James Rodway

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Rodway c. 1911

James Rodway (February 27, 1848 – November 19, 1926)[1] was an eminent British-born Guyanese historian, botanist[2] and novelist.[3] Widely credited as Guyana's premier historian,[4][5][6] Rodway helped to establish national institutions such as the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana[7] and the British Guiana Museum. A Fellow of the Linnean Society,[8] in later years he served as Editor[9] of the colony's literary and scientific journal, Timehri.

Rodway is the namesake of both a sub-species of Violaceous Euphonia – Euphonia Violacea Rodwayi, as named by Thomas Edward Penard – and the Gold Tetra, or Hemigrammus Rodwayi, named by Marion Durbin Ellis.[10][11][12][13]

A History of British Guiana, from 1668 to the Present Time,[14] Guiana: British, Dutch and French[15] and Hand-book of British Guiana[16] are considered some of Rodway's major works. In Guiana Wilds: A Story Of Two Women (1899),[17] Rodway's only novel, is noted as one of the earliest works of fiction to emerge from the nation.

Early life

Born 27 February 1848 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England to James and Edith Rodway (née Harding), Jabez Rodway – later to take his father's first name – was one of nine children. His father was a hawker and his mother came from a local family of weavers. Aged 13, James began work as an apprentice with a local chemist,[18] some years later taking a position as a pharmacy assistant in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It was from here that Rodway responded to a newspaper advertisement calling for clerks overseas in British Guiana, inspired by his reading on exploration and studies of the tropics, including Charles Waterton's Wanderings in South America.[19] Rodway was offered a position at Joseph Kleine & Co. and set sail aboard the R.M.S Seine on September 2, 1870, aged 22.[20]

Career

Work as a botanist

Hardback cover of Rodway's In The Guiana Forest, published by T. Fisher Unwin

Following his arrival in the capital city of Georgetown, James Rodway – as he was now known – worked four years for Joseph Kleine & Co. before becoming manager of a pharmacy. Alongside reading the few history books available on the colony, the works of Henry G. Dalton[21] and George Hanneman Bennett,[22] in order to better acquaint himself with his new home Rodway continued to cultivate the avid interest in botany that had begun back in England as a child. He now read much of what existed on the flora and fauna of British Guiana and the Americas. Along with this came the wider personal study of insects, fish, topography and more. In any time he was able to do so, Rodway took the opportunity to walk many miles to record local plant and animal life extensively;[23] as early as 1871, he began the first of his frequent boat trips along rivers and creeks to the Guyanese interior where he would come into contact with both the native and the Boviander populations.[24] These journeys, with Rodway's detailed journaling of his discoveries and observations along their course, were to later inform much of his written works. The keen botanist steadily amassed an extensive herbarium, all the contents of which were self-described. Meanwhile, Rodway became known for his development of various orchids and ferns in the greenhouse of the Georgetown home he purchased in 1880, and won first prize at a flower exhibition held in the city's Botanical Gardens.[20]

Rodway was eventually approached by both James Thomson, Editor[25] of The Argosy newspaper[26] and Everard im Thurn, founder and first Editor[27] of Timehri magazine – established in 1882 as the official publication of the nation's Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society. Thomson and Thurn encouraged him to put his acquired knowledge to wider use writing articles and studies for the respective institutions specific to the colony's wildlife as well its rural and Amazon-based communities. Until his death, almost no subsequent issue of Timehri would be published without one or more of Rodway's articles.[20]

By the 1890s, Rodway was an established name in British Guiana in the field of botany. 'The Struggle for Life in the Forest' would be the article to establish Rodway in the wider world beyond the colony. Published in 1891 for Timehri and again for the Smithsonian Institution,[28] it was highly remarked upon by W.T. Stead, in the Review of Reviews.[29] That same year, on 17 December, Rodway was elected as fellow of the Linnean Society of London.[8] These developments encouraged Rodway to propose a book to the London-based publishing company T. Fisher Unwin – one that would be devised primarily from his previous botanical articles. In the Guiana Forest – Studies of Nature in Relation to the Struggle for Life was subsequently published in 1894.[30] With the positive reception to this book, Rodway established himself as an authority on the subject of British Guiana – in particular across the English-speaking world – even being referenced by the philosopher Herbert Spencer in his material.[31] Throughout his life, as with his historical work, Rodway's writing featured in newspapers, journals and magazines from England to Australia.

