Not much trace remains of the British Empire in Guyana – but there is this: a statue of Queen Victoria. Her rule broadly coincided with the abolition of slavery, and with one of the most prosperous periods in the region’s history. That, of course, had much to do with the value of sugar, and British rule is not much celebrated these days.
Not much trace remains of the British Empire in Guyana – but there is this: a statue of Queen Victoria. Her rule broadly coincided with the abolition of slavery, and with one of the most prosperous periods in the region’s history. That, of course, had much to do with the value of sugar, and British rule is not much celebrated these days.
It was worse during the discussions over independence. During that period, poor Queen Vic lost her head to a stick of dynamite. Then, after independence (which was hardly a struggle; the British departed with almost indecent haste in 1966) the statue languished in the Zoological Gardens for a while.
Eventually, however, her head was restored, and she was put back outside the law courts that still bear her name. This is not a sign that the British era is mourned by the Guyanese. Rather, it is simply a recognition that you can’t change the past by blowing up statues. And so, Queen Vic is back, happily part of the Georgetown landscape again.
