Daily Archives: 07/21/2013

Alexander Alexander – by Peter Halder

07/21/2013 – 7:04 am

Alexander Alexander

by Peter Halder

    Today, many poor, destitute and homeless persons in Georgetown sleep at nights on cardboards on the concrete pavements adjacent to stores.

It is not the first time that it has happened. It occurred many years ago. And one man, a Scotsman, dedicated his life, at that time to making life easier for them. His name was most peculiar. It was Alexander Alexander.

Alexander Alexander was born in Scotland. Fed up with life there, he decided to seek his fortune and future in one of the many British colonies. He chose British Guiana.

In the 1800’s, there were many opportunities for good jobs on sugar estates and in public administration. Sugar was the main industry and economic activity in British Guiana.  [read more]

This is just one of many  historical articles on Guyana written by Peter Halder that will be published on Guyanese Online.  You can read them all at Peter Halder’s website:  http://peterhalder.wordpress.com/

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The Georgetown Fires of 1913

07/21/2013 – 6:48 am

The Georgetown Fires of 1913

by Peter Halder

 The year 1913 was propitious for British Guiana.

Sir Walter Egerton was the British Governor.

For the first time, the head of the British Sovereign appeared on British Guiana Postage Stamps.

The first map showing the Corentyne River as the boundary between British Guiana and Dutch Guiana (Suriname) was published.

The population of the colony reached some 300,000 and the population of Georgetown was 57,500. The Amerindian population was 13,000.

Sugar, known as Demerara Crystal, continued to be the major export. Some 70,000 acres of coastland were under sugar cane cultivation. Other exports included gold, diamond, timber and rice.     [Read more]

This is just one of many  historical articles on Guyana written by Peter Halder that will be published on Guyanese Online.  You can read them all at Peter Halder’s website:  http://peterhalder.wordpress.com/

By guyaneseonline | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)
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