Work as a historian

A 1921 issue of the Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society's science and literary publication, the Timehri Journal. James Rodway was Editor at this time – F.L.S stands for 'Fellow of Linnean Society'.

In his career as colony historian, James Thomson of The Argosy was again instrumental in encouraging Rodway to hone his talent for research to deliver content for the publication. Nicholas Darnell Davis,[32][33] a colonial official of British Guiana, one-time Postmaster-General and later author, also encouraged Rodway to use his skill in archiving the nation's history. It was suggested Rodway begin this venture with an episodic series, charting British Guiana's historical development in chronological fashion. This ran in The Argosy from August 1885 through to March 1886.

Impressed by the evident dedication and detail to have gone into producing this extensive literary project, Charles Bruce – the colony's recently appointed Lieutenant Governor – enquired whether Rodway might consider compiling a catalogue from the extremely old and poorly maintained colonial documents in his office building, some dating back to the days of Dutch control over the territory. Rodway was enthusiastic and – after securing permissions from Governor Bruce to transcribe many of the documents from home – began the monumental task with the aid of a hired translator who would be able to decipher the old Hollandic dialect where necessary. The project would take months and ultimately see Rodway hand over the management of his pharmacy to his son full-time.

It would be access to these files – the first comprehensive English translation of testimonies and accounts recorded by members of the colony's former Dutch administration and plantocracy – that would lead Rodway to write what would be considered the most seminal literary history of British Guiana to date.[33] A History of British Guiana, from 1668 To The Present Time, in three volumes (1891–1894), sought to clear up the inaccuracies of prior historians by closely comparing and referencing both Dutch and British records.

Rodway's later historical works include The West Indies and the Spanish Main (1896),[34] Guiana: British, Dutch and French (1912),[35] and The Story of Georgetown (published in 1903 and revised in 1920 – a special edition was presented to the Prince of Wales this same year on his tour visit to Georgetown).[36][37][38]

Later years

Rodway held the positions of Assistant Secretary at the Royal Commercial & Agricultural Society (1886–1888), Librarian at the Royal Commercial & Agricultural Society and Curator of British Guiana Museum (1894–1899). In addition, Rodway was Editor of Timehri well into his older years.[9][39]

James Rodway and wife, Keturah (Kate) Rodway c. 1900s.

50th anniversary

On 30 December 1920, James Rodway celebrated his 50th anniversary as a settler in British Guiana. He was honoured before friends and colleagues from across the country and beyond by Governor Sir Wilfred Collet at a meeting at the Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society. At the event Rodway was awarded an annuity of £50 (equivalent to £2,137 in 2021[40]) – in recognition of his literary and scientific contribution to the colony. On this occasion, Rodway's last great work appeared in The Argosy: a revised 'The Story of Georgetown'.[23]

Personal life

Rodway married Keturah (Kate) Johanna Reedon in Georgetown on 13 February 1873.[41] His marriage to the Guyanese-born Creole may have formed the inspiration for Rodway's only published fictional work: the novel In Guiana Wilds: A Study of Two Women (1898).[18]

Rodway family

Rodway's descendants have comprised many notable figures in the cultural, educational and political history of Guyana, as well as the wider Caribbean region.

Notable members of the Rodway family include James Rodway's grandsons, photographer Ed Rodway[42][43] - known for his work with the Theatre Guild of Guyana - and James Alwyn ("Sonny") Rodway, a Queen's College educator, Education Officer for the island of St. Lucia and later mentor to Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott. Walcott would go on to establish the 'James Rodway Memorial Prize' for St. Lucian poets in his honour.[44][45] 'Sonny' Rodway's second wife was Guyanese composer Valerie Rodway.[46][47][48][49]

J.A. ('Sonny') Rodway.
James Alwyn Rodway and Governor of British Guiana, Sir Patrick Muir Renison pictured for an official engagement.
Queen Elizabeth II with Prime Minister Forbes Burnham. National composer, Valerie Rodway looks on (far right).

