Matriarch ‘Netty’ lives on after passing

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ‘Moon run till day catch it’ could have been the final words to end her 103 years of life. They could also have been ‘Thank God for Papa Bradshaw’ or ‘Who can’t hear will feel’, but in any case her final words, or rather her final years, were soaked in wisdom. 

Although she worked for years as a lowly cutter on the plantation and was seen as just another worker toiling to put bread in her children’s mouths, she was regarded as the overseer in the social spheres of her community.

Whether she was trudging her daily route on the winding stone path from Belmont Estate or heading a kerosene pan of water from around the St. Pauls Tunnin’, she interacted with everyone in her village. Yet, no one seemed to know her real name and very few seemed to know who this lady really was. The maroon-chequered students rushing back to school said, “Good afternoon, Miss Netty”; adult passers-by would wave out and hail her simply as Netty while her children and grandchildren most commonly called her ‘Tita’. However, very few persons knew who Iris Elliott really was.

From her involvement in the community to her parenthood at home, Netty raised over five generations under her wings, and her kindness and effervescence touched the lives of almost every solitary resident of St. Paul’s Village and rural St. Kitts by extension. 

Her humble drop-shed raised on concrete nogs was cosy enough to house her daughters Bridgette, Rita, Laura, Josephine and Lillian. The home was located right on the Main Road near the outermost end of St. Pauls, close to her workplace and, perhaps most profoundly, accessible to every villager. 

The first half-century

From her early days at the Church Ghaut School, Netty probably had no idea that she would live to see over five generations pass through her community. She probably never thought of having six children. Perhaps she never considered that her only son, William, would die before she would. However, one thing she was certain of was that after her days of primary schooling, there was no further option but to work on the plantation. And, so she did.

Her days on the plantation were long and tiring, but they were satisfying when she was able to gather a few ground provisions for her family. Netty worked for the famed Arthur Davis, who has been etched into our cultural history with the story of the bull at Belmont Estate. So, while many teens do their dances to the “up a yard” in the bull folklore, Netty probably had her days of actually feeding that mad bull in person.

Netty was a capsule of history; she was a stalwart of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour party and was a supporter in the time of Manchester’s and Bradshaw’s earliest moves to protect the working rights of the masses – a cause she held dear to her heart. It was probably the only cause she would die for. She would tell tales of her 1935 Buckley’s Riot experiences and was able to recount the formation of the Workers’ League five years later.

Godfrey Rawlins was Netty’s first love, and together they had six children. After he died, she fled to the island of Nevis in 1953, leaving her children with one of her brothers, who remained at that same small house in St. Paul’s Village. She worked hard for her children, but at that time she needed a new beginning following the death of Rawlins, and so it was at a market scene in Nevis that she met George Elliott. Once again, love took its course. They did not have any children together, but what they made was a close companionship and the memories that fed her until her final day.

Return to roots

After seventeen years in Nevis with Elliott, Netty saw a turn in her life, one that led her right back to her humble abode and reunited her with her community. She returned to St. Paul’s in 1970. By this time, her grown daughters had left the island to seek better living conditions in North America and in Europe, but the adolescent Laura was left to get to know her mother more. It was during this time that Netty ensured Laura was able to perfect all her domestic duties.

Who enjoyed cooking more than Netty? In fact, who could prepare soup better than Netty? Breadfruit, potato, eddoe, yam, dasheen, tanya, carrots – if it is a ground provision, it was found in Netty’s soup. And, it was not quite soup without her favourite: pig snout! Even in her final fading decade, Netty could still be seen clearing away her ground provisions in a copper bowl, leaving the pig snout to savour at the end of the meal.

Sewing, washing, ironing, sweeping and tale telling were very common and Netty was occasionally called upon to run village errands at the market. She never refused anyone’s request because (other than the fact that she simply enjoyed walking and running errands for others) her breastplate was inscribed with the words ‘Do good, good follow you’.

“I was not raised with her when I was very young, but she was very good to all of us,” Laura recounted. “She never wanted to see anyone hungry; she never wanted to see people feeling bad or sick. She welcomed people from all over and cooked for them, and she was always firm in reminding her children and grandchildren that ‘A child must keep a child’s place’.” 

The comical Netty- A rural tale

Close family friend and distant relative, Pearline Cable remembers Netty as a “kind-hearted stalwart”, firm enough to discipline others but kind enough to give comfort. In very few words, Cable described Netty’s warm personality that embodied the message of community togetherness.

“She was always very active; she was a very jovial and friendly person. Many of us should emulate her because of her faith in God and the way that she shared whatever she had with others. She’s an example of the way one would live and leave a legacy behind.” 

Her legacy, however, has gone beyond her faith in God or her sharing. In fact, many residents in rural St. Kitts know her or will remember her as a character, a cultural character. There was Anansi, then there was Bro Rabbit and then there was Netty – all from whom valuable life lessons with a tinge of humour can be passed through generations.

Everybody knew that one of Netty’s unashamed fears was death. The word itself made her shiver, the very thought of death shook her. So, whenever she heard that someone was sick or that someone died, whether or not she knew him/her and whether or not she herself was sick, Netty would in haste make her way to see the doctor.

There are many short stories of how her doctor visits would turn out. In one, Netty left her house for a visit to the district doctor. He, in a very reaffirming voice, gave her the good news that nothing was wrong, but Netty, unsatisfied with the results, demanded that a cast be put on. After a series of verbal exchange with her beloved doctor, he quenched her worries by giving her a cast. It healed nothing but her mind, worried sick about death.

Other stories describe her feeling much better after the doctor gave her a piece of candy appearing to be a tablet. One portrays a time she demanded to see the doctor when she heard the word “death” twice in one day. Yet another tells of a time she inscribed the word “doctor” on every page of her almanac, but most of these are yet to be proven. 

Her daughter and grandchildren confirmed that all those stories are possibly true because “de docta was she boyfren, and she used to mek it she business to go docta everyday”, they said jokingly. 

The fearful final leg

In 1995, Netty’s life hit a low point when she lost all she had to Hurricane George and had to take shelter at the St. Paul’s Community Clinic for some time. It was at this point that she realized she had to be there for her family even more. Thankfully for her, she was eventually able to claim one of the first starter-homes distributed a few years after the storm, and her life began to get back on the right track.

It was in her later years that Netty became regarded and respected as the matriarch of the community, and even cut the ribbon of the new St. Paul’s community centre in 2004. This was symbolic because she had indeed toiled greatly in preparation for future generations to benefit. 

It was on August 18, 2009 that Netty had to face her greatest fear and spoke her final words to her loved ones.

In the words of the Parliamentary Representative of the area, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, “I am deeply saddened at her passing. As the village matriarch she was always jovial, kind hearted, loving, helpful and caring not only to her children, grandchildren and great-grand children and other relatives, but also to all of the children and members of the community of St. Paul's and neighbouring villages”.

Truly, Iris Elliot was a community matriarch. 

On August 26, Netty was laid to rest amongst the tears of an entire community. Her legacy will grow and the fruits thereof will be a bold reminder to the residents of the community of St. Paul’s to work hard and enjoy their lives to the fullest. 

So, whether ‘the moon ran till day catch it’ or ‘Papa Bradshaw was hailed a hero’ or ‘all those who didn’t couldn’t hear felt her wrath’, Netty will forever live on.