennett, Edward Forrest, Winnifred Forrest, Doreen Hutton (Rowe), Cecile Plamer, Ivy Lynch (Clarke). Other students were Ezekiel Murdock, Gusford Cole, Laddie Careyy, Glennon Carey, Neville Sharpe, Eileen Smith, Dorothy Rainford (Essor), Ainsley Oakley, Rickford Minott, Errol Miller. Others were Grace Carey, Winston Durrant, Melrose Durrant, Beverly Chung, Lorna Chung, Verona Neita.

                After I left St. Mary’s College I got a job as a pre-trained teacher at the Long Hill Primary School in Mt. Industry. At that school I met people like Lloyd Mattis, Lloyd Walters, Miss Thompson and Valda Lawrence, all teachers at the school. Mrs. Dawkings was the principal. Ainsley Oakley and Paulette Morrison, both of whom I knew from St. Mary’s College were teachers there too.

                    Between 1994 and 1996 I taught at the Grateful Hill Primary School. It was now a primary school and Ben Cox was still the principal. Mrs. Oliver was still there, she was now teaching Grade Three. She had taught me both at Grade Three and Grade Five. Some of the other teachers this time around were Miss Gordon, Mrs. Pope, Miss Thompson, Mrs. Howell, Joyce Brown, Mr. Forrest, Allen Constable, Mr. Murdock, Grace Hamilton.

                   Students I can remember when I myself was a student there were Betty Phipps, Betty Malabre, Nelson Hobbs, Vincent Elwood, Arthur Malabre, Joan King, Lloyd King, Rupert Marshall, Odel Montgomery, Fanso Creary. Other students were Joan Creary, Errol Service, Hyacinth Service, Germa Burton, Persha Burton, Sonia Dailey, Maisey Daley, Edward Davis, Alton Daniels, Gersham Gray, Beverly Lai Quee. There were also Nully Thompson, Bidey Frazer, Clement Hobbs, Barrington Thompson, Paula Reynolds, Claudette Francis, Patsy Francis, Belando Augustus, Lazel Augustus, Eucal Webster, Sidney Sawyers, Clive Oakley, Blossom Reid, Hugh Hayden, Kenneth Thompson, June Hamilton. My brothers, Carlton, Michael and Gladstone also attended. A majority of students attending Grateful Hill Primary School came from August Town, Free Town, Goffe Road, Mt. Matthews, Cassava River, Mt. Florence and Top Road. There were two other schools a mile away and these were the Cassava River Primary and the St. Faiths Primary School.