Great-grandsons include Adrian Rodway[50][51][52][53] – a journalist central to events of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation strike of 1964, supported by Michael Manley – and political activist Brian Rodway,[54][55][56][57] one of the founding members of the Working People's Alliance party[58] and close confidant of Walter Rodney.

Brian Rodway WPA Identification Pass

Amongst Rodway's great-granddaughters is Professor Cicely Rodway, author of 'Sunstreams and Shadows' (2001).[59][60]

Sunstreams & Shadows by Dr. Cicely A. Rodway

References

  1. ^ "The American Antiquarian Society Proceedings" (PDF). October 1929. p. 234. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  2. ^ Desmond, Ray (25 February 1994). Dictionary Of British And Irish Botanists And Horticulturists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. CRC Press. ISBN 9780850668438.
  3. ^ Rodway, James (1899). In Guiana Wilds: A Study of Two Women. L. C. Page (incorporated).
  4. ^ Higman, B. W. (2007). General History of the Caribbean: Methodology and historiography of the Caribbean. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-73776-5.
  5. ^ www.bibliopolis.com. "IN GUIANA WILDS: A STUDY OF TWO WOMEN by James Rodway on L. W. Currey, Inc". L. W. Currey, Inc. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  6. ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (6 February 2000). "Guyana's Capital, Tropical Victorian". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  7. ^ McWatt, Clive W. (23 March 2014). "The RA&CS Reading Room: That 'other' library". Stabroek News. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  8. ^ a b Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Vol. (1890–1893). 1890–1893.
  9. ^ a b "History...TIMEHRI: Life History of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society of British Guiana". Stabroek News. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Order CHARACIFORMES: Family CHARACIDAE: Subfamily STETHAPRIONINAE (h-t)". The ETYFish Project. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  11. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (28 August 2014). The Eponym Dictionary of Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-0574-1.
  12. ^ "Violaceous Euphonia (Euphonia violacea)". www.hbw.com. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Violaceous Euphonia – Systematics". neotropical.birds.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  14. ^ Rodway, James (1891). History of British Guiana, from the Year 1668 to the Present Time. J. Thomson.
  15. ^ Rodway, James (19 February 2018). Guiana: British, Dutch, and French. CHIZINE PUBN. ISBN 9781378060049.
  16. ^ James Rodway, Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana Columbian Exposition Literary Committee. Hand-book of British Guiana. Harvard University. Pub. by the Committee, 1893.
  17. ^ "Four Early Novels". www.landofsixpeoples.com. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  18. ^ a b Malchow, Howard L. (1996). Gothic Images of Race in Nineteenth-century Britain. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804726641.
  19. ^ Charles Waterton (1839). Wanderings in South America. Oxford University. Project Gutenberg.
  20. ^ a b c Dentz, Fred Oudschans (1 January 1928). "James Rodway". New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids. 9 (1): 67–77. doi:10.1163/22134360-90001336. ISSN 2213-4360.
  21. ^ Dalton, Henry G. (1855). The History of British Guiana: Comprising a General Description of the Colony, a Narrative of Some of the Principal Events from the Earliest Period of Its Discovery to the Present Time, Together with an Account of Its Climate, Geology, Staple Products, and Natural History. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
  22. ^ Bennett, George Hanneman (1866). An Illustrated History of British Guiana. Richardson and Company.
  23. ^ a b Dentz, Fred Oudschans (1 January 1928). "James Rodway" (PDF). New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids. 9 (1): 67–77. doi:10.1163/22134360-90001336. ISSN 2213-4360.
  24. ^ Rodway, James (1902). "The Forest People of British Guiana". Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. 34 (3): 211–216. doi:10.2307/198325. JSTOR 198325.
  25. ^ Barros, Juanita De (19 February 2003). Order and Place in a Colonial City: Patterns of Struggle and Resistance in Georgetown, British Guiana,1889–1924. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. ISBN 9780773524552.
  26. ^ Granger, David (3 September 2008). "Guyana's periodicals". Stabroek News. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  27. ^ Aspinall, Algernon. "Sir Everard im Thurn: Born 1852: Died 7 October, 1932". Man. 33: 36–37. Retrieved 25 June 2018 – via www.therai.org.uk.
