A healthier climate
28 January 2021
George Washington only ever left the American mainland once and that was for a trip to Barbados in 1751. Why you may ask? His elder half-brother Lawrence was suffering from tuberculosis and he was advised to spend the winter in the tropics to help his condition so George accompanied him. He was accommodated in a handsome early 18th century house belonging to a Captain Croftan, that had commanding views of Carlyle Bay and the Caribbean Sea. He was nineteen at the time and the trip left an indelible imprint on him in more ways than one.
I have only been here for four weeks but I have noticed a positive change in my health. My, admittedly limited, arthritis has improved, my joints move more freely, my rhinitis has diminished and my hair, nails and skin look a lot better. England is a wonderful country but the short, grey, cold and damp winter days have always affected me physically as well as mentally. So, I feel our decision to decamp here in January has definitely been vindicated from a health perspective not to mention escaping lockdown and the privations that brings.
As for George, his exposure to the British military organisation in Barbados, colonial officials, judges, merchants and planters and the fact that he was well received and entertained had a deep impact on, and shaped, his future aspirations. After returning to Virginia, unlike most of his colonial militia contemporaries, he sought a commission in the regular British army and that was the beginning of his revolutionary career.
However, despite enjoying the climate in Barbados, ironically, he also contracted small pox, then rampant in the world at the time and one of the most dreaded viral diseases of the 18th century. He made a full recovery and the antibodies he acquired gave him immunity when the disease frequently ravaged his army during the future revolutionary war.
So, no excuses for me not to capitalise on the wonderful climate, lose some weight and get fit through regular swimming, golf and general exercise. Can’t lay the blame on the cold, wet weather for keeping me inside and not getting on with it!
We visited George Washington House today, as it is now known, and it is pleasantly situated. The area is now a UNESCO World heritage site and includes the former Military prison which is now the Barbados historical museum. The cell block is still intact and one can imagine the 18th century British squaddie cooped up, two to a cell, sowing canvas while they awaited the outcome of their sentencing.
