About
Type: Extant
Parish: St.John
Founding date: 1748
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Current Status
The mill, which is in excellent condition, and portions of a stone wall and old building still exist, but the property is currently the site of the Cedar Valley Golf Course, built by Ralph Aldridge, a Canadian. It is Antigua’s only 18-hole championship course. The first nine holes were completed in 1972, and house lots were sold to finance building the course. The second nine holes were not completed until 1980 when the Antiguan government provided land on the north side of the clubhouse.
The old photograph of the Cedar Valley works, though not particularly clear, does convey an idea of what the estate looked like. In the distance on the right can be seen the estate house, which appears to be quite large.
“The main house (of the estate) was wooden on a stone foundation. In those days, because of the fear of fire, the kitchen was separated from the house by a walkway about the length of a cricket pitch, and this was covered by a grapevine. A row of casuarinas grew on the south side of the approach from the east.
“Large square water tanks in the yard on the west side gravity fed the prolific kitchen garden which grew on the slope below. The only other building on the estate was the overseer’s house, and just outside the yard, beneath a large avocado tree, was a little grocery shop where everyone congregated on Saturdays, which is when the workers on the estate were paid. It became very lively and was the place to b
“Dr. Raeburn was the farrier (vet), and he came regularly to look after the animals. The horses were curried and clipped around race (horse) season, and I would line up at the end and get a haircut at the same time! I remember walking up the hill to preschool at Blizard’s (now New Winthrops, #56) to Teacher Dollo (Henrietta Knowles), and later, when I was older, I rode a donkey to school”
“We felt we were very privileged at Cedar Valley to have electric lights, though they were a bit dim — difficult to read by. The batteries were charged during the day by a wind generator which provided enough electricity till bed time which was very early on the estate.” Lawrence Royer, 1944 Memories of …
Estate Related History/Timeline
In 1940, the Antigua Sugar Estates reissued 18,000 shares at £1 each to three DuBuissons (James Memoth DuBuisson, Mrs. Edith Manus Dubuisson, and William Herman DuBuisson) as well as Alexander Moody-Stuart and Judith Gwendolyn Moody-Stuart. This signaled the final shift to the next generation, as George Moody-Stuart was offered shares but declined (ASE minutes, 4 January 1940; 1 May 1940). The estates to be controlled by the new company, in addition to Cedar Valley, were Gunthorpe’s (#64), Cassada Garden ($13a), Paynter’s (#61), Tomlinson’s (#17), Fitches Creek (#67), Donovan’s (#65) North Sound (#66), Galley Bay (#30) and Five Islands (#31).
That same year the Antigua government passed the Lands of Antigua & Barbuda Sugar Factory Limited and the Antigua & Barbuda Syndicate Estates Limited (Vesting) Act., which specified that “all piece or parcel of land forming part of Cedar Valley, approximately 240.225 acres as contained in Certificate of Title No. 1111940 dated 26th April, 1940 and registered in Register Book P Folio 11.”
Cedar Valley lands totaled 240.2 acres as noted in a Certificate of Title No. 1111940 dated 26th April; 1940. Register Book P, Folio 11. On August 1, 1943, Gunthorpes Estates, Ltd. was restructured (see Gunthorpes (#64) into a new company renamed Antigua Syndicate Estates, Ltd. The original company’s estates — Cassada Garden, Cedar Valley, Fitches Creek, and North Sound — were bought for £30,700, while Delaps (#137) was bought for £7,734.
Enslaved People’s History
Based on contemporary research, we have little information to share about the enslaved peoples from this plantation at this time. However, we will continue our quest for more information about these vital individuals.
Ownership Chronology
- 1748: Elizabeth French. Married 1748; d. 1781.
- 1781: Heirs of Nathaniel French d. 1818.
- 1790: William Blizard (1743-1835) (1777/78 map by cartographer John Luffman.)
- 1829: George Doyle d. 1830. 128 acres.
- 1872: Messrs. William (1784-1848) & Francis Shand. 128 acres. Francis d. 1868
- 1872: Heirs of Francis Shand 218 acres.
- 1933: DuBuisson & Alexander Moody-Stuart
- 1940: Gunthorpes Estates Ltd
- 1943: Antigua Syndicate Estates Ltd. 240 acres