  28. ^ "Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 1891". HathiTrust. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  29. ^ Shaw, Albert (1891). The Review of Reviews. Vol. 4, July–December 1891.
  30. ^ Rodway, James (1894). In the Guiana forest; studies of nature in relation to the struggle for life. Cornell University Library. London, T. F. Unwin.
  31. ^ Spencer, Herbert (9 November 2016). The Principles of Sociology – Completed: Great Essays. VM eBooks.
  32. ^ Perry, Adele (2 April 2015). Colonial Relations: The Douglas-Connolly Family and the Nineteenth-Century Imperial World. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316381052.
  33. ^ a b Higman, B. W.; Knight, Franklin W. (1 January 1999). General History of the Caribbean: Methodology and historiography of the Caribbean. UNESCO. ISBN 9789231033605.
  34. ^ "West Indies and the Spanish Main, by James Rodway. – NYPL Digital Collections". digitalcollections.nypl.org. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  35. ^ Rodway, James (1912). Guiana, British, Dutch and French. Scribner's.
  36. ^ Rodway, James (1920). The Story of Georgetown: Rev. from a Series of Articles in the "Argosy", 1903. "The Argosy" Company.
  37. ^ Burma, Earl Louis Mountbatten Mountbatten of (1987). The Diaries of Lord Louis Mountbatten 1920–1922: Tours with the Prince of Wales. Collins. ISBN 9780002176088.
  38. ^ The Prince of Wales' book; a pictorial record of the voyages of H.M.S. "Renown" 1919-1920. Robarts – University of Toronto. London [etc.] Published for St. Dunstan's by Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd. 1921.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  39. ^ "community". www.indocaribbeanworld.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  40. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  41. ^ "British Guiana Colonists Index "R"". www.vc.id.au. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  42. ^ "Ed Rodway". Discogs. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  43. ^ Mohamed, Dr Paloma (3 December 2012). "Heart Beat of Theatre in Guyana". ttgg. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  44. ^ "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Aug 29, 1993, p. 9". newspaperarchive.com. 29 August 1993. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  45. ^ Walcott, Derek (1996). Conversations with Derek Walcott. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9780878058556.
  46. ^ "Women in History: Valerie Rodway – Patriotic and Classical Music Composer – Guyanese Girls Rock!". guyanesegirlsrock.com. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  47. ^ "Valerie Rodway hailed as 'national treasure'". Guyana Chronicle. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  48. ^ "Our National Songs". Guyana Times International. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  49. ^ Cambridge, Vibert C. (21 May 2015). Musical Life in Guyana: History and Politics of Controlling Creativity. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781626746442.
  50. ^ "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Apr 24, 1964, p. 12". newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  51. ^ "Statement Concerning the Strike at the J.B.C." newspaperarchive.com. Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives. 14 February 1964. p. 20. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  52. ^ Neita, Lance (5 October 2013). "The JBC strike and George Lee". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  53. ^ "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives | Jun 06, 1964, p. 4". newspaperarchive.com. 6 June 1964. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  54. ^ Kissoon, Freddie (28 January 2019). "Brian Rodway, Sir Lionel Luckhoo and my unchanging country". Kaieteur News. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  55. ^ Kissoon, Freddie (16 February 2019). "Valerie Rodway: A fitting tribute". Kaieteur News. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  56. ^ "Guyana's revolutionaries are departing this world without a simple word of thanks from Guyana". Kaieteur News. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  57. ^ Defense Technical Information Center (19 September 1985). DTIC ADA351946: Latin America Report.
  58. ^ "Kaieteur News". Issuu. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  59. ^ "SUNSTREAMS AND SHADOWS, by Cicely A. Rodway". Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  60. ^ "Two poems from Cicely Rodway's Facing the Wind". Kaieteur News. